Start with ALICE, the online catalog for the Ohio University Libraries.

ALICE contains listings of books (and magazines and journals and newspapers and videos and lots of other stuff) in all Ohio University Libraries, including both the Athens campus and the Regional Campuses.

If you already know the Author or Title of a book, do one of these searches:

• Author Search
• Title Search

If you know only a general subject area, do one of these searches:

• Subject Search
• Keyword Search

Which of these two searches should I do?

You can limit the results of either kind of search using criteria such as Date of Publication, Publisher, Location, etc.

What if the book I need isn't at my campus Library?

The Location part of the record in ALICE will indicate where a book (or other item) is kept. It will sometimes happen that ALICE will list a book you need that is either at another Ohio University campus or else stored in the Library Annex. Here are instructions on how to request items from those locations:

• Item available at another Ohio University campus
• Item in the Library Annex

Before you can successfully complete either kind of request, you will need to create a PIN number (password) for ALICE. Here is information on creating a PIN number.

What if the book I need isn't listed anywhere on ALICE?

If a book you want is not available at any Ohio University campus, you can try to find and request it from the Central Catalog of OhioLINK, a statewide network of academic libraries and the State Library of Ohio.

The easiest way to do this is to click on the button in ALICE. You will be asked to indicate what university you are affifliated with, your name, Security Number, and where you want the book delivered.

This service is free and it only takes a few days. You can keep the books for 3 weeks, with one renewal possible. For more information on how to borrow from OhioLINK, see our page on OhioLINK borrowing.

What info do I need to do a bibliography for a book?

For help on how to do bibliographies, see the Citing Your Sources section of this Research Starter Kit.