HIS: History Research Guide: Finding Books

1. Search the KentLINK catalog for books and other materials owned by University Libraries
2. Search the OhioLINK catalog to find additional titles available from the libraries of Ohio's colleges and universities.
3. Still need more?  Ask the library staff for assistance or check WorldCat or Google Books. 

Use the <Request item> button to request books not held at the Salem Campus Library.  Books will be delivered by courier in 2-4 working days. 

Need more?  Search the OhioLINK Central Catalog. 

It contains almost 12 million unique titles from its 89 member libraries, two public libraries and the Center for Research Libraries.

The OhioLINK Electronic Book Center (EBC) contains electronic books purchased by Ohio academic libraries. 

Google Books searches the full text of books that Google has scanned, converted to text, and stored in its digital database. Books in the public domain (copyright no longer applies) are available in "full view" and free for download. For copyrighted books, Google limits the number of viewable pages.

Begin by searching KentLINK, Kent State University Libraries' online catalog. Search by title, author, keyword, or subject.  Review your search results list  and click on items of interest for more information.

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Begin with a keyword search.  Keyword searching does not depend on your knowing the precise subject heading libraries use to describe the book. 

Combine search terms using logical operators.

AND narrows a search.  Both terms must appear in the record.  
Example:  Black Death and England

OR broadens a search.  Either or both terms may appear. 
Example:  Black Death or plague

NOT eliminates a term from a search.  Use cautiously.
Example:  cowboys not football

Truncation searches for all forms of a word with the same root. 
Example:  histor* retrieves history, histories, historian, historical,  etc.

Parentheses allow you to combine AND and OR in the same search.
Example: (Black Death or plague) and England

Work from the best records to identify other search terms. 

Names:  To find books about a specific person, search under the person’s name, last name first. 

Examples: Darwin, Charles
                  Ho Chi Minh

History: History subject headings often start with a geographic heading, subdivided by subject and time. There are also subject headings for names of specific people, places, or events.  In addition, history appears as a subheading for many subjects.

Examples: Greece--History-- 20th century
                  World War-- 1939-1945
                  Hinduism-- India-- History

Finding other subject headings.  When you locate a title which appears to be useful, look at the other subject headings assigned to it. In the example below, the Find Similar Items tab provides additional search terms and links to additional, possibly useful titles.

 Searching broader subjects. If you do not find enough material about the specific person, event, place, or issue, try searching under broader terms.