FAQs

The only way to get material from Downsview is to order it by placing a hold request in LibrarySearch.

Downsview is a storage facility, so it is not accessible to library patrons.

About licensed e-resources  

U of T Libraries provides an extensive collection of e-books, e-journals, e-articles and other electronic/digital content to its faculty, staff, students, and other authorized users. To do so, we must sign contracts with many different vendors and publishers of the e-content. Contracts contain specific terms and conditions that users must comply with, when accessing and using the e-content.

Different terms for different resources

The terms of use are not the same for all e-resources.  Therefore, each licensed article, book, or journal has its particular terms listed in the record for that item. Terms dictate if the user can print a copy, or share it with a 3rd party for scholarly use, or other actions, as described more fully on this UTL information page.

How to see the license for an electronic resource

The record for the e-book Robots, published by MIT Press and available to users from the IEEE Xplore platform is shown below.  Next to the name of the provider of the electronic content, you can click on the SHOW LICENSE link to see the terms for this e-book.

Clicking on the SHOW LICENSE link reveals the terms, as illustrated below. 

So, users may print a portion of this book, but the book cannot be uploaded to Quercus, since Course Reserve Electronic Copy is prohibited. Providing a direct link to the resources is permitted.

Read more about using licensed library e-content. Users who need more clarity about license terms can contact library.licensequeries@utoronto.ca

Yes!  Cut and paste the ISBN (for books) or ISSN (for serial publications such as journals) into the LibrarySearch search box. 

If we have the book you're looking for, it will show up in the search results.

Notice that while this book is available in Robarts Library stacks, it is also available electronically via our current HathiTrust agreement. To see it electronically, click on the link and then login into HathiTrust with your UTORid and password.

If no book is found, check that you have the correct ISBN.  If we don't have the item in our collection, you can borrow it from another library through interlibrary loan.

Important:

• ISSNs have a dash in the middle (e.g.  2210-6707), but ISBNs have no dashes.
• A book may have more than one ISBN (e.g. one each for hardcover and ebook versions)
• The library catalogue entry does not always contain the ISSN or ISBN number, so always try searching the title, too.

Yes you can.  LibrarySearch has a citation generating feature, with seven citation styles to choose from.

Find the book or article you wish to cite, click on the ellipsis (...)  in the upper right of the individual item record to open up a set of icons – email, permalink, citation, and more.

Click on CITATION, choose a citation style, then cut and paste the results, as shown below.

ALWAYS check the generated citation to make sure it is fully correct.  In the above example, APA 7 requires all authors up to 20 be listed, and the first author should be Almqvist, B. S. G.

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

Yes, you can! Paste the part of the DOI that comes after https://doi.org/ into LibrarySearch. DOIs usually start with the number 10.

If the search mode is visible, leave it as "Everything".

DOI for an online article

Find articles by DOI outside of LibrarySearch using LibKey.io.

DOI for an ebook

Look up your textbook in the library catalogue to see we have a copy.  Your instructor might also have put it on course reserve.

Some libraries have special leisure reading collections.  These books are often not included in the library catalogue, but it is still a good place to look if you are interested in a specific title.

Several different systems are used to arrange books on the shelf across the University of Toronto's 40 libraries.  

In general, all of these systems are designed to:

1. Help you find items on the shelf using a code found in the library catalogue called a "call number"
2. Group similar items together on the shelf
3. Describe the content and format of an item in the library catalogue

Library of Congress system

• Used most often at the University of Toronto Libraries
• Call number has both letters and numbers
  • E806 .G635 2012
  • UA600 .V36 1988
  • HC120 .L3 M37 2012
• How to use it

Dewey Decimal

• Used at OISE Library
• Call number has mainly numbers, but letters are also sometimes present
  • 025.56 AL817L
  • 917.1 L786ca
  • 301.4120971 N277C
• How to use it

Old Class

• Used for books that were catalogued pre-1954 at many libraries
• Robarts 9th floor storage – storage retrieval form
• Call number has mainly letters with some numbers
  • P Med M
  • Pamph. HAm. S.
  • EcF G5784g
• Developed at University of Toronto
• How to use it [PDF] *Please note that the locations in this document are no longer correct.

CODOC

• Used for many government documents and publications
• Call number has both letters and numbers with punctuation interspersed
  • CA1..FN....-2006A11
  • US1..CM.100..S71
  • UN5..EWA.......-U51 1979+
• Items are arranged on the shelf by country and government body, not by subject
• How to use it

Audio Visual search terms

• Used at the Media Commons
• Call number has material format followed by number
  • VideoDVD 758910
  • Videocass 005288
  • AudioCD 450071
• Developed at University of Toronto
• Media Commons materials are retrieved only by staff, so you do not need to know how to use it.

Subject headings are similar to tags or hashtags.  They describe the topic of an item in a database, but unlike tags, they come from an official, standardized set of terms and are assigned by cataloguing experts. 

You can use subject headings to:

• Determine the subject of an article or book
• Search more efficiently for books and articles on topics
• Discover other items on the same subject – the subject headings are linked

There are several kinds of subject headings used in library databases.  They can be subject-specific like the Medical Subject Headings used in Medline  or more general like the Library of Congress Subject Headings used in the library catalogue.  

 Not all databases use subject headings. JSTOR, Web of Science, Summon, Google Scholar, and Scopus all don't use them.

Where to find them

• In the item record's detailed description – See example below for subjects for the book Ethics of Consumption in LibrarySearch

Other places

• In a sidebar of the search results screen – usually on the left – as a way to refine your search
• In a THESAURUS or INDEX TERMS link on the advanced search page of a database

Synonyms

• Index terms
• Thesaurus terms
• Subject terms
• Descriptors

To find a book by its title

There are multiple ways to find a book by its title.

From the Library homepage:

Type the title of the book in double quotation marks into the LibrarySearch search box on the UTL homepage.

From the LibrarySearch NEW SEARCH page:

• Type the title of the book in double quotes to look for it as a phrase
• Choose to search in EVERYTHING

From a search results page:

• You don't need to go to the NEW SEARCH page to do a new search, because a search box always appears at the top of the results page
• Type the title of the book in double quotes to look for it as a phrase
• Choose to search everything, then click on search
• We recommend that you sign in before a search so that you can view e-books and articles right away

From the advanced search mode:

Use the following settings:

• Select TITLE from the first drop-down menu
• Choose IS (EXACT) from the next drop-down menu
• Enter the book title without quotations

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

You can enter the journal title in double quotes into the LibrarySearch search box on the U of T Libraries homepage.

Journal search

A more direct way is to use the journal search function available from the LibrarySearch interface. 

• Click on the JOURNALS link on the top navigation bar
• This brings up the journal search box where you can enter the journal title
• Search results will include both the electronic and the paper version of the journal if we have both
• For electronic journals, you will be able to browse through different years, volumes, and issues of a journal
• If you sign in, you will be able to get to full-text online content if we have it

Other ways

You can also find journals by searching as you would for books, that is, by choosing to search the CATALOGUE, or EVERYTHING.

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

To find an article by its title, type the title in double quotes into the search box on the UTL homepage. This will search for the title as a phrase.You can also go straight to LibrarySearch and type the article title in double quotation marks. Make sure to select ARTICLES and click on the magnifying glass icon to search.

See also:  Find articles & books by DOI

The individual article record contains many features and functions as shown below.  Click on the ellipsis (the three dots ... to the upper right) to bring them up.

• Email
• Permalink
• Create a citation
• Print
• Export to a citation manager such as Zotero or Refworks
• You can also pin the record to save it as one of your favourites.

Other helpful features in the article record:

• Click on the PDF icon to download the full-text article right from within the record!  
• If the source is licensed, you will need to login with your UTORid to view it.
• In this example, the source is identified as an Open Access, so it is freely available to anyone – no login required.
• If something is not working, you can report it as a problem

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

Search for your title or topic in the LibrarySearch search box, leaving it set to EVERYTHING.

Click ONLINE in the SHOW ONLY filter, then click BOOKS in the FORMAT filter.

You can select more than one filter at once. Then click on APPLY FILTERS.

From the resulting list, you can see e-books that mention this breed of dogs.

Three good ways to find books by author are: 

1) Type author name directly into LibrarySearch search box on the UTL homepage
2) Use the ADVANCED SEARCH mode
3) Use the BROWSE feature.

Advanced search mode

• You can click into Advanced Search mode once you are already in the LibrarySearch interface
• Choose Author/Creator, then CONTAINS, then enter the name of the author, i.e., Richard Wagamese
• Leave the search set to EVERYTHING
• Click on the search button to get a list of books as well as articles by Richard Wagamese

Browse feature

• LibrarySearch lets you browse lists of Author/Creators, or Titles, or Subject Headings, or Library of Congress call numbers.
• Click on BROWSE SEARCH, which is located in the ellipsis (...) on the upper right of the top bar
• Drop down the menu to choose BROWSE BY AUTHOR
• Enter the name in Last name, First name format and click on search
• Click on the number appearing next to the author's name to get to the list of their publications

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

For books

1. Find your book by looking in the catalogue part of LibrarySearch, then look for the link icon in the book's catalogue record.

2. Click on the link icon to open up the window that contains a permanent link to the catalogue record for this book.  A permanent link is also known as a permalink, or a durable link.

3. Cut and paste the link into your email or other document.

For articles

1. Find your article in LibrarySearch, remembering to choose Articles.

2. Click on the link icon to open up the window that contains a permanent link to the article record

3. Cut and paste the link into your email or other document.

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

You can search for items by name of publisher in ADVANCED mode of library search, as in example 1.

You can also add other criteria to the search by selecting a date range, or searching for similar titles of books from one publisher, as in example 2.

Example 1: Searching for ALL items by an individual publisher

• Drop down the field name menu to find PUBLISHER
• Type in the name of the publisher.
• Click on SEARCH

Results show books published by Tara Press in New Delhi.

From here you can use the filters on screen left to see ONLINE items only, or change the sort to newest first, or see what items by Tara Press are in Robarts stacks.

Example 2: Searching for SPECIFIC items available from a publisher

Oxford University Press publishes excellent handbooks in many subject areas, with titles following the form 'The Oxford handbook of [something]'. 

This is how to search for all Oxford University Press handbooks.

You can then filter to show only ONLINE items. Here are the first four results found by such a search.

A Course Reserves search has been added to LibrarySearch.

As you start typing search words, you can choose to search for those words in just items placed in Course Reserves.

Search words can include the name of the course instructor as well as the course code and title.

• IMPORTANT: This search will not find everything on a course reading list since some material will only be provided to students of a particular class, not to all students at U of T
• The preferred way to see everything on a course reading list is to check in the Quercus course shell for that course.
• Searching by Course Code is not recommended since the codes need to be in an exact format
   

Different formats are found in Course Reserve search results

• The search results show a mix of online course reserves and print course reserves
• For print course reserves, check the library location listed in the catalogue record to know where to go.
• In Robarts, the physical course reserves are kept 1st floor loans desk.
   

Different filters appear in Course Reserve search results

• This example shows LIBRARY LOCATION, as well as INSTRUCTOR and COURSE CODE filters

What Course Reserve search will NOT find

• Journal articles
• Scanned copies of print books: This is copyrighted material, made available only to students in the class via the Quercus course shell.
• Book chapters of print or electronic books
• Videos
• Websites
• Material not owned by U of T Libraries

In January 2021, the library upgraded to a new system. Before then, you had to search for items in our collections – called the 'catalogue' – course reserves, and articles, separately.  

Our new tool, LibrarySearch, searches all of these at once though a user friendly and mobile-responsive interface, and it has more functionality than the previous tool.

For example:

• It makes it easier to open article PDFs and to browse recent issues of a journal.
• It shows peer-reviewed status of articles
• More filters are available to help you refine search results, e.g., open access.
• You can choose from 7 citation styles in which to format the books and articles that you find, as well as easily export citations to applications like Zotero or Refworks.
• It also provides you with a customized experience when you log in with your UTORid. 

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

There are numerous reasons why a book may show as available in LibrarySearch, but not actually be on the shelf. Locate the sorting shelves on the floor, and check to see if the item is there. 

In Robarts sorting shelves are in middle of the yellow section on each stack floor.

At Gerstein sorting shelves are near the elevator on level 1 and 2 below: as you face the elevator, look to the right to find the sorting shelves. The library asks that you check the shelves at least twice before placing a search at the Loans Services desk on the main floor.

This will vary from library to library.

If the item is not on the sorting shelves, you can place a hold request on the item to prompt staff to search for it. If the item is still not found, it will be marked missing. 

In print

• Visit the reference collection of any U of T library
• Search for your topic and add the words "encyclopedia" or "dictionary" to your search in the library catalogue
• Look up your topic in popular encyclopedias like The New Encyclopædia Britannica or The Columbia Encyclopedia

Online

• Try one of our collections of reference works such as Gale Virtual Reference Library, Oxford Reference Online
• Search for your topic and add the words "encyclopedia" or "dictionary" to your search in the library catalogue 
• Find a subject-specific encyclopedia through one of the lists below:

Yes! We can suggest several strategies.

Start at the library webpage

By signing in with your UTORid and password when you are using LibrarySearch, you are authenticated as a U of T user for the rest of your browser session.  This allows you access to U of T licensed e-content, such as articles, databases, or e-books.

Get LibKeyNomad

Install a browser extension called LibKey Nomad. It will link you to the PDF of articles owned by U of T or Open Access whether you start your search on the library's website or not.

Change your Google Scholar settings

Make sure Google Scholar knows you're a U of T user. Once you change your settings, you'll see "Get it! UTL" links next to articles in your search results.

Update your bookmarks

If you have an e-resource bookmarked, make sure that the URL has http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url= at the front of it. That will authenticate you as a U of T user and give you access to our online content.

Paste the prefix

If you're on a journal or ebook website, try pasting http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url= in front of the URL you're currently on.  You will be asked to log in with your UTORid.

This only works if the library actually subscribes to the journal.  You can search our catalogue for the journal title or ask us for help.

Our new tool, LibrarySearch, searches for books, e-books, articles, journals, course reserves, DVDs and other audiovisual material, and other items in our collections all at once though a single user-friendly interface.

From the library homepage:

Once you are already in LibrarySearch:

You can choose to search just in the CATALOGUE, or just for ARTICLES.  Choosing to search EVERYTHING searches both the catalogue and articles.

 

There are a few things that are not included in LibrarySearch, however.  

• Newspaper articles 
• Library webpages 
• Research guides 
• Map & Data Library data collections
• TSpace content 
• Discover Archives content 

Use the WebsiteSearch search box to look for content about the library and our services. 

This includes: 

• Hours 
• Locations 
• Staff contact information 
• Services like interlibrary loan, Scan & Deliver, computers and wifi, etc.  
• Research guides 
• FAQs 

WebsiteSearch does not search for books, articles, journals, audiovisual materials, and other content that the library owns or subscribes to. Use LibrarySearch instead.

Reference books and reference sources are not meant to be read cover to cover. They are used to locate specific facts and background information. 

Examples of reference books or reference sources include dictionaries and encyclopedias; however, there are many kinds of reference works in a library collection, as this table illustrates.

Note: This list of reference works by type is not exhaustive. Please use LibrarySearch to discover others types and formats. 

You can search the catalogue for:

• Print & electronic books
• Print & online journals, magazines & newspapers
• Audiovisual materials such as DVDs
• Microfiche & other microforms
• Cartographic material such as maps & atlases
• Music scores

To find electronic articles choose 'Articles' in the drop down menu in LibrarySearch.

To find databases choose Popular databases or Subjects A-Z from the library's home page.