Getting Started in MTC Library

MTC Library has access to hundreds of thousands of ebooks! Check out this guide to learn how to find and access them.

To find books in the library:

1. Enter your search terms in OneSearch on the MTC Library's Homepage.

2. Tweak your results to limit your search to only books.
   • Select "Held by Library"
   • Choose your Campus
   • Select "Books" as Resource Type
   • Apply Filters (green button)

3. Select a title to view the item's information and locate the call number.
   • You will use the Call Number to locate the book on the library shelf. 

MTC Library shelves books according to the Library of Congress (LCC) classification system. The LCC Call Number from OneSearch designates a location in the library's bookshelves (stacks) where you can find the referenced item.

How Call Numbers Work

• Line 1: Books are shelved alphabetically by the first letter or letters.
• Line 2: Books are then arranged numerically by the number following the letter(s).
• Line 3: Finally, books are shelved alphabetically by the next letter and decimally by the following number.

What does the call number mean?

The LCC arranges materials by subjects. The first sections of the call number represent the subject of the book. The letter-and-decimal section of the call number often represents the author's last name. The last section of a call number is often the date of publication.

Book's title: Becoming a climate scientist.  
Author: Dickman, Kyle
Call number: QC981.2 .D533 2021

• A: The first two lines describe the subject of the book,  QC 981.2 = Climatology and weather
• B: This line often represents author's last name, .D533 =  Dickman, Kyle
• C: The last section of a call number is often the date of publication, 1990

Because books are classified by subject, you can often find several helpful books on the same shelf, or nearby. The example shows books within the LC Classification QC851-999 all about meteorology and climatology.

• X: Why Are We Waiting?: The Logic, Urgency, and Promise of Tackling Climate Change, by Nicholas Stern.
• Y: Drought : an interdisciplinary perspective, by Benjamin Cook.
• Z: Encyclopedia of hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones, by David Longshore.

Further details about the LCC classification system is available from the Library of Congress.