HIST 297: Histories of Disease & Healing (Conz): Secondary Sources

BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY STACKS: 

At Holy Cross, we organize our books using a system called Library of Congress Classification or LCC. LCC is based on the subject of the books. Each letter represents a specific subject. Each subject is broken down into more specific letter sections, each of which is further broken down into number ranges for specific topics. Most call numbers have additional  numbers and letters on the end of them, which are used to give each book a unique spot on the library shelves. 

In general:

• 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 N or TR are in the Visual Arts Wing on the main level. 
• Books whose numbers begin with letters H through Z are mostly on the Ground (bottom) level.
• 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.

Watch our Call Numbers video tutorial  or visit our Call Numbers guide to learn more about how call numbers work. 

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:

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, here are some other places that you can look for e-books for your project: 

 Other Libraries

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: 

You should also check with your local community and/or state library, as many of these libraries have online collections. Contact libref@holycross.edu if you need help locating information about what may be available to you locally.

 Open-Access E-Books

This list includes e-book sources which are always openly available:

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. 

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. 

SUGGESTED JOURNALS:

In addition to the research databases, you can use the Libraries' E-Journals Search to look for articles in specific journals. 

This can be a useful strategy when: 

• Your professor has recommended specific journals that address your topic; 
• You notice that the same journals come up frequently while doing your research;
• You have a citation for a specific article that you would like to read (see the Access Sources tab for more).  

Just make sure not to rely too much on one or two specific journals. To get the broadest perspective possible on your topic, it's best practice to use multiple sources. 

Here are some journals you may want to use as a starting point: 

COMBINING DATABASES:

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.