Library of Congress subject headings are a set of standardized terms used to describe book topics in virtually all research university libraries. They can be very helpful in locating books on a particular topic in NUsearch, WorldCat, or any other university catalog. 

Here are a few examples of very general and more specific design subject headings, which might be useful in crafting your own search terms:

• Design -- History
• Product design 
• Furniture design -- History -- 20th century
• Industrial design -- Psychological aspects

You can look at any library catalog record or sometimes in the front matter of published books for other relevant subject headings.

You will find books for your topic via personal recommendations, in reference sources, by browsing in the library and its catalogs, and in the footnotes and bibliographies of articles and other books on your topic.

Northwestern University's Art Library collects materials on art, architecture, design, photography, and related visual arts. The collection is especially strong on 19th- and 20th-century Western art, and it contains many rare periodicals on the history of architecture.

• Some materials are housed in the Art Library's Martin Reading Room and its Architecture Reading Room on the third floor of Deering Library
• Other books are housed in the Library's offsite high-density storage facility, Oak Grove
• Rare and valuable history of design books and any manuscripts, archival materials, and other primary sources are housed in the McCormick Library of Special Collections
• Books on design in Africa are housed in the Herskovits Library of African Studies
• Many design books, especially those for practicing designers, are held at Mudd Library

All titles are cataloged in WorldCat and Northwestern's NUsearch library catalog search tool.

You can use NUsearch and WorldCat to find books you already know about (those cited in bibliographies and footnotes from reference sources and articles you've found on your topic), or you can browse them to find new, unknown books that may be useful for topic.

NUsearch catalogs materials found at or available through Northwestern University Libraries;
WorldCat catalogs materials found at libraries all over the world.

This video will show you how to find and request a book from the library.

1:41

This video will show you how to use NUsearch to browse for materials by topic or author. 

2:11

Sign in to NUsearch using you netID and password to save the records you find for interesting books. Once you have collected a list of library books you would like to see, make a note of where they are located.

For those located in the Art Library, come to the third (top) floor of Deering Library (just above the Deering entrance) where you can browse the Art Library's open stacks to find the materials you need.

• Directions to the Art Library
• Art Library shelving locations

If your books are stored in the library's offsite Oak Grove storage facility, place a request for them through NUsearch (you must be logged in with your netID and usual password to do this) and the books will be delivered to the University Library's main circulation desk for you.

• More info about Oak Grove and offsite storage

If you find books in WorldCat or other sources that are unavailable or not held at Northwestern, you can borrow them from other libraries:

• First try UBorrow, a fast local research library partnership for Northwestern
• If there are no copies available in the UBorrow network, you can place a regular Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request for the title
• See also our guide to Catalogs from Other Libraries