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Using UW Libraries Search to Find Books

Find eBooks

You can find eBooks in two ways:

  • Do your search and then on the results screen, filter your results by using the toolbar:
    • Choose Availability: "Available Online" and Resource Type: "eBooks"
    • And then click on the green "Apply Filters" button
       
  • Use the Advanced Search option
    • Change "Show Only" to "UW Libraries" and "Material Type" to "eBooks"
       
  • See the eBook FAQ for more information

Search Tips

 

  • By Topic - Type in the keywords that broadly describe your topic. For example: cannery workers alaska history
     
  • By Title - search for a specific book by title. Type in the first few words of the book title in quotations. For example: "union by law filipino"
     
  • By Author - search for books written by a specific author. Type in the last name followed by the first name of the author in quotations. For example: "quintana maria"

Find Articles on American History

Using Databases to Find Articles

  • How to search: Link your search terms using the AND connector. For example:  seattle AND "general strike". You can also use separate search boxes for each term.

  • Narrow your search results: Use the All filters option to filter your results by Publication date, Subject, Language & more

  • Find full-text of article: Some articles have a direct link to the full text. These have buttons labeled Access now (PDF) or Access now (Online full text). Some articles do not have a direct link to the full text, these articles have a button labeled Access options. Click on the Access Options button and then click Check for full-text availability beyond Ebscohost. This will take you into UW Libraries search to see if we have the full text available through another source. If we do not have the full text, you will have an option to request an article scan.

Scholarly Books & Journals as Research Resources

The raison d'être of historians is to explore the past and attempt to describe, explain, interpret and analyze it. Historians use evidence from the past (primary sources) to support their interpretations which are most often published in the form of books and journal articles (secondary sources). So why should you use secondary sources?

Strengths

  • Written by expert scholars. Before publication academic books and articles are vetted by other scholars in a process known as peer review.
  • Peer review ensures that scholarly books and articles are more reliable and credible than other types of publications.
  • Provide historical/broader/in depth context and analysis of a topic.
  • Provide historiographical context for a topic -- how has this topic been interpreted by other historians.
  • Scholarly articles and books are based on evidence (primary sources) that are cited in the footnotes and bibliography. They are often a quick way to identify important evidence that you too may wish to use in your research paper. You can use this evidence and present your own interpretation.
 

Keep in mind

  • Expert scholars are likely to use specialized terminology and theory in their analyses making scholarly articles and books sometimes difficult to understand.
  • There are fewer scholarly sources written about smaller cities than larger or more historical significant places.

How to Read Scholarly Books & Articles

Scholarly articles and books have a purpose -- an argument (also called a thesis) that they are attempting to make about an issue and present evidence to support this argument. As you read a scholarly article first check to see if there is an abstract, a brief overview of the article. This will give you an idea if the article will be relevant for your research. Then look for the author's argument. Ask yourself, does the author adequately support their argument with evidence.

For more information on reading a scholarly article see: How to Read an Academic Article & How to Read a Secondary Source.
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