You can find books available at the UNT Libraries by using the UNT Library's Discover (catalog). 

• If you are looking for a specific book, you can search for that book directly by using the title and/or authors name. 
• If you don't have a specific book in mind, you can also browse the catalog using keywords or subject terms. 

If you need help using the catalog, you have several options:

• For general directions, you can go to Using the Library Catalog, Discover guide
• For in person help in a library on the UNT campus, go to the reference or library services desk in the library where you are working;
• For personal assistance when you are not in a library, go to Ask Us.

Keyword Searching

Keywords are natural language words. You can think of them like the words you use in a typical online search engine. Select keywords by thinking about important words or phrases related to your research topic, as well as possible synonyms. Keywords are a more flexible way to search, because the database will pull results that have those words anywhere within the text. The potential downside to this is that you may receive results that aren't related to your topic. Most library search interfaces will default to this type of search.

Searching Specific Fields

When you conduct a basic search in the library catalog and most databases, the database will search your keywords in all searchable fields, which can include the title, abstract, database-supplied keywords, subject headings, and sometimes the full text of the resource. Some databases will allow you to limit your results to those that have your keyword in specific fields.

For example, you might try limiting the search to words found only in the title or abstract. Because the title and abstract contain the key concepts discussed in an article, if your keywords are in one of those locations there is a better chance the article is relevant to your research. This can be helpful if you are getting too many results and need an additional limiter.

Subject Searching

Sometimes to narrow your search, it is helpful to search using subject terms instead of keywords. Subject headings are pre-defined words or phrases assigned by the database that describe the main topics of an article. Searching by subject heading is typically much more precise than searching by keyword, but it can be hard to guess the specific subject headings used by a database.

There are a couple of ways to find the subject headings related to your topic in a database. Some databases have an online thesaurus that lists the subject headings used in that database. You can use that thesaurus to select subject headings related to your topic. Alternately, if you start with a keyword search and identify a few relevant articles, you can check the subject headings used for those articles.

To conduct a subject search in the UNT Library Catalog, search using the "subject" option. Using subject terms will only find items indexed with that specific subject and can help avoid unwanted results, especially if your desired topic contains common words or words that can have multiple meanings. 

• Helpful Hint: Once you have successfully found one resource on your desired topic, you can easily find more using subject searching. On the catalog record for any book, you can scroll down to see all subjects listed for this book. Most article databases include a similar feature.

Narrowing Your Search

In both keyword searching and subject searching, it is often necessary to continue narrowing your search to find relevant results. The UNT Library catalog offers many "facets" which make limiting your search easy and operate similarly to the search functions on many popular online retailers.

Print books about Emergency Management will be located either at the Sycamore Library in Sycamore Hall or on the third floor of Willis Library. Many emergency management books will be available in electronic format.

If you wish to browse books on the shelf, possible Library of Congress call numbers for Emergency Management books are:

• HD49-49.5  (Sycamore Library)
• HV551.2-639 (Willis Library, 3rd floor)

Use the UNT Library Catalog to do subject searches for these terms, or do keyword searches combining these terms with special populations, e.g., [disasters victims children], [disasters relief elderly].

There are two ways to find ebooks at the UNT Libraries - through the catalog and by directly searching ebook collections. In either approach, remember to use the book's index to see if your topic is covered.

Follow these steps to find ebooks through the UNT Library Catalog:

1. Perform a keyword or subject search for your topic in the UNT Library Catalog.
2. Choose the options "Online" and "Books" from the list of filters on the left side of the page.
3. Click on the title link of a book you want.
4. Above the Location and Call Number information, select the "connect to online resource" link.
5. Now you can skim or read the book.

Alternately, you can search our ebook collections directly. Some options are: