Our library collections are organized by the Library of Congress classification system. There are four good ways to find books on specific topics:
- Use Library of Congress subject headings at a broad or specific level of classification to find the topic you're interested in. Then, go into the stacks for those numbers (in LC, letters are numbers!) and browse for an item you're interested in. If the topic seems too broad, you may need to look at a more detailed LC guide to find the specific topic you're interested in.
- Perhaps a better way to find a book on a particular topic is to use the virtual shelf browse in Virgo, our catalog. To do this, pull up in Virgo a book on the topic you're interested in - get as specific as possible. Then, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, where you'll find the virtual shelf browse. Here you can click around to find other books - both ebooks and print books - on the same or similar topics.
- If you find an item you like in the catalog, you can also use the subject links in the item's page to view more books 'tagged' with the same topic.
4. Use a subject guide to find materials on the topic you're interested in. These are written by subject librarians who are experts on each topic.
If you're stuck or need more help finding resources, chat a librarian!