Finding books for teaching math can be challenging because they may appear in several places throughout our library collection. Math books are located in our general collection, juvenile nonfiction, or juvenile fiction sections based on content level and topic. The information on this page will help you navigate Cook OneSearch, the TU Library Catalog, and WorldCat to identify math books.
1. In Cook OneSearch Advanced Search, enter a topic or book title into the first search box.
2. If you are looking for children's books (as opposed to books about pedagogy), type the word "juvenile" into the second search box. Otherwise, leave it blank.
3. Select "Search." Look at the left sidebar on the results page. Under Library location, select "Towson University."
4. Scroll through the results and find the book(s) you want. A location and call number will be listed under each print book. Ebooks will have a "view full text" link.
1. Select "advanced search" from the navigation menu at the top.
2. Enter your topic into the first search box, and adjust the "search index" dropdown if desired (subject often works well).
3. If you are looking for trade books: in the Search Filters section, select "Children's/Juvenile" from the "format" dropdown menu.
4. Select the blue search button at the bottom of the Search Filters section.
5. Browse the search results for books that you might like to check out. Click on the title of the book, then look at the "location" field to find the call number.
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1. Make sure you navigate to WorldCat TU (use the link above or access it through the library Databases page), rather than regular WorldCat. Using WorldCat TU makes it much easier to locate books that we have in our collection.
2. Enter a topic or book title into the search bar and search.
3. Use the options on the left side of the results screen to narrow your results. Under "Format," select "Book." If you are looking for trade books, you will also want to "Juvenile" under "Audience," near the bottom of the sidebar.
4. By default, books at we have at Cook are listed first, followed by books at other USMAI schools, followed by books at other libraries worldwide. If we have a print book, the call number will be listed at the bottom of the search result. If we have an eBook, there will be an "Access Online" button underneath the cover art image. If we don't have a book and you would like to request it, click on the title and then use the "Request from interlibrary loan" button on the right side of the page.
Browsing the stacks to find math books can be challenging because they are located in several different areas of our collection. You may use the call number ranges below as a starting point, but some books may be found in unexpected places.
Our juvenile non-fiction collection uses the Dewey Decimal System. Most math books are found in the 500s. Here are a few useful call numbers:
Our general collection uses the Library of Congress system. Most math books are located in the QAs. Here are a few useful call numbers:
If you find a book that we do not have at Cook Library, you can request a copy from another library using interlibrary loan. It's free and easy to use. Simply sign in, choose the "Book" form from the top menu, then enter the information and submit. You will receive an email when the book has arrived and you can pick it up from the library help desk during our regular hours.
The video below demonstrates how to make an interlibrary loan request.
