Search for books in the Holman library catalog.

• Note that you can limit to only e-books to find books you can read online.

Wondering what to type in the search box?

Try relevant keywords and keyword combinations as well as subject terms to find books with information on your topic. For example:

Sample Keywords:

• housing
• gentrification
• segregation
• neighborhoods AND families
• "low-income housing"
• "neighborhood covenants"
• "inherited wealth"
• "social mobility"
• American Dream"
• homeless* OR unhoused

Sample Subject Terms: 

How to find subject terms:

One useful way to find subject terms (and to see if a source seems relevant) is to see what subject terms are listed with books and other sources in the library catalog.

1. Search for a book.
2. Click on the book title. That opens the "record," a page with lots of info about the book.
3. Scroll down. You will find Subject Terms (as well as a book description).
4. Try clicking on a relevant Subject Term. It will take you to other sources that are similar. 

Using the Interlibrary Loan Service

InterLibrary Loan: No library has it all! But the InterLibrary Loan (or ILL) is a service offered by Holman Library for borrowing books and articles from other libraries. InterLibrary Loan requests are free to current GRC students, faculty and staff.

For your research, it is important to search many places.

• First, start with the books and articles available through the Holman Library.

• Then, If you find books and articles that the Library does NOT have access to, just request them through Interlibrary Loan.

• Using Interlibrary Loan increases the amount of resources available to you and helps you become a more thorough researcher.

Note:

• Books and other items that require mailing may take 1-2 weeks.

• Articles and other digital items may arrive within 2-5 days. Use your email as your contact info and the article will be sent directly to you.

If you need help filling out this form, call the library reference desk at (253) 931-6480.

Other places you can search...

Use the links below to look for books, articles and more beyond our collection:

Why use books? Books can provide:

• chapters and essays relevant to your topic
• history
• opinion
• analysis
• differing perspectives
• personal narratives
• leads to more sources!

Use a library's catalog to find books and other items owned by that library.