Catalogs
- University of Illinois Library CatalogUse 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.
- I-Share CatalogUse 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).
Why Bother with Subject Headings?
Why bother with subject headings when one can do keyword searching in the Online Catalog?
It's true that you can find sources on a topic by doing keyword searches. But if you limit yourself to keyword searching, you are likely to miss important material on your topic that uses other terms. If you only need two or three books, you can probably find what you need by doing keyword searches, but if you are doing historical research, you can’t afford to miss critical material on your topic. For a comprehensive subject search, search with subject headings as well as keywords.
A good way to identify subject headings for a topic is to do a keyword search in the online catalog using terms you think describe the topic and try to identify a few relevant books. Look at the full record for those books to see what subject headings were used, then do another search on those headings.
As a rule of thumb, use fairly broad headings, as well as the specific ones that describe your topic, in order to make sure you haven't inadvertently eliminated relevant material that is contained within works of larger scope. Most likely you will find multiple headings to describe your topic, and you should use all of them. You can narrow your search in the online catalog by combining subject headings (as a phrase) with keywords, using the “Advanced Search” option.
Some Example Subject Headings
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
- Standard Oil Company
- IUKOS (Firm)
- Petroleum--Azerbaijan
- Petroleum--Canada
- Petroleum industry and trade--History.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Middle East.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Venezuela
- Petroleum industry and trade--Africa
- Petroleum industry and trade--Middle East--History.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Middle East--History--20th century.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Russia (Federation).
- Petroleum industry and trade--United States.
- Petroleum industry and trade--United States--History.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Illinois.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Illinois--Statistics.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Political aspects.
- Petroleum industry and trade--Military aspects-History--20th century
- World War, 1914-1918--Causes
- World War, 1939-1945--Causes
- World War, 1939-1945--Economic aspects
- Oil spills--Environmental aspects
- Oil pollution of the sea
- Oil and gas leases--Mexico, Gulf of
- Oil fields--Middle East--Maps
- Petroleum in submerged lands
- Energy policy--United Staets
- United States--Foreign relations--Arab countries
- Arab countries--Foreign relations
- Russia (Federation)--Economic policy--1991-
- Russia (Federation)--Foreign economic relations
- Russia (Federation)--Politics and government--1991-
- Russia (Federation)--Foreign relations--Former Soviet republics
- Anglo-Iranian Oil dispute, 1951-1954
- Iran--History
- Iran--Politics and government--1941-1979
- Iran--Economic conditions--1945-1979
- Iran--Foreign relations--Great Britain
- Iran--Foreign relatiions--United States
- Nigeria--Economic conditions--1970-
- Nigeria--Environmental conditions
- Nigeria--Ethnic relations
- Nigeria--History--1960-
- Nigeria--History--Civil War, 1967-1970
- Nigeria--Politics and government--1960-
- Nigeria--Politics and government--1984-1993
- Nigeria--Politics and government--1993-
- Consumption (Economics)--United States
- Consumption (Economics)--United States--History--20th century
Searching the Online Catalog
Catalogs offer both “Quick Search” and “Advanced Search” options. Use “Advanced Search” to identify subject headings on your topic, to combine subject headings (or elements from subject headings) in a Boolean search, or to combine keywords from any part of the record with subject headings to narrow your search.
Use “Quick Search” to browse a subject heading, to search a title when you know exactly how it begins, to locate a work or works by a particular author, or to search by call number for a specific book.
Digitized Book Collections
- Internet Archive BooksOver 20,000 digitized books. Most of the books in the collection were published before 1923.
- Google BooksMassive 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.
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryOver 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).
- Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans This link opens in a new windowBased on Charles Evans's American Bibliography. Includes almost every book printed in the United States between 1639-1800. Part of the Archive of Americana.
- Early American Imprints, Series II. Shaw-Shoemaker This link opens in a new windowBased on Ralph Shaw and Richard Shoemaker's American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819, includes almost every book printed in the United States between 1801-1819. Part of the Archive of Americana.
- Afro-Americana Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia This link opens in a new windowOver 12,000 printed works, including books, pamphlets, and broadsides. Part of the Archive of Americana.
- Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new windowBased on Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, this collection includes books, pamphlets, and periodicals about the Americas from 1492 to 1868. Includes publications both from the Americas and from elsewhere.
- ACLS Humanities E-BooksAlmost 5,000 book-length works of scholarship in the humanities, with an emphasis on history. Works selected by scholars.