Using the Library Catalog

You can often locate a book by title simply by entering the title in the search box on the law library homepage. However, if that method isn't working, the most effective way to locate a book when you know the title or author is by using Advanced Search. 

• Access Advanced Search from the library homepage: 

• Select your search scope. If you know that the book is held by the Rains Law Library, select LLS Catalog. If you are unsure which library owns the book (or if either of them do), select LMU + LLS Catalogs. (For more information on search scopes see "Search Basics" in this guide). 

EXAMPLE: you're looking for "Criminal Procedure" by Laurie Levenson and Erwin Chemerinsky. There are a couple of ways you could approach this.

As an Author Search: since you know the names of two authors, and the title is likely to return a lot of results, this is probably the best approach.

• Select LLS Catalog as your scope since it's highly likely that the law library has this book.
• Select the field "Author/Creator" for both authors and leave the default "contains" (for more information on these options, see "Advanced Search" in this guide). 

There are 11 results, including the following: 

It looks like result #3 is what you're looking for. Note that there are 4 versions of this title - multiple versions of one item (e.g. electronic, print, different editions, etc.) will generally be grouped into a single result. 

• Click on "See all versions" to see which editions are available, where to locate them, etc. 

You've found that Rains Law Library has the 2022 edition of "Criminal Procedure" by Laurie Levenson and Erwin Chemerinsky on Course Reserve (Result #1) and the 2018 edition is available online/electronically and in print in the law library basement (Result #2), etc. 

You decide that you want to access the 2018 edition electronically.

• Click into Result #2. 

• The link to access materials electronically is located under "View Online." if you have issues accessing electronic materials, make sure you're signed in! (For more information, see "Getting Started: Signing In" in this guide)

As a Title Search: you could also search for "Criminal Procedure" by Laurie Levenson and Erwin Chemerinsky by title. Since this is likely a very common title, this is the more difficult route in this instance, but here's how it would work: 

• Select LLS Catalog as your scope since it's highly likely that the law library has this book.
• Select the field "Title"  
• Leave the default "contains" (changing this from the default would be one way to limit your results. For more information on these options, see "Advanced Search" in this guide). 

Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of books with the words criminal procedure in their titles in the Rains Law Library. Your next step is to filter your results! Since you know the names of the authors, start there. 

• Expand the Author/Creator filter
• Select Chemerinsky Erwin and Levenson Laurie L from the list
• Click on Apply Filters

The book you're looking for should be the first result. 

You can often locate a journal or law review by title simply by entering the title in the search box on the law library's homepage. However, if that method isn't working, the most effective way by using Advanced Search. 

• Access Advanced Search from the library homepage: 

EXAMPLE: you're looking for the journal "Police Practice & Research." 

• Select your search scope. You're unsure which library may hold this journal, so you select LMU + LLS Catalogs. 
  • Generally, for law reviews and journals, select LLS Catalog. For interdisciplinary journals, or if you are unsure or unsuccessful locating the journal in the LLS catalog, try LMU + LLS Catalogs. (For more information on search scopes see "Search Basics" in this guide). 
• Select the field "Title"  
• Leave the default "contains" (changing this from the default would be one way to limit your results. For more information on these options, see "Advanced Search" in this guide). 
• Under "Material Type" select "Journals" (leave this as the default "all items" if your results are too narrow)

It looks like result #1 is what you're looking for. Note that there are 2 versions of this title - multiple versions of one item (e.g. electronic, print, different editions, etc.) will generally be grouped into a single result. 

• Click on "See all versions" to see which editions are available, where to locate them, etc.

• The link to access materials electronically is located under "View Online." if you have issues accessing electronic materials, make sure you're signed in! (For more information, see "Getting Started: Signing In" in this guide)
• This record also indicates the journal's coverage dates. If you're looking for a specific article and you have the citation, this information is very useful!

You can often locate a journal or law review by title simply by entering the title in the search box on the law library's homepage. However, if that method isn't working, the most effective way by using Advanced Search. 

• Access Advanced Search from the library homepage: 

EXAMPLE: you're looking for the following article: Walsh, Dave et al., When Law Enforcement Interview Witnesses and Write Their Statements, 24(3) Police Practice & Research 346 (2023). 

• Select your search scope.  
  • Generally, when searching for journal articles by title, it's best to cast a wide net and select the "Everything" scope. (For more information on search scopes see "Search Basics" in this guide). 
• Select the field "Title"  
• Leave the default "contains" (changing this from the default would be one way to limit your results. For more information on these options, see "Advanced Search" in this guide). 

It looks like result #1 is what you're looking for. Note that this article is available online. 

• Click on that result to see how to access the article online. 

• The link to access materials electronically is located under "View Online." if you have issues accessing electronic materials, make sure you're signed in! (For more information, see "Getting Started: Signing In" in this guide)

In this case, the link took you to a list of issues/volumes of the journal, rather than directly to the article. But that's ok, because you have the citation (24(3) Police Practice & Research 346 (2023)). 

• Click on Volume 24, Issue 3

• Locate your article
• Click on the link for PDF or full text

You can often locate a newspaper by title simply by entering the title in the search box on the law library homepage. However, if that method isn't working, the most effective way to locate a newspaper by title is by using Advanced Search. 

• Access Advanced Search from the library homepage: 

EXAMPLE: You're looking for online access to the newspaper USA Today.

• Select your search scope.  
  • Generally, when searching for newspapers by title, it's best to cast a wide net and select the "Everything" scope. (For more information on search scopes see "Search Basics" in this guide). 
• Select the field "Title"  
• Leave the default "contains" (changing this from the default would be one way to limit your results. For more information on these options, see "Advanced Search" in this guide). 

It looks like result #1 is what you're looking for. 

• Click on that result to see how to access the newspaper online. 

• The link to access materials electronically is located under "View Online." if you have issues accessing electronic materials, make sure you're signed in! (For more information, see "Getting Started: Signing In" in this guide)
• Research Pro-Tip: don't forget about filters! If you have too many results, try the "Material Type" filter and select "Newspapers"