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HIST 245: Imperial Russia/East & West (Hooper): Secondary Sources

Fall 2022

Find Books, E-Books & Book Chapters

Catalog Search Tips:

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. 

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 have started to find books relevant to your topic, you can check their records to look for subject tags/headings. These headings are used throughout the catalog -- you can either follow the links to find books with the same tags, or you can use the terms in the subject headings to guide you in revising your search terms. 

Navigating the Library Stacks:
 

Books at Dinand Library are arranged by Library of Congress Call Number.

  • Reference books are in the Main Reading Room.
  • Call numbers A through G are on the upper (Mezzanine) level.
  • Call numbers H through Z are on the lower (Ground) level (with a few exceptions).
  • N and TR call numbers are located on the main level in the Visual Arts Wing.
  • Oversize books (with a "+" in the call number) are shelved at the end of the normal section for that letter. 

See the handout below for information about how the stacks are organized, and the best places for you to look. 

You can also watch our Call Numbers video 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. 

To search for books located at Holy Cross, use CrossSearch or the catalog: 

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. 

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. 

E-Books:

You also have access to the thousands of e-books included in our collections. 

Searching for E-Books at Holy Cross:
To search for e-books located at Holy Cross, use CrossSearch.
Then, use the Resource Type limiter in the side navigation to focus your search on e-books. 

You may also want to search in our specific e-book 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 E-Books at Holy Cross:
In most cases, your best option is to use the "Read Online" feature for our e-books. Most academic e-books do not work with devices that you might use to read personal e-books, 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 e-book, please feel free to contact us (libref@holycross.edu) or see our e-books 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. 

Other E-Books:

In addition to our collections, with a BPL eCard, available to all Massachusetts residents and resident students (even if you're currently learning from out-of-state), you can access e-books via the Boston Public Library: 

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. 

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 Find Full Text page on this guide. 

Find Articles

History Databases

Political Science Databases

Historical Period Search
Databases focused on a particular subject area (often called subject or subject-specific 
databases) often come with special features geared towards the needs of that subject area. 
 
One such tool can be found in the Historical Abstracts and America History & Life databases. Most databases will allow you to search for articles published within a certain time-frame, but this is not as useful if you are trying to locate information on a specific historical era -- you won't be looking for (secondary) sources published in the 1800s! 
 

These databases include Historical Period information for each article, allowing you to search for articles about a specific time period.  

Combining Databases 

You will sometimes find that you need to search multiple databases to get a complete range of information on your topic. For example, if your topic crosses national borders, it may not be enough to search only Historical Abstracts or America History & Life alone. 
 
Many of our databases are made by the same company, and some companies allow you to search two or more of their databases simultaneously, through a single interface. In EBSCOhost databases (which includes the Historical Abstracts/America History & Life tools as well as AAS Periodicals), you can do this using the Choose Databases option: 

Note: It is generally best not to mix types of databases in the same search.  For example, it is generally best not to search America History & Life (secondary, scholarly sources) at the same time as the AAS Collections (primary sources), partly because it will produce confusing search results, and partly because the most effective search strategies and terms will vary widely between secondary and primary sources.