Find a Book

The Taylor Library contains over 43,000 printed books. To find a book, therefore, you will need to use one of the University's online catalogues; alternatively, please ask one of the librarians for help or email taylor-library@corpus.cam.ac.uk.

Search the catalogues

All books in the Taylor Library can be found on the University catalogue, iDiscover, which can also be accessed via the Cambridge Libraries page. Items can be searched by entering keywords from the title, the author's surname, or entering information such as the ISBN or publisher. 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 will return records that contain the search terms from all locations in the University. If you wish to search for books held only in the Taylor Library, restrict the search to Corpus Christi College by selecting the location from the drop-down menu on the right of the search box (below). Then click the search icon to the right to obtain a list of results.

Results

Initial results will display all media types, including DVDs, eBook and physical copies. Note that multiple versions of a title can be grouped under one entry and Corpus Christi may not be explicitly listed as the holding location, even though a copy is held. To find a particular copy in your desired location, click where it says 'Available at...' (circled in red below).

Locations

Clicking on 'Available at...'  will give a list of all locations where copies of the book are held in the University. In this example, 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 where the book is held. Clicking on the location will give information about individual copies (seven are held in this example).

Classmarks

The classmark is a string of numbers and letters that is found on the spine of the book that tells you where to find the book on the shelves. Classmarks are given in the search results folowing library location (circled in red above). The majority of classmarks in the Taylor Library conform to the following pattern:

                                                                                   L.3.ALB

The initial letter indicates the broad subject area (L is for Life Sciences); the following numeral indicates the subdivision (in this case, 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. College members are able to borrow books 24/7 using the self-issue machine on the ground floor.