This page includes general information about finding sources through the library, including how to create a search strategy to find resources, searching for articles, finding physical books in the library space, and more. For recommended resources for specific topics in Stolen Focus, visit any of the following pages:

• Environment
• Mental Health
• Surveillance Capitalism
• Technology and Multitasking
• Videos

These recommendations include books, databases, and outside websites.

There are three ways to find articles using the JCCC Library's resources.  Below is a listing of the options and how they work.

• Summon - Search through everything we own via one search box.  Summon is our version of Google for the library.
• Library Databases - Search focused collections of materials for your topic.  We have over 200 databases to choose from.  Summon searches the majority of these.
• BrowZine - Go directly into magazines and journals, looking at specific issues.

Still not sure where to start?  Ask us!

The JCCC Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System (LCC) to organize most print library books. This system sorts books by subject and type of work first, not the author's name. General subjects/types of works are assigned different letters of the alphabet--these are called classes. Each class is subdivided by subclasses (an additional letter following the first) and topics, which are assigned numbers.

Together with the cutter number (which represents the author) and the publication year of the book, this combination of letters and numbers forms the book's call number. 

(Image credit: hthundercroft, CC BY-SA 4.0)

To find a book by call number, start with alphabetical order (A comes before B), then numerical order (A1 comes before A10, A10 comes before A100, etc.), and so on. If you know the title of a specific book you wish to read, search for the title in our catalog to find the book's call number. If you have a general or specific subject you're interested in, you can search for that subject, find the call number of a book we own, then search nearby on the shelf for books that may interest you.