If you have a citation for a book, and you want to obtain a copy of that book, you first need to determine whether the University of Illinois Library owns a copy of the book. To determine whether we own a copy, you will use the Library Catalog:
University of Illinois Library Catalog Use the Library Catalog to identify books, journals (but not journal articles), microform collections, and digital collections owned by the University of Illinois. The Library Catalog is the primary tool for exploring the collections of the University of Illinois Library, the second largest academic library collection in the United States. In the Library Catalog you can search for books by subject, and you identify the location within the Library of a particular book or journal. Books and journals are organized in the library by subject. Each item is assigned one or more subject headings and a unique call number. Subject headings are standardized terms from the Library of Congress. The call number is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification or Library of Congress Classification. Boolean operators must be capitalized if used: AND, OR, NOT. Interface automatically truncates some search terms unless Boolean operators are used within the same query line. You can also browse catalog records by call number, creating a "virtual shelf browsing" experience.
The Library Catalog will include records for both ebooks and print books, so if we have a copy of the book as an ebook, you will a record for the ebook in the Library Catalog.
If the Library owns a copy of the book, but the book is already checked out to another patron, or if the Library does not own a copy of the book, then you will next search the I-Share Catalog to see if the book is available to you through I-Share:
I-Share Catalog Use the I-Share catalog to find books not available at the University of Illinois (either because another patron has already charged this book, or because the book isn't part of the collection here). I-Share is a single catalog through which you can search and request books from the collections of 85+ academic and research libraries in Illinois. You request books from a participating I-Share library the same way you request books from University of Illinois libraries—simply click the "Request Item" tab, log in to your account (the same account you use to manage books you have borrowed from the University of Illinois Library), and complete the request. Books requested from I-Share libraries usually arrive withing three to four days, and you will receive an email when your book is ready to be picked up. You can borrow I-Share books for 4 weeks, and renew each book up to 3 times (for a maximum circulating period of 16 weeks).
If the book is not available through I-Share, then you will use your complete citation to request a copy through interlibrary loan:
ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan) If the item is not available in the Illinois catalog and it is not available through I-Share, then your next stop will be Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery. Login to Interlibrary Loan using your NetID and password. If you are requesting a book, then select "Request a Book". If you are requesting a journal article, then select "Request a Photocopy". Be sure to fill out as much of the form as possible. You'll be notified by email when your item is ready to be picked up. If you requested a journal article, it will probably be sent to you electronically as a PDF.
Use the Library Catalog to identify books, journals (but not journal articles), microform collections, and digital collections owned by the University of Illinois. The Library Catalog is the primary tool for exploring the collections of the University of Illinois Library, the second largest academic library collection in the United States. In the Library Catalog you can search for books by subject, and you identify the location within the Library of a particular book or journal. Books and journals are organized in the library by subject. Each item is assigned one or more subject headings and a unique call number. Subject headings are standardized terms from the Library of Congress. The call number is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification or Library of Congress Classification. Boolean operators must be capitalized if used: AND, OR, NOT. Interface automatically truncates some search terms unless Boolean operators are used within the same query line. You can also browse catalog records by call number, creating a "virtual shelf browsing" experience.
If the Library does not have the book you need, or else the book you need is charged, then you should next search the:
Use the I-Share catalog to find books not available at the University of Illinois (either because another patron has already charged this book, or because the book isn't part of the collection here). I-Share is a single catalog through which you can search and request books from the collections of 85+ academic and research libraries in Illinois. You request books from a participating I-Share library the same way you request books from University of Illinois libraries—simply click the "Request Item" tab, log in to your account (the same account you use to manage books you have borrowed from the University of Illinois Library), and complete the request. Books requested from I-Share libraries usually arrive withing three to four days, and you will receive an email when your book is ready to be picked up. You can borrow I-Share books for 4 weeks, and renew each book up to 3 times (for a maximum circulating period of 16 weeks).
After you have explored the books available to you here at the University of Illinois, and also at other I-Share libraries, you will want to expand your search using:
If you find a book in WorldCat that you would like to use for your research, you can request it through:
If the item is not available in the Illinois catalog and it is not available through I-Share, then your next stop will be Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery. Login to Interlibrary Loan using your NetID and password. If you are requesting a book, then select "Request a Book". If you are requesting a journal article, then select "Request a Photocopy". Be sure to fill out as much of the form as possible. You'll be notified by email when your item is ready to be picked up. If you requested a journal article, it will probably be sent to you electronically as a PDF.
For more detail on the Dewey Decimal Classification, consult the Library's Guide to the Dewey Decimal System:
An overview of Dewey Decimal Classification (DCC), and a guide to understanding call numbers. This guide will help you identify relevant DCC numbers, which you can then use for shelf browsing, either in the Library, or virtually using the Library Catalog.
For more detail on Library of Congress Classification, consult the Library of Congress Classification Outline:
A guide to locating relevant LCC numbers, which you can then use for shelf browsing, either in the Library, or virtually using the Library Catalog.
Listed below are ebook collections, which have the obvious advantage of supporting full-text keyword searching across an entire corpus. Individual ebook titles are also discoverable through the Library Catalog (see above).
Over 17 million books, periodicals, and government documents digitized by Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and research libraries. About 2,500,000 of these works can be read online (because they are public domain works, and therefore freely accessible).
Over 20,000 digitized books. Most of the books in the collection were published before 1923.
Massive searchable database of scanned books, journals, and magazines. Full text of out-of-copyright material and excerpts of copyright-protected material provided by publishers. Keyword searching (resulting in page references) of copyright-protected material.
Almost 5,000 book-length works of scholarship in the humanities, with an emphasis on history. Works selected by scholars.
Over 22,000 scholarly ebooks. As with JSTOR Books, not every title listed in the collection (almost 60,000) is owned by University of Illinois.
Over 40,000 scholarly ebooks books. We do not have access to every ebook in the collection (which in total has over 75,000).
Like most documents, books can be either primary or secondary sources, depending on the nature of your research questions.
Any books published in the time period you are studying can be used as primary sources in principle. To find them in library catalogs and digitized book collections, search by date of publication (for example, here are books about hippies published in the 1970s).
Primary source documents, whether they were published or unpublished at the time, are often collected and published as books at a later time. To find these kinds of books, use one or more of the following Library of Congress subject terms in your search:
correspondence
sources
diaries
personal narratives
interviews
speeches
documents
archives