Orientation to Library Resources  

Types of Library Materials

Library materials include:

• Books (print and electronic)
• Course Reserve
• Newspapers, Magazines and Journals (print, microform and electronic)
• Media items (CDs, Video-cassettes, DVDs, etc.)
• Databases, and more

Using the Library Catalog

Use the Library Catalog (http://ustlib.ust.hk/) to find out what the Library has and where things are.

A Book Record

• Use the Location and the Call Number to find a book.
• Use the Link "Access via..." to access electronic books and resources.

Move the cursor over the for explanations.

Basic Searching

Note: The Library Catalog does not allow searching to the article level.

Author

An author can be a person or an organization. A person's name is entered with the family name first. An organization is entered as it is normally called. Examples:

• einstein albert
• 朱 經武 or chu ching wu
• hong kong university of science and technology

Title

All Library materials (books, journals, sound/video recordings, etc.) can be searched by their titles. Examples

• Articles at the beginning of the title such as "a", "an" and "the" can be omitted.
• You can enter just the first few words of the title, such as "lion the witch" instead of the full title, "The lion, the witch and the wardrobe".

Call Number

• A call number is assigned to every library item except newspapers.
• The number represents the subject of the item, and is also the shelving number in most cases.
• Use the EXACT call number (e.g., HD9696.A3 J3245 2008) to retrieve the item you want. A partial call number (e.g., HD9696) finds materials on similar topics.

Subject

• "Subjects" are standardized terms assigned to describe the content of library items.
• You must use the exact subject term to do a successful subject search. Example:
  A subject search for "mobile phones" finds nothing because the proper subject term is "cellular telephones ".
• Try Word/Phrase search if you do not know the exact subject terms, then identify appropriate subject terms from the retrieved records.

Word/Phrase

When you do not know the title, author, or appropriate subject terms, use word/phrase search (also known as keyword search) to find library items that match your choice of keywords.

Make effective word/phrase search using these tools:

Boolean Operators: AND, OR

Brackets
To specify the order in which the search is executed - search sets within brackets will be processed first.
e.g., (pollution or pollutants) and (vehicles or factories)

Truncation
To find words that have a common stem but variant endings.
"*" represents 0 to 5 characters: pollut* will retrieve pollute, polluting, pollutants, etc.
"**" represents any number of characters: computer** will retrieve computer, computers, computerized, computerization, etc.

More Catalog Functions

Course Reserve (assigned readings for a course)
Short-period loans (2 hrs, 24 hrs or 3 days). Find these assigned readings by Course Name or Instructor. (e.g., COMP 151 or Luo Qiong ). Some reserve materials may be accessed electronically via the Library Catalog.

Request
You may place a hold on a checked out book or media item using the Request function. A recall notice will be sent to the current borrower. You will be notified by email to pick up the book/media item at the Circulation Counter when it is returned.

HKALL
Use HKALL to search and request books from other Hong Kong university libraries. The books will be delivered to the HKUST Library's Circulation Counter for pickup.

My Account
Login to My Account to check the due dates of your loans, renew books online or cancel your holds.

To learn more about using the Library Catalog, see the Catalog Help.