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Researching Your Hometown

Searching the Library Catalog or MOBIUS by SUBJECT

To do subject searches for places, use MERLIN Classic Catalog (under Quick Links on the library homepage) and select Subject (Library of Congress):

MERLIN subject search screenshot

Cities and counties usually make good subject headings, provided we own books about them. Note that many books will be in the State Historical Society and do not circulate, but check MOBIUS for circulating copies from other libraries. When searching for cities as subject headings, try the city and state abbreviation - if the normal, 2-letter abbreviation doesn't work, try 3-letter ones like Tex and Ill. State abbreviations are sometimes in parentheses.

Examples of LC subject headings for cities:

  • Chicago Ill
  • Dallas Tex
  • St. Louis (Mo.)
  • New York (N.Y.)
  • Washington D C
  • Seoul Korea
  • Rome Italy