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Rutgers: University Library Resources and Services

Books

How do I find books and journals?

IRIS is the Rutgers University Libraries' online catalog containing records of items throughout the library system. Searching by author, title, subject, keyword, call number, etc. or any combination of these elements is possible on IRIS. The catalog is used to search for books and journals (as well as other formats such as videos, maps etc.). It is not used to search for an article . You must search for the journal that the article is in, not the article itself. Book stacks

Searching for books

  • The Introduction to IRIS is a thorough guide to the many features and search capabilities of the online catalog.
  • You can also complete Module 3 - Using IRIS - of our Searchpath online tutorial.
  • For links to find books located at other local university libraries or libraries all over the world, see More Library Catalogs.
  • Please note that very few libraries offer reciprocal borrowing privileges to Rutgers students. Consult the individual institutions for information on purchasing a guest borrower's card.

Notes for searching journal titles on IRIS

  • Journal title abbreviations are not searchable. For example, Proc. R. Soc. London will not retrieve any records. Search using Proceedings of the Royal Society .... It is not necessary to complete the entire journal title, but it is necessary that the words entered are in un-abbreviated form. Consult All That JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources to find out what each abbreviated title is in its full form.
  • Ensure that you include all prepositions and articles (except for the initial The or A) in the entered portion of the title e.g. Journal of the American Chemical Society.
  • Journal titles change constantly. Some journal titles have changed (or have been modified by splitting) several times since their first volume. Look at the IRIS record carefully to see if the title is continued by or continues another title, e.g. Journal of Narrative Technique. This is important because you might otherwise incorrectly think a title is not available online.
  • Many journal titles that are available online at Rutgers are part of collections such as JSTOR, MUSE, and Elsevier ScienceDirect. For a full list of available e-journals as well as links to these collections and their publishers, consult the Electronic Journals page.
  • Please note that there are differences between Popular and Scholarly Publications.