Tips for Finding Books

General descriptions of the library’s book collections are available under Collections & Centers. (Also availabe in the menu above.) For detailed checklists and overviews of rare books in selected subject areas, please see the LibGuide to Rare Books in the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections. The LibGuide to Louisiana History Research Tools lists commonly used published reference resources for researching people and places in Louisiana History.

You can explore our entire collection via the LSU Libraries’ online catalog. To limit your search to materials within Special Collections choose "Special Collections" from the drop-down "Libraries" menu below the search box. Also consider limiting your search to a specific collection, such as the Rare Book Collection or Louisiana & Lower Mississippi Valley Collection, depending on the topic you are researching. Limiting your search by language, publication year, and material type may also be helpful.

Although the library and our collections are open to any and all, Hill Memorial Library is a closed-stacks facility, meaning the shelving areas are not publically accessible. However, you can browse the stacks for books virtually by doing a call number search under Advanced Search in the catalog and limiting your search to "Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library," or a particular collection.

Please contact the library’s reference department or the Curator of Books if you need further assistance locating published materials.