Search for books, ebooks, images, and articles from scholarly, trade, or news periodicals with the Rice Library's fUSIon tool.

Finding Library Books in fUSIon

1. Enter a title, author, or subject matter into the search field.
   
   
   
    
2. Filter your results to show only print or electronic books (or both) by scrolling down to the Location filter, selecting "More options," then checking the box(es) next to your preferred location(s).
   
   
   
   
    
3. You can access eBook texts simply by clicking on the book's title. To locate a print book, locate the book's call number, and then check to see it's corresponding floor location. The floor-by-floor break down of call numbers appears just to the left of the book's call number (in the example below, the call number is (PR4552 .A7). Additionally, you can click the "Map it!" tool to find the exact location of a book in the library.
   
   
   

Call Number Basics

Library of Congress call numbers are alphanumeric codes which organize books according to subject matter and author. When reading a call number, begin at the top line and read from left to right; then proceed to the next line reading again from left to right as if reading a book.

For example, here is the call number for A Companion to Bioethics, edited by Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer, as it would appear on the spine of the book:

R
724
.C616
2009

R = Medicine
724 = Medical Philosophy and Medical Ethics
.C616 = Indicates a specific work by author(s)
2009 = Year of Publication

How to Read Call Numbers

Starting with the letter(s) at the top left of the call number books are arranged alphabetically:

Books having the same letter(s) on the top line are all shelved together by the number group that follows the letter(s). These numbers are arranged numerically:

(Sometimes the first 2 lines are combined but are read as above: QM 23; QM 123; QM845; and, QM 2345.)

When both the letter(s) and the number group that follows are the same, then books are shelved alphabetically by the next letter:

Books which are identical in first letter(s), in the number group that follows, and in the second letter, are then shelved by the next number group. These numbers should be read as decimals, not whole numbers like the preceding digits:

Oftentimes a call number will have a fourth line which contains a letter and a number or numbers. The letter is, again, ordered alphabetically, while the numbers should be read as decimals.