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International Students' Guide to the Dalhousie Libraries

Search the Novanet Catalogue

Search the Novanet catalogue for resources like books, journal articles, conference proceedings, newspapers, theses, technical reports, and open access material.

 You can find the Novanet catalogue front and centre on the Library's homepage:

The Library Catalogue: Novanet

Library Catalogue Definition:  A database listing and describing the books, journals, government documents, audiovisual and other materials held by a library. Various search terms allow you to look for items in the catalog. The catalogue gives the physical location of material on library shelves using a call number.

Dalhousie Univeristy uses a library catalogue called Novanet. 


Novanet is not just the library catalogue for Dalhousie University, Novanet is the library catalogue for all of the universities and community colleges in Nova Scotia, as well as Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. This sharing of the catalogue means that a tremendous number of books, journals, documents, audio-visual materials and many other resources are available to you. 

  • Dalhousie students, faculty, and staff may use any of the Novanet libraries – you can visit in person and use library resources, and sign-out loanable materials using a valid DalCard that has been registered with the Dalhousie Libraries.
  • Materials from Novanet Libraries can also be borrowed using the Novanet Express Service. Books and photocopies can be requested through the catalogue and will then be delivered to your home library. There is no charge for this service.
  • The Dalhousie Libraries and the other Novanet Libraries use Library of Congress call numbers to organize books and other materials on library shelves.
  • For a full explanation of Library of Congress call numbers, see the Library of Congress Classification Outline. Listed below are the letters and subjects of the main subject areas of Library of Congress call numbers. You can browse library shelves following this outline:
A -- GENERAL WORKS: YEARBOOKS, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, DICTIONARIES
B – PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION
C – HISTORY: CIVILIZATION, ARCHAEOLOGY, BIOGRAPHY
D -- WORLD HISTORY AND HISTORY OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, ETC.
E -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
F -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
G – GEOGRAPHY, ANTHROPOLOGY, GENDER, RECREATION
H – ECONOMICS, COMMERCE, SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL WORK, PLANNING
J -- POLITICAL SCIENCE
K -- LAW
L -- EDUCATION
M -- MUSIC
N -- FINE ARTS, ARCHITECTURE
P -- LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Q – MATH, COMPUTING, SCIENCES
R -- MEDICINE
S -- AGRICULTURE
T – TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING
U -- MILITARY SCIENCE
V -- NAVAL SCIENCE
Z – BIBLIOGRAPHY, LIBRARY SCIENCE, INFORMATION RESOURCES

This short video explains how to read a Library of Congress call number.