Library Guides: Arts + Public Life: Finding Books & Reference Sources

Catalogs for Finding Books

Use the Catalog to find print and e-books at the Library.

To find books beyond the Library, use WorldCat, which is especially useful for discovering books owned by other libraries and for placing an interlibrary loan request.

University of Chicago Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
Find items in all campus libraries, including books, periodicals, sound recordings, videos, DVDs and more.
WorldCat (OCLC) This link opens in a new window
WorldCat is a database that allows researchers to search the combined catalogs of hundreds of libraries around the world. It contains more than 52 million records for books, journals, audiovisual materials and more. This source can help researchers find items, verify citations, and identify which libraries hold a particular title.

Finding books on your topic

Using Library of Congress subject terms can sometimes help you locate relevant sources. Here are some examples:

Afrofuturism

Women, Black, in art

Science fiction in music

It is sometimes challenging to find materials, particularly fiction, using the library catalog. Using the advanced search can help, with combinations of terms like "speculative fiction" and "African Americans" or "science fiction and African Americans"

Here's an example combining "science fiction" OR "fantasy fiction" OR "speculative fiction" in all fields with "African Americans" as a subject:

Collections of e-Books

Search for E-Books Using the Catalog.

Find Ebooks available through Library sources.

See also the Library's guide How do I find e-books?

Google Books This link opens in a new window
Search the full text of books to find ones that interest you and learn where to borrow or buy them.
HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
Login with your UChicago cnetid and password to download PDFs of Full-View texts
HathiTrust is a shared digital repository created by major research libraries. It offers searching of the full text of books and full access to works in the public domain
UChicago users may login to download high quality PDF versions where available.
Open Library This link opens in a new window
User created catalog sponsored by the Open Content Alliance with the goal of creating one web page for every book ever published. Create a free account to check out a book.

Open Book Publishers
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Database of open access academic books in Humanities and Social Sciences

Handbooks & Companions

Below is a list of some of the reference sources available through the UChicago Library.

Visit individual subject guides to find recommendations for subject-specific reference sources as well as contact information for librarians with expertise.

Art History & Visual Arts: Starting Points
UChicago guide to reference sources in Art

Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window
Regularly updated annotated bibliographies. University of Chicago Library subscribes to many sections of Oxford Bibliographies Online such as African Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Atlantic History, Buddhism, Childhood Studies, Chinese Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, Classics, Environmental Science, Geography, International Law, International Relations, Islamic Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies, Military History, Music, Political Science, Renaissance and Reformation, Social Work, and Sociology.
Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
Search all articles in all Handbooks regardless of whether or not the Library has purchased access to the electronic edition. If you need an article that is locked (abstract access only), try searching for the title of the handbook in the Library Catalog for a print copy.

Blackwell Companions
Executes a library catalog search that generates a list of Blackwell Companions, across all subjects. Use the limits in the right column to narrow the search by series or call number.

Cambridge Companions Online This link opens in a new window
This database offers subject or theme based collections of content within a richly functional, fully cross-searchable online environment. The books in these series survey scholarship on individual writers or other notable people, on schools of thought, and other topics. They serve as textbooks, as excellent starting places for research, and as scholarly works in their own right.
Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
This unique historical reference compendium allows instant access to the renowned texts of the Cambridge Histories series. With access to the most up to date and authoritative scholarly content, Cambridge Histories Online is an invaluable resource, for undergraduates, graduates, lecturers and researchers alike.

All the available volumes are grouped into topics, making it quick and easy to search and browse through an array of historical subject areas. The extensive bibliographic referencing and other leading functionality, enhances usability and makes this resource ideal for any type of historical research.

Dissertations

How do I find dissertations and theses?
More information about finding dissertations and theses

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses This link opens in a new window
Includes citations for materials from the first U.S. dissertation (1861) to those accepted as recently as last semester. Starting in 1997 full-text is often available. If full-text is not available information about ordering the document is provided.
Foreign Dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries This link opens in a new window
Locate doctoral dissertations from countries other than Canada and the United States held at the Center for Research Libraries.

Book Reviews

Looking for book reviews? Start with a title search in ArticlesPlus and limit Format to "reviews" in the left hand column.

Articles Plus This link opens in a new window
Articles Plus allows simultaneous searching of a broad range of articles, books, book reviews, and other collections, including:
Hundreds of the Librarys article databases
Over 40,000 journals and periodicals
The University of Chicago Library catalog
Digitized collections of documents and images from many organizations
Book Review Index This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive online guide to book reviews with over five million review citations from thousands of publications.
IBR Online This link opens in a new window
Multilingual and interdisciplinary index to book reviews, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

How do I find reviews?
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A guide for finding reviews, including book reviews.

Subject Specialist

Ask a Librarian

Contact:

Email Us
773-702-4685 (Phone)
773-825-6777 (Text)

Subjects: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Biological Sciences, Humanities, Molecular Engineering, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences

Useful Information

Find It!
When searching databases, the button, when present, can be used to locate an item in the Library Catalog, to gain access to the full-text of an article, or to send an interlibrary loan order..

Proxy It!
Get access to library resources from off campus with ⇒ ProxyIt! ⇐. For Chrome, Firefox or Safari, drag the link to your bookmarks tool bar. For Internet Explorer, right-click on the link and select "Add to Favorites...".

Purchase Request
The Library welcomes suggestions for the acquisition of materials which support the University's teaching and research programs. Use this form to submit a request. It will be routed to the appropriate subject specialist for consideration.