African Americans, Equality, and the Law: LGLS 0803

Question: What value lies in books?  Why, for example, would a researcher choose a book over a journal?

Answer: Because of their length, books tend to provide more comprehensive treatment of a topic. Edited works are generally comprised of chapters by different contributing authors. Books can also be useful for providing footnotes to additional materials. 

Question: Why would you use Google Book Search?

Answer: Google Book Search (unlike Diamond or WorldCAT) searches the full-text of the books in its inventory.  Diamond and WorldCAT are limited to searching only title, author, subject heading and other specific and limited information about a book.

Because Google Book Search lets you search within books, you can see a table of contents or an index or just a portion of a book.  You can then locate the book in a nearby library.

Looking for a book or book chapter? Use the following sources to find books at Temple and at other libraries.
 

• Library Search: Temple University Libraries Catalog
  Use the library catalog to search for books on your topic.

Quick Search for books and more

 

• Search tips:
  • Try using the author's last name and the word "criticism" combined.  Example: Toomer and criticism
  • Try using the phrase "African American" and a topic. 
    Example: "African American" and equality
  • Sort results by date to find the most recent publications.

• E-Z Borrow
  Search nearby libraries for books that are either currently unavailable or not owned by Temple. Available copies may be requested online and should be ready for pick-up within 3-5 work days.

• WorldCat
  Search for over 52 million items owned by libraries around the world and request via Interlibrary Loan.

Books that you find for your topic may be located in a variety of places.  Below is a list of possible locations.