Psychology: Books

The basic Library Catalog search is a keyword search--you simply type your search terms into the box, and the catalog retrieves all the items that have your search terms in their catalog records.

Searching by subject is another way to find materials that focus on your topic. Each item in the Library Catalog has one or more subject terms (headings) assigned to it, When you search by subject, you retrieve only the items that have the subject for which you searched. To make a subject heading more specific, subheadings are added after it. A subheading is separated from the main heading by a double dash (--). Once you have your subject terms, to search by subject in the Library Catalog, in the dropdown list under "Search for," select "Subject."  Here are some example subject headings for psychology topics:

Adolescent Psychology

Attention

Behaviorism (Psychology)

Child Psychology

Cognition

Control (Psychology)

Counseling

Human behavior

Memory

Mental disorder

Mental illness

Psychoanalysis

Psychology

Psychology--History

Psychology--Study and Teaching

Psychology, Applied

To find subject headings for a subject you are studying, first use keyword searching to find some books on your general topic. Then look at their records and see what subject terms they have. You can use the subject links in the catalog records to retrieve all the items with the same subject. However, this linking scheme has some quirks, so if it seems like it is returning far too many (or too few) items, try using the Library Catalog (aka Advanced Search) screen and a Subject or Subject Phrase search with your terms.

If you want to browse the library stacks, you can use these call numbers to find books on psychology.

BF Psychology

BF 38-64 Relation to other topics

BF173-175.5 Psychoanalysis

BF176-176.5 Psychological tests and testing

BF180-198.7 Experimental psychology

BF203 Gestalt psychology

BF207-209 Psychotropic drugs and other substances

BF231-299 Sensation. Aesthesiology

BF309-499 Consciousness. Cognition

BF501-505 Motivation

BF511-593 Affection. Feeling. Emotion

BF608-635 Will. Volition. Choice. Control

BF636-637 Applied psychology

BF638-648 New Thought. Menticulture, etc.

BF660-685 Comparative psychology. Animal and human psychology

BF692-692.5 Psychology of sex. Sexual behavior

BF697-697.5 Differential psychology. Individuality. Self

BF698-698.9 Personality

BF699-711 Genetic psychology

BF712-724.85 Developmental psychology

BF725-727 Class psychology

BF795-839 Temperament. Character

BF839.8-885 Physiognomy. Phrenology 

BF889-905 Graphology. Study of handwriting

BF908-940 The hand. Palmistry

RC Internal Medicine

RC435-571 Psychiatry 

These books can be found on the second floor of the library stacks. Remember that given the interdisciplinary nature of liberal arts studies, you may find useful books with other call numbers too. 

To find books from thousands of other libraries and request them through interlibrary loan, use WorldCat FirstSearch. You can search for books, journals, audiovisual materials, dissertations, and many other material types. When you find a resource you think would be useful in your research, you can fill out an interlibrary loan form, and Nash Library will request the book from another library.