Richardson Library has over 500,000 print books on site and over 1 million digital-books online. This guide will help you search for, locate and access these books. Remember: You can search all collections via the Library Discovery Service.
Architecture books begin with call number NA. Take a look at the complete classification below. There is also a large collection of picture books and architect portfolios in the FOLIO collection on the first floor.
eBook Collection (USMAI via EBSCO)
Ebrary (ProQuest)
Finding a book using the call numbers is pretty straightforward. The call number is made up of letters and numbers and books are shelved alphabetically by the first letter or letters in the call number:
Q 141. C23
QA 234 .G67
QD 34 . F45
After the first letters is a number which is read as a simple whole number:
Q 24. C23
Q 54 .G67
Q 134 . F45
The second part of the call number is another letter shelved alphabetically, but the number after is read as a a decimal:
Q 141. C235
Q 141 .C3
Q 141 . C499999
Q 141 . C5
Q 141 . C499999 comes before Q 141 . C5 because both '499999' and '5' are treated as decimals.
Look at the LOCATION field in the catalogue record. In the example below, the location fields indicate that there are two copies: one in the Davis Room and another in the Stacks. Books in the Davis room can not be checked out, because it is the university's archive. The Book in the stacks collection can be checked out so you would go to the third floor and find the call number to locate the book. See below for borrowing policies and fines.
Location and borrowing periods are show below. Click on a link to ope a library floor plan.
Circulating Collections:
Non-Circulating Books [Can not be borrowed]
