Subject Guides

Searching for books in Find It!

When you search in Find It! you're searching in the Library Catalog, Local Digital Collections (Special Collections -  Digital Materials and Binghamton University-created materials), and a mega-index of scholarly e-resources including articles, book reviews, ebooks and more. You can refine your search with the limiters on the left side of the search results page.  These include such limiters as date ranges, location, subject headings and languages.

To search for books in Find It!, follow these steps:

  • On the Libraries' website, click the Advanced option to open up Find It's Advanced Search options

The Find It! search options on the Libraries home page include Everything, Our Catalog, Journals, Databases, and Site Search. The search bar allows users to start a keyword search or select a search option, including for All Materials, Books, Articles, and Media, or an Advanced search.

  • Use the radio buttons to change the "Search for" collection to Library Catalog
  • Enter your keywords in the "search filters" section; the default "Any field contains" will start a general keyword search
  • Use the drop-down menu under Material Type to select Books
  • Click Search

The Advanced Search options are set for book searching using the Library Catalog radio button, entering search terms in the search box, selecting the Material Type of Books, and pressing the Search button.

Locating books

A Find It! record will display three pieces of information needed to locate an item.  For a print book like The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: Poems

  • the status is Available
  • the collection location is the Science Library Stacks
  • the call number that will help us find the book on the shelf is PS 3558 .A62423 W66 1996

The item record for the book The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: Poems displays the item type (book), title (The woman who fell from the sky: poems), author name (Harjo, Joy), publication year (1996), and location information. Location information includes the availability status, location, and call number.


Parts of a Library of Congress call number

PS 3558 .A62423 W66 1996

PS: one or two letters, shelved alphabetically

3558: whole number

.A62423 W66: letter, decimal; may have more than one letter, decimal pair

1996: year (whole number)


find which floor or building a book is shelved on by checking the Collection Location by Call Number guide


use your Binghamton ID to check out books at the Reader Services Desk or using our self-checkout


to request books and articles held at the Library Annex, SUNY Shared Collection, or not owned by Binghamton University Libraries, submit an ILL/Document Delivery Request