Wellington City Libraries

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Āwhina Putumōhio Catalogue help

Need help searching our catalogue or finding an item? Try our suggestions and quick start guide below.

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Quick start guide

Find out about search options, how to check your account online, save your borrowing history, limit results by branch location and more.

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More catalogue help

Want to dig down into the details? Have a browse of our in-depth documentation to find out about search options and shortcuts, saving a search, creating RSS feeds and more.

Catalogue help — Full documentation

How to locate items on the shelf

If you're struggling to find items in our branches from their catalogue locations, we have some suggestions.

Key points

  • Fiction is shelved alphabetically under the author's surname.
  • Non-fiction is shelved by Dewey number.
  • Our Biographies section is arranged alphabetically by the subject's surname. Check the catalogue in case the biography you are after has a Dewey number — some are shelved with their Dewey Decimal subject number rather than placed in the Biographies section
  • There are separate Reference collections at every library. Catalogue records say 'Ref' at the beginning of an item's Call number, and 'Not for loan' under the Status.

Finding non-fiction — the Dewey Decimal system

We shelve our non-fiction books according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which uses numbers to represent subjects. Almost any subject you can think of has a corresponding Dewey number — from dinosaurs (567.91) to dessert recipes (641.86). Find out more:

Finding non-fiction — the Dewey Decimal system

But it isn't there

Ask a staff member for assistance, sometimes a second pair of eyes helps — and we're always here to help!

Some things to check are:

  • Check the size in case it is 28 cm or over — this means we class it as a Large Book. Some of our locations shelve these separately — check with library staff if Large Books are shelved separately at your branch.
  • Check display shelves.
  • When was the book last returned? Staff can check to see when the item was last returned and retrieve it for you if it hasn't been shelved yet.

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