We have access to hard copy books and ebooks, both through the Muskingum catalog and through OhioLINK. This page has information for both search options. If you're ONLY interested in what we have in our library, use "Searching for Materials in the Muskingum Catalog." If you are interested in finding what is available in Ohio, use "Searching for Materials Using OhioLINK."
To search through the Muskingum Catalog, click on Books and then "Muskingum Catalog"
You will get an image like this:
The pull-down options on the left allow you to do searches by keyword, author, title, etc.
The "material type" pull-down allows you to select specific material types (books, ebooks, etc.).
You can also use the "Limit your search" pull-down, but most of the time you'll want to not be that specific at first.
Once you've made your choices, click on the "Search" button and will see the results of your search.
Ebooks will have an "online" status and a link to the book in the center of the result for that title.
Hard copy books will have a call number, indicating the book is available in the library. The status will indicate whether or not the book is available.
How do you find books on our shelves? Look for the location and the call number.
The location tells you where in the library the book is located. Some of the most common locations you'll see are:
Call numbers tell you where the book is located, as well as what it's about. The Muskingum University Library uses Library of Congress call numbers.
Be sure to look at the books shelved around the one you want. They're shelved by subject, so you may find a great book that way.
Parts of a call number
Putting them in order
OhioLINK gives you access to over 55 million hard copy titles and over 500,000 ebooks. Because the Muskingum catalog is integrated within OhioLINK, so you use this search method to locate items in our library and throughout Ohio. Generally, books are available within 3-5 business days of your requesting them.
To search through the OhioLINK Catalog, click on Books and then "Search OhioLINK."
The next screen is a simple search option:
You can enter your simple search into the text box and click the arrow to initiate the search, or you can click on "advanced search" for a more nuanced search that allows for multiple terms and boolean searches.
Once you've clicked "Search," your results will be visible. Here is an example of a result:
The result tells you the title, author, format (book in this case), publication date, and how many libraries in OhioLINK have this title. If you click on the link indicating how many titles are in OhioLINK, you will have access to more information about the title, and also see the name of the universities as well as the status of the books:
In the above example, the first two universities have copies available to borrow, but the third has their copy checked out (with a due date indicated). If there is a copy available, you can request it by clicking on the "Request it" box found on the page.
You will need to use the pull-down to find "Muskingum University" (be careful not to accidentally pick "Muskingum County Library System" and click "Submit above Information." The next screen will ask for your name and your barcode. The pick-up location will automatically be Muskingum, but if you want to pick it up at another OhioLINK library, choose that library from the pull-down menu.
Click "Submit." The next screen is a confirmation page. If there was a problem with your request, it will tell you what went wrong--ask a librarian for help.
When your book is available for pick-up, you will receive an email. At that time, just come to the Welcome Center with your ID to check out your book. If you are picking it up at another library, you will still receive an email--just go to that library with your Muskingum ID to check out the book.