Using the Catalog
Books available in the University of Richmond Libraries are all listed in the UR Library Catalog.
You can search by book title, author, keyword or subject heading. When search for biographies, you should use your person's name in a "Subject Heading Browse" search. When dealing with a topic that can be used in many fields it is best to add a second word that describes your area of interest. for example, "Africa" and "civilization". Start with a keyword search and when you have found one or two relevant books, examine their subjects headings to help guide further searching. Remember that books are generally on broad topics and that you are not searching the full text, only the titles, subject headings, and--if you're lucky--the table of contents. If the record for a book of interest includes a reproduction of its cover, you can click on that for more information, such a s summary or book reviews.
Other Sources of Books
- WorldCat (FirstSearch) This link opens in a new windowSearch a catalog of library holdings from around the world. Find which libraries have copies of a certain book, DVD, or other material. The FirstSearch interface was designed more with librarians in mind. (OCLC)
- Google BooksThese are digitized books. Most have only a limited portion of their text online, but the full text is searchable and you may find the full text in the UR Library catalog
- Interlibrary LoanBoatwright Library will obtain items not owned by campus libraries for current UR faculty, students and staff. If you're unsure if the item is available on campus, you can check using the Library Catalog or the Journal Titles list.
- OneSearch This link opens in a new windowThis discovery tool searches for more than books, but you can limit the search to books and ebooks. It can also search the full text of our large collection of electronic books.
Best Resources for Research on Social, Cultural, and Ethical Issues
The list below begins with a general database that covers all topics and then includes communication, sociology and social sciences databases that focus on specific topics like communication, business, technology, culture, society, and behaviors.
If a keyword search does not turn up the kind of article you need, check to see if there is an "all text" or "document" search option, that would let you search the full text of any full text articles in the database. Then use quotation marks around the words in any multi-word phrase, like "privacy in public places."
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles on most topics. This multi-disciplinary database is a good place to start if you don't know where else to begin. (EBSCO)
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new windowSearch for newspaper articles from hundreds of national and regional newspapers, as well as transcripts of television and radio news. (EBSCO)
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on topics related to communication, linguistics, mass media, and journalism. (EBSCO)
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on topics related to business. Also included is some financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, and more. (EBSCO)
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on topics related to the humanities. (EBSCO)
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar is a good way not just to find articles on your topic, but also to find other scholars who have cited an article of particular interest.
Humanities Librarian
28 Westhampton Way
804-289-8823
