Books

In the ancient world, a “book” was a fat roll of papyrus. To a medieval monk, it was a suitcase-sized object that was likely chained to a lectern. In the 21st century, it can be either a physical thing with paper pages, or text on a screen.

For academic research, a book — e-book or physical — provides you with historical coverage and more in-depth information about your topic than an article. Scholarly articles report on specific details or experimental findings, while books usually present a synthesis of findings.

To find a book, start with Lindell Library’s general search on the main page or by using the book search above.

This searches the physical and online collections of lots and lots of libraries, including Augsburg's.

In “Advanced” search, you can limit the Format to “Book” and the Library to “Augsburg.” (Leave the Library setting at “Libraries Worldwide” if there’s time to request a book through inter-library loan.)

Once you find a likely book you want to read, click on its title to get more details:

Information about the location of the physical book is toward the bottom of the detail page:

Call numbers are like addresses. All the books in the library are on the shelf according to their call numbers. Pay attention to the Location, which tells you in what area of the library this particular kind of book makes its home. In the case of this biography of Martin Luther, the BR at the beginning of the call number and the Lindell Library LC Circulating Collection together tell us that it is on the top floor of Lindell Library. In the world of LC, which stands for Library of Congress, “B”s are Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion.

• More about Library of Congress Classification

Homesick for your grade-school library?  You’ll also find Dewey Decimal books here on Lindell Library’s lower level; it’s how we sometimes classify literature like poetry and novels.

• How to track down a Dewey call number

Wondering where to go in the building to find what you need? We have a floor-by-floor map just for you.

• Where in Lindell Library?

In the library catalog, you may also see an Access online link for your book.  Lindell Library subscribes to thousands of e-books from different sources, with each source having a slightly different look and feel. Many come from ProQuest Ebook Central.

• Tips on accessing an e-book in ProQuest

Logging into a computer on campus also logs you into e-book access.  Off campus, you will need to enter your AugNet username and password (the same combination you use to read your Augsburg e-mail) in order to read something online.

If you are fully logged in but still have trouble accessing an e-book, let us know right away.  We can often get full-text for you another way.

Reference books, in print or online, are a good way to start your research.  They provide an in-depth review of a subject that gives you a better grasp of its history, the people involved, or the specialized vocabulary used.  Often you’ll find "dictionary," "encyclopedia," "almanac," or "handbook" in a reference book’s title.  At Lindell Library, reference books are housed on the library’s Street Level; they can be looked at in the library (and pages copied or scanned from them), but not checked out.

Online, you can find reference books either in the General Search, or in one of these specialized databases:

• Access Credo Literati reference e-books

• Access Oxford Reference e-books

Let us know anytime you run into trouble getting one of our books, or if you have a book to suggest we add to the library collection.

We prioritize resources that professors tell us support the curriculum.  We love hearing from you!