The McGill Library Catalogue uses subject headings from the Library of Congress. These subject headings act like hashtags by categorizing books and other resources according to topic, and can be used effectively as search words for finding material.
The most general subject heading used is Children's Literature. Searching this term in the catalogue will yield wider results since resources in this category will include as many relevant titles as possible regardless of the term used by the author of a particular book. This Subject heading can then be refined by nation or interest:
Other important subject headings for Children's collections, depending on your research interest:
It is not necessary to know all the available subject headings in order to search. You can start with a keyword search using elements of the examples above. Then, look within the records of any books that seem useful to find out what categories the book is in and then select one in order to find others on the same topic. Subject headings appear in catalogue records, and can be clicked on like hashtags to bring up more results.
Refine your resultsLimiting your results to rare books and special collections. Facets on the left column of your search results (see image at left) allow you to narrow down results by holding location, language, date range, and other dimensions. Selecting "Rare Books and Special Collections" narrows results to the
Search for RBSC's archival holdings in Access to Memory (AtoM). This web application features written descriptions of our archival materials. After reviewing descriptions, you may wish to view the archives themselves. Send an email to Rarebooks.library@mcgill.ca to request materials in advance of your visit.
It is keyword searchable, but the archives organized by the creator of the archival material so it is best to explore the collections with authors in mind.
Take note of the fonds or Collection Title, and the reference code to help us find it for you: see the example outlined in red below.
The fonds consists primarily of written material, most of which seems to be from the hand of Palmer Cox (poems, speeches, drafts of published or unpublished works). There is also some graphic material, financial records and parts of correspondence.
The fonds also contains several graphic parts illustrating Brownies books in the making.
The collection was formed by the Canadian puppeteer Rosalynde Osborne Stearn as a comprehensive library on the puppet theatre with representative examples of puppets characteristic of different periods and countries. The full finding aid and list of objects is available on AtoM
The collection consists of six of Walter Crane’s sketchbooks. Two of the sketchbooks date to the summer of 1864, and the remaining four date to the summers of 1897, 1901, 1903, and 1905. The collection’s dates offer a contrast between Crane’s early and later career as an artist. The contents feature his preliminary designs, pictorial observations of the world, and textual notes. The full finding aid and list of objects is available on AtoM
Many other forms and non-book materials like ephemera, puppets, and objects may interest researchers interested in Children's literature and culture.
Use keyword searching and facets for Format and Genre to explore the library's extensive collection of formats.
Below are some examples. Contact the curator for assistance with locating any specific format of interest.
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