Books & Government Documents

The UCLA Library Catalog provides access to scholarly books and resources found at the UCLA Library. The MELVYL catalog lists the books in all of the UC Libraries and provides access to selected article databases.

 

Important Tip!

Although the UCLA Library Catalog lists which journals which the UCLA Library owns, it cannot show the specific articles that appear in those journals.

 

How do you begin your search? You can search the UCLA Library Catalog in different ways: Author; Title; Subject; Keyword.

  • For more about searching the UCLA Library Catalog, check out the help section of the UCLA Catalog.
  • For e-books, check out our E-books Research Guide which lists e-book collections by subject.

Should I search by Keyword or Subject?

Keywords are everyday terms used to describe a topic. Subject headings are the agreed-upon terms designated by the Library of Congress and assigned to each item in the UCLA Library Catalog. In the Sciences, it is very powerful to search with the proper subject heading. However, for new ideas, there might not yet be a formal subject heading. In this case, keywords may be your best option.