Finding Books
Use the COD Library's book catalog to find books & videos. Click on the "keyword" tab to search using multiple search terms and limit your results by material type (book, video), date, or language. You'll need a current library card to check out books.
E-book Collections
Most books in these collections can also be located and accessed by searching in the Library's book catalog.
- ebrary
Collection contains many History-related books. Many e-books can be viewed from your computer or downloaded to your e-book reader. You need to create an account to download e-books to your device.
- EBSCO e-book collection
- Humanities (ACLS) E-book Collection
Collection includes some books on History. NOTE: Books can be viewed by single page on a computer, or, can be downloaded to an e-book reader. You'll be prompted to create an EBSCO account. The loan period for e-books is four hours. Books can be renewed after the initial loan period expires.
This resource includes over 1500 full-text, cross-searchable books in the humanities selected by scholars for their continuing importance for research and teaching. Pages from this collection can be printed and emailed.
Reference Works
Reference works, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias are useful for learning about background information on a topic topics in History.
Please note that print reference books may be used while in the library only. Online reference books may be accessed from any on or off-campus computer. You'll need a library card to access online books and articles from off-campus.
Click on the links below to access the online book/website or record/description of the print book.
Encyclopedias
Biographies
Chronologies
Databases
The Library subscribes to many databases that provide access to thousands of popular and credible, scholarly journals. Many databases provide access to full-text articles, while some provide information about the article only (citation). Request (for free!) through Interlibrary Loan copies of articles to which the Library doesn't have full-text access.
Access the article databases listed below.
Databases - Best Bets
- Academic Search Complete
- Academic OneFile
- History Study Center
Primary and secondary history collections providing access to rare British, American and world history sources, full text articles and reference materials. Includes multimedia sources. - JSTOR
Multidisciplinary database covering a wide range of academic areas.
Multidisciplinary database covering a wide range of academic areas.
Excellent source for credible scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. Articles in database were published between the early 1700s and between 1-5 years ago.
Individual Journal Title List
Primary Sources
There are several areas where you can find primary source documents. Click on a link below to view lists of resources in each of these areas.
Reference Collection
- Early Civilizations in the Americas (v.3)
Reference E 61 .B46 - United States Supreme Court Reports
Reference KF 101 .U6584
General Collection
To locate sources in the General Collection:
- Do an author search
Anything written by a participant would be a primary source. For example, for a primary source about the war in Roman times, look up "Caesar, Julius" as an author and find his The Gallic War. - Do a title search
Some primary sources have no known authors. For example, a known primary source for Egyptian religious rites is the Book of the Dead also known as the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Doing a title search shows the Library owns several copies. - Do a subject search
Primary sources often contain one of these subheadings: sources, personal narratives, diaries, or correspondence. For example, look up Middle Ages and scan the results for those subheadings. Sometimes primary sources are found in broad collections with or without the subheadings above. Look up a broader heading and limit the search results to "source material" to find some useful collections.
Library Databases
- Annals of American History : Writings and primary sources documents from more than 1,500 authors who made and analyzed American history through speeches, writings, memoirs, poems, and interviews.
- History Study Center : Primary and secondary history collections providing access to British, American and world history sources, full text articles, maps, and reference materials among other types of resources.
- Military and Government Collection : Although primarily concerned with U.S.history there are references to history and politics of other countries.
Websites
Who can publish on the Internet? Anyone.
You may find a website by doing a web search or through a recommendation of another student. Before you use a website for your assignment, you should evaluate the webpage for credibility, reliability, authority and purpose. Check out the CRAP Test for more information on evaluating websites.
The following websites have been evaluated for their credibility.