Why Use Books?       

Books...

• can give you an in-depth analysis of your topic
• can get you a historical perspective on your topic to see how it has evolved over time
• often are written by authors who are experts or have taken the time to do research on a particular subject
• help you understand the complexity your topic

When you find a book...

• you do not have to read the whole book! Instead, look at the table of contents in the front to find which chapters will be most helpful to you-
• look in the back of the book.  Often there is a list of sources that the author consulted when he or she wrote the book.  You might want to use these sources for your research, too!
• Evaluate it to determine if it is a credible source for your research

Note: Important For Historical Research 

• Get books from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan (see instructions below)

Google Books

Find previews of books

1. Search Google Books to find full text or partial text of books online

2. Choose books that indicate "Preview" You may not see entire text of the book, but many of the chapters may be included. You can often find great information in these chapters.

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3. Are there pages missing from your preview that you would like to read?

• Make an Interlibrary Loan Request using the following link so that the book can be sent to Green River's Holman Library for you to borrow. Note: this process may take one week

4. To see an example of how to make a request, click below:

Search for Books in the Holman Library

1.  First, try broad search words relating to your topic, such as any of the following:

• united states civil war women
• american civil war women
•  

2. Next, try a new search.  Add words to narrow your search, such as any of the following:

• nurses |  military | african american | medicine | employment
• homefront | soldiers | spies | espionage | gender roles | south | north

Example searches:

• united states civil war women nurses
• united states civil war women military
• american civil war women spies
• american civil war women espionage

3. Brainstorm synonyms or related terms for search words

• Example: medicine- medical, health, nursing, surgery, hospitals, wounded
   
• Example searches:
  • united states civil war women medicine
  • united states civil war women surgery
  • united states civil war women hospitals

4. Finally, refine your results by source type =  "books" 

• See the example search in the box below

Limiting to Books

As shown in the image below, you can limit the results in Holman Library One Search to just books by using the "Source Type" limiter of to the left.

• Here you can select "Books" to view print books (held at the library) or ebooks (that you can access by clicking the link)

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Browse Books

Many books about U.S. History are grouped together on the library shelves.

1. Open books and skim through the chapter headings to see if one relates to your topic.
2. If you'd like help, ask a librarian to help you locate the books
3. Click on links to see list of books by time period:

4. Or, walk over to the 973 call number section in the library shelves and browse books by era:

• 973 General U.S. History
• 973.1 Discovery and exploration to 1607
• 973.2 Colonial period, 1607-1775
• 973.3 Revolution and confederation, 1775-1789
• 973.4 Constitutional period, 1789-1809
• 973.5 Early 19th century, 1809-1845
• 973.6 Middle 19th century, 1845-1861
• 973.7 Civil War, 1861-1865
• 973.8 Later 19th century, 1865-1901