Whatever type of library you use, you need to know how to locate the items relevant to your research. Every library has a catalogue. The catalogue informs you not only of the publishing details but also of the exact location of a given item in the library.

Once you are in a library, it will not be difficult for you to find the catalogue room. The catalogue consists of a row of shelves with drawers in which a large number of cards are kept. The cards are arranged by author, title, and subject respectively. That is to say, each book in the library has at least three cards in the catalogue room: one author card, one title card, and one or more subject cards. If you know the name of a book's author, you may go directly to the author card section. If you know the title of a book, go to the title card section then. If you know the subject dealt with in a book, go and have a look in the subject card section. After you locate the card, take down all the details that you do not know about the item, especially its call number and location in that particular library.

In most libraries in mainland China, open-shelf service is not available for most library items. You will need to fill in a request form that describes the item in detail. The information collected from the catalogue cards will be helpful here.

Many libraries have now begun to provide an online catalogue. You may access the database from the licensed terminals in the library. In some cases, these libraries allow remote access. If you have authorization, you may be able to access all the online library information from your personal computer.

Most such libraries have individualized online systems and can vary considerably. All the systems operate on the same principle as a card catalogue, however. Entries for items available in the library are organized by author, title, and subject. You may choose to go by author, title, or subject respectively in your search. Information within each entry includes the location and the status of an item (i.e. whether the requested item is on loan to other patrons or is still available on shelf). If you are connected with a printer, you may also print out all the online entries you need.

To use an online catalogue, you may always follow the directions on the instructional menu (读者指南 in Chinese) or in the files labeled Help (帮助 in Chinese)or Options (选项 in Chinese).

Search the online catalogue of the BFSU library at http://202.204.132.205/ for the following items by author, title, and subject respectively. Print out the catalogue entries for each of them.

1. 刘宓庆著。1998。《文体与翻译》。北京：中国对外翻译出版公司。
2. Shuttleworth, Mark and Moira Cowie. 1997/2004. Dictionary of Translation Studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.