VSU and USG Books
Search GIL-Find@VSU to find materials available in Odum Library
GIL-Find@VSU is the library's online catalog. This catalog is made up of descriptive records of all the materials available at Odum Library. These materials include books, videos, musical scores, government documents, print journals, and other items. Each GIL-Find record represents one item and provides detailed information about the record, such as the author, title, subject headings, and the call number for the item. GIL-Find is available online and no password is needed to search Odum Library’s catalog.
To search outside of Odum Library, change the drop down menu in the search bar that reads "Valdosta State University" to "University System of Georgia". To get books sent from other libraries to VSU, visit our page on GIL Express.
GIL-Find@VSU
Search GIL-Find now:
Search GIL-Find Advanced Search now:
Finding Books
Directions:
1. Click Books & Journals on the library home page.
2. Type your search terms into the box that has "Search books, journals, and more". You can search keywords, a subject, author, or title.
3. Click "Find"
Advantages
- Quick
- Convenient
Directions:
1. Click on Books & Journals on the library home page
2. Click on Advanced Search
3. Type your search terms in the search boxes and select any Limits you want to use
4. Click Search
Advantages
- Powerful
- Complex searches
- Use search options to refine results
Search Options:
- Publication Date
- Format
- Language
- Start Date
- End Date
- Search Scope
- Any field can be changed to reflect Title, Author/Creator, Subject, Journal Title, Series Title, Publisher, ISBN
Physical Books from other USG Libraries
Directions
1. Visit gilfind.valdosta.edu
2. Click on the drop-down menu next to Valdosta State University and select University System of Georgia
3. Input your search terms in the first search box and click search
Accessing Books from University System of Georgia Institutions
To learn how visit the GIL-Express page.
Physical Books at Odum Library
Directions
1. From the search results, you can see the status and location of the book.
Example: "Available at Odum Library 3rd Floor Shelves (PN6728 .P36 V38 2016 v. 1)"
2. Use the blue link that follows the book status for more options.
In this example, you would click on "Odum Library 3rd Floor Shelves (PN6728 .P36 V38 2016 v.1) and other locations >"
Online Resources at Odum Library
Directions
1. To access online materials, click on Online Access.
2. In the new window, look under View Online. You can access the online material by clicking on the blue link that follows "Full text available at".
Example: eBook Central Academic Complete - GALILEO
Odum Library uses the Library of Congress Classification to organize the library by subject. Each book is assigned a call number.
Things might look a little different than the books at your public library or at a bookstore. However, there are only a few easy rules to follow and you'll be able to find any book in our library!
The catalog entry will always tell you which floor the book is located on and that's a good place to start. Once you get to the right floor, you're going to want to start reading the call number.
How to Read a Call Number
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Left to Right
In the example for Paper Girls above, to read the call number, you would start with PN and end with v.1.
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Alphabetically
The first part of the call number will be 1-3 letters. Read these alphabetically.
In the example for Paper Girls above, the first part is PN. PN would come after P, PA, PB, PC, PD, PE, etc. until you get to PN. Each row of the shelves in the library is labeled with a range. Look for those that include PN.
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Numerically
The second part of the call number is a number that consists of one or more digits. Smaller numbers come before larger numbers.
In the example for Paper Girls above, the second part of the call number is 6728.
So once you are in the PN section, you will look for that second number. PN6728 would come after PN6700 and before PN6730.
*You don't have to count every book. In fact, look ahead on the shelf and see if the numbers jump ahead closer to the number you are looking for. *
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Combine and Repeat
The third part of the call number (if there is one) is made up of a letter and a number. Use your alphabet and number skills. The key difference with this third part is that the number is read as if it came after a decimal point. Rest assured, typically at this point, you're pretty close to finding your book.
In the example for Paper Girls above, the third part of the call number is .P36.
Once in the PN6728 section look at that third part.
- PN6728 .P36 would come after PN6728 .M88 and PN6728 .P359.
- PN6728 .P36 would come before PN6728 .P364
If it helps, imagine extra zeros after this number .P36(0) vs. .P364.
Keep following this process until you find you reach the year of publication.
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Year
In the example of Paper Girls above, 2016 is the year of publication.
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Volume
If there are volumes in a work (encyclopedia or comic book), the volume will be indicated with v and the corresponding number.
In the example of Paper Girls above, this v.1 refers to volume 1.
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Copy
If the library owns multiple copies of the same item, they will be indicated with a c.
If this was our second copy of Paper Girls v.1., it would read: v.1. c.2.
Searching WorldCat
What is WorldCat?
WorldCat is a large book catalog that holds records of books around the world. This allows you to search for books that are not available just within VSU or other University of Georgia Libraries.
Directions
1. Go to the WorldCat website to begin your search.
2. Type your search terms into the main search box on the page that has "Search books, articles, and more". You can search keywords, a subject, author, or title.
3. Click "Search"
Filtering Results
You can filter results by format, author, language, publication year, audience and subject. These filters are found on the left of the page and can be selected or unselected to narrow or widen your search.
Requesting a Book
Once you have found a book you are interested in, you can see in the "Find a Copy at a Library" section where the book is available. If we do not have the book, you can place a request via ILL (InterLibrary loan) to have the book sent to VSU. Before placing a request, please use the instructions in searching the VSU Catalog to see if we have the book at VSU or in the University System of Georgia.
Only AFTER checking in both catalogs should you place an ILL request.
To place an ILL request to have the book sent ot Odum LIbrary, see the ILL Page on this guide. To find the information from the book in WorldCat to complete the form, you can find the publisher under the material of the book. You can click the "Show more information" link in the book record to see the ISBN of the material.
