NUsearch is the library's tool for finding books, journals, videos, images, and so much more (both physical and electronic) in our collection.

​Use WorldCat to find books and other materials that aren't in our library catalog.

You can submit an interlibrary loan request to have a copy of the item sent here.

Feel free to suggest a purchase, too!

You can start by doing a basic keyword search in NUsearch directly from the library's website. Note, to limit your search to just items held by the libraries, select the Books & Multimedia option under Search. You can also limit your search terms to the item's title, author or subject. In this example, we are searching for the keywords "study abroad."

To do more complex searching in NUsearch, use the Advanced Search option. In Advanced Search you can limit your search to specific fields such as the title, author, subject, publisher, ISBN, and others. You can also tell the system if the selected field should contain the words, contain the phrase, or start with the keywords you enter. Be sure to select the Books, Images & More radio button to limit your search to items held at the libraries.

In the example above, we are searching for the phrase "study abroad" in the title field.

Beyond simple keyword searching, you can also employ Subject Headings to help make your searches more precise. Subject headings are specific terminology used to describe the concepts discussed in books and other forms of literature. These terms are used consistently, which allows you to call up entire lists of items that all deal with the same topic. Use these alone or in combination with other keywords to refine your searches and zero in on just the sort of material you need.

To do a subject heading search, use the Advanced Search and select the Subject field. You can then search for words or a phrase within that field.

In the example above, we are using the subject heading Foreign study, which corresponds to the topic of study abroad. Try doing the keyword search for "study abroad" and then do the subject heading search above and compare the results.

Below is a sampling of subject headings that can help you narrow your searches to books dealing with higher education topics:

You can discover many useful subject headings by looking at the details of the items you find that seem to be on point for your topic. Be sure to open up the record and scroll down to the Details section to see the list of subjects provided. Each of these subject headings is an active weblink that when clicked on, will lead you to a list of other related titles that deal with that topic.