History 591T: Trials in History

Finding books

Every non-fiction library book has subject headings assigned to classify it. Sometimes using key words will find you books on your subject, but except for very specific searches with distinctive words, using subject headings (known as LCSH's, or Library of Congress subject headings) will usually retrieve more books than just a keyword search.

Use key words to get LCSH's for better results. See the PowerPoint on this search strategy.

Also, remember to take your searches, if you like, from the local to the national/international level, by using Worldcat. If we have four or five books on subject x, and you want or need more information, search Worldcat using the same LCSH's you used for our catalog, and if you find books we don't own, you can order them by using Interlibrary loan (ILL). PowerPoint presentations on using Worldcat and ILL are on the "Library research help!" page of this guide.

Library catalogs

Discovery Search This link opens in a new window
Find articles across a large number of library resources with just one search! Begin your generalized research here.
Free to use for anyone to find records. Some results, and detailed information such as PDFs and full text links, are available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
The combined catalogs of most U.S. libraries.
Content is freely available for use by all.

Free, public WorldCat
Differs from UMass WorldCat subscription in that it can be accessed freely from any location. However, you cannot request books through Interlibrary Loan from this site.