Find Books, E-Books & Book Chapters
Search for Books
You can search for books and ebooks at Holy Cross using CrossSearch, the main search box on our website:
... or, using the Library Catalog link under the search box, which you can see above. Watch our video introduction to CrossSearch 📺 to learn more about CrossSearch!
Usually, the best way to begin searching for books is by using broad keywords. Choose search terms that reflect your topic, but don't get too specific, remembering that book topics and titles tend to be quite broad. If your search is unsuccessful, try taking it one step broader.
Since CrossSearch contains many different types of sources, you may want to use the Limit To option in the side navigation of your search results and choose Catalog Only to narrow your search to ebooks, books and similar print/physical resources.
Once you've found a few books that look interesting to you, you can use clues from the books to help you find other books. For example....
- Call Numbers. Books on similar subjects are in similar areas of the library. For example, if you search for books on Saint Paul, you would see pretty quickly that many books have call numbers starting with BS2500-2600 (or nearby). This means you can easily go to that section of the library and look through the books in person!
- Vocabulary. Check the records in the library catalog for vocabulary in the tables of contents, titles, descriptions or other information that you might use for future searches.
- Subjects. Every book in our catalog is marked with at least 1 "tag" that tells you what the book is mostly about, and links together other books on that same topic. You can click on the tags to find a list of all other books using that tag. For example, if you click on the tag -- "Paul, the Apostle, Saint -- Views on Judaism"-- you would find all of our books marked as being about Saint Paul's perspectives on Judaism.
"Research Starters"
are encyclopedia articles from the publisher Salem Press that often appear at the top of a results screen in CrossSearch (using default results limiters; "Catalog & Full Text Only").
For example, a keyword search for ancient agriculture returns the "Research Starter" article "Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in the Ancient World" derived from Encyclopedia of the Ancient World, Salem Press, 2001, as the first result.
Navigate the Stacks
Books at Dinand Library are arranged by Library of Congress Call Number. Call Numbers are used to find books in the library. Each book is assigned a call number made up of letters and numbers, which acts like an address and tells you what shelves to look on.
- Reference Books are in the Main Reading Room. These books must stay in the library.
- Books whose numbers begin with letters A through G are on the Mezzanine level (1 floor down from the Main Reading Room).
- Books whose numbers begin with letters H through Z are mostly on the Ground (bottom) level.
- Books whose numbers begin with N are located in the Visual Arts Wing (main level, near the fireplace in the old Periodicals room).
- Books whose numbers begin with M are in the Music Library in Brooks Hall.
- Books whose numbers begin with Q, R, S or T are in the Science Library in Swords Hall.
You can also watch our call number tutorial📺 to learn more about how call numbers work. Or, check out the Library of Congress Classification Outline for a detailed breakdown of our call number system.
The handout below includes a detailed stacks map, and more information about places to look for this specific project:
And of course, you might also find books you'd like to read at other libraries -- read more about Interlibrary Loan on the Access Sources page.
Ebooks
To search for ebooks located at Holy Cross, use CrossSearch.
Then, use the Resource Type limiter in the side navigation to focus your search on ebooks.
You may also want to search in our specific ebook collections:
When searching within a specific ebook collection, you will be able to search the full text of each book allowing more detailed searching. For example, you may search the library catalog and not find any titles on your topic, but a search in ebrary might find a book with one chapter focused on your topic.
Accessing Ebooks:
In most cases, your best option is to use the "Read Online" feature for our ebooks. Most academic ebooks do not work with devices that you might use to read personal ebooks, such as a Kindle or Nook (believe me -- this frustrates librarians too!). There is software that you can download onto a PC or iPad, but this can be difficult to use, so if you have a stable internet connection, I recommend reading online.
However, if you would like to download the software, or if you are having trouble accessing any particular ebook, please feel free to contact us (libref@holycross.edu) or see our ebooks guide linked below:
NOTE that most e-books do have limits on printing. Each publisher has different functionality and rules for downloading and printing ebooks.
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How to: Find & Use Ebooks
by HC Libraries Research Help Last Updated Aug 15, 2024 53 views this year
Locating Book Chapters
Locating book chapters that you may want to read can take a little more time. Here are some creative ways that you might find book chapters:
- CrossSearch -- some, but not all, of our books have tables of contents in the catalog that you can check;
- Google Books typically have limited previews, but if you can see enough to locate a helpful chapter, we can get you a copy;
- Similarly, Amazon.com previews;
- Google Scholar sometimes includes citations for book chapters (and searches across Google Books);
- Databases (some, but not all, include book chapter citations specifically; America History & Life is one);
- Citations in bibliographies of articles, e-books, or other books that you may have checked out before we closed.
You can also try searching WorldCat, which searches the collections of libraries around the world (including ours!). Sometimes the information about a book is listed differently in WorldCat, allowing you to find sources that you would never have pulled up in our own catalog.
- WorldCat This link opens in a new window
A world-wide catalog of books, journals, audiovisual materials, and other sources available in libraries worldwide. Includes direct links to request items on Interlibrary Loan.
Each of these strategies can be used to....
(1) Find the titles of book chapters in our own libraries, which library staff can scan and send to you; or
(2) Find the titles of book chapters held by other libraries, which can be requested on Interlibrary Loan.
Requesting Book Chapters:
For instructions on how to obtain book chapters that you would like to use, see the Access Sources page on this guide.