Find a Book

Resources in the Taylor Library can be found on the University catalogue, iDiscover, accessed via Cambridge Libraries. Items can be searched by entering keywords from the title or the author's surname. (With an interest in finding 'Molecular Biology of the Cell' by Bruce Alberts, et al, you might therefore enter the terms 'alberts' and 'cell' to begin...)

Restricting your search

Without restriction, iDiscover returns results that contain the search terms for all locations in the University. For books held only in the Taylor Library, restrict the search to Corpus Christi College. Select the location from the drop-down menu on the right of the search box (below) and click the search icon.

Results

Having restricted the search to Corpus, the results will now include books that are held in College relating to your search terms, but these will not necessarily be the first listed in the display. To find a particular copy in your desired location, click where it says 'Available...' (circled in red below).

Locations

Clicking 'Available...'  gives a list of locations where copies of the book are held in the University. Thus, a copy of 'Molecular Biology of the Cell' by Bruce Alberts, et al, is available in Corpus Christi College, Taylor Library (circled in red below) alongside other locations. Clicking on the location gives information about individual copies (seven are held in this example).

Classmarks

The classmark is the string of numbers and letters on the spine of the book, telling you where the book is located on the shelves. Classmarks are given in the search results following library location (circled in red above). The majority of classmarks in the Taylor Library conform to the following:

                                                                                   L.3.ALB

The initial letter indicates the broad subject area (L is for Life Sciences); the following numeral indicates the subdivision (3 contains the works on molecular biology); the final string of letters are (most commonly) the first letters of the author’s surname (ALB for Alberts). Books are shelved alphabetically within subdivisions according to classmark. Physical locations of books in the Taylor Library can be found using the the shelving plans.