Psychology Research Guide
Library Catalogs

Library Catalogs

UMass Amherst Libraries Catalog
Search for books, journals, and other materials by author, title, subject, keyword, call number, journal title, etc. For materials on a specific subject, enter your term(s) and search by "Subject begins with" or "Subject keywords." The Library of Congress Subject Headings (Z695.L695+) located near the Reference Desk suggests search terms (subject headings).

Psychology is a broad term to use in searching a catalog by subject. In fact, our catalog returns over 5,000 entries under Psychology. Enter the most specific term for the topic to get more precise results. Some examples of relevant subject headings in Psychology:

• Adolescent Psychology
• Behaviorism Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuropsychology

To find psychology material by groups of people, put the group name first, then the appropriate term. For example:

• African Americans Psychology
• Women Psychology

Other Library Catalogs

To expand your research to other libraries, try the following catalogs. Ways to obtain materials not owned by UMass Amherst Libraries.

Five Colleges Libraries Catalog
Search the combined Library Catalogs of UMass Amherst, and Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges.

WorldCat (UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff use their OIT account for off-campus access)
Search the catalogs of thousands of libraries around the world. Also available free on the Web: click here.

C/W MARS Catalog
Contains records for the materials of participating public, academic, school, regional, and special libraries in Central and Western Massachusetts.

Find Library Materials by Call Numbers

The Library Catalog provides a call number and location for each item. The call number consists of an alphanumeric string based on the Library of Congress classification system. View an example of how to read a call number. Most books and other materials on psychology reside in the "BF" and "RC" sections of the Library of Congress Classification system that we use to organize materials by subject in the Libraries. The BF's are on Floor 20, while the RC's sit on Floor 23 of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. The Library of Congress call number areas that contain a significant number of books, journals and other materials on psychology include:

BF173-175.5 Psychoanalysis
BF176-176.5 Psychological Tests and Testing
BF180-198.7 Experimental Psychology
BF203 Gestalt Psychology
BF207-209 Psychotropic Drugs and other Substances
BF231-299 Sensation, Aesthesiology
BF309-499 Consciousness, Cognition and Intelligence
BF501-505 Motivation
BF511-593 Affection, Feeling, Emotion
BF608-635 Will, Volition, Choice, Control
BF636-637 Applied Psychology
BF660-685 Comparative Psychology, Animal and Human Psychology
BF692-692.5 Psychology of Sex, Sexual Behavior
BF697-697.5 Differential Psychology, Individuality
BF698-698.9 Personality
BF699-711 Genetic Psychology
BF712-724.85 Developmental Psychology, including Infant Psychology, Child Psychology, Adolescence, Adulthood
BF725-727 Class Psychology
BF795-839 Temperament. Character
BF1001-1389 Parapsychology
BF1001-1045 Psychic Research
BF1048-1108 Hallucinations. Sleep. Dreaming
BF1111-1156 Hypnotism
BF1404-1999 Occult Sciences

"RC" is generally the Medicine classification, but the overlap with psychology is significant.

RC435-571 Psychiatry
RC475-489 Therapeutics, Psychotherapy
RC490-499 Hypnotism and Hypnosis, Suggestion Therapy
RC500-510 Psychoanalysis
RC512-569.5 Psychopathology
RC512-528 Psychoses
RC530-552 Neuroses
RC554-569.5 Personality Disorders, Behavior Problems including Sexual Problems, Drug Abuse, Suicide, Child Abuse
RC569.7-571 Mental Retardation, Developmental Disabilities