Clark Family Library: American and African American Studies: Finding Books and eBooks

Geotom Catalog

Use the search box below to search for books and eBooks in W&J's catalog.

GeoTom Catalog

Call Number

Call numbers are a book's address on the physical shelf. If you are ever looking for books relating to topics in American and African American Studies, the sections below are good places to start. Not sure where the books are in the library? Check out the library map below or ask at the front desk.

E11 - 143: History of the Americas
E151-909: History of the United States
E184.5-185.98: most African American history is included in this range
F146-160: History of Pennsylvania
JJ: Political institutions and public administration (North America)
JK: Political institutions and public administration (United States
JL: Political institutions and public administration (Canada, Latin America, etc.)
PS: American literature

The Library of Congress classification and subject headings systems are large and complex systems subject to government approval, and as a result, sometimes the process to update the classifications and subject headings to their most current terms, especially those pertaining to race, gender, and sexuality, can be slow. Please feel free to ask a librarian more about how the classification and subject headings systems are structured, their biases, and current efforts to improve the terminology within them.

Clark Family Library Floor Plan
A detailed map of the library.

eBooks and Resources From Other Libraries

Online Reference Books

Reference Books are great for background information

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
This database is great for background information. It provides access to more than 630 full-text reference books and over 3 million full-text entries.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Formerly known as Gale Virtual Library (GVRL), this database is an online library of reference eBooks, including many titles from academic book publishers. The database is multidisciplinary with strengths in world and American history, literature, and economics. A great database to start your research.

Digitized Books

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Full text access to over 200,000 e-books covering all academic subject areas.
eBooks on EBSCOhost This link opens in a new window
More than 850 eBooks and 3,900 publicly accessible eBooks are available to W&J ID card holders through our subscription. eBooks cover topics such as: business, health, and science. Browse holdings in Geotom catalog by typing NetLibrary as author.

HathiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust Digital Library is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform. It provides long-term preservation and access services for public domain and in copyright content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house partner institution initiatives.
Google Books
Google Books contains millions of scanned books. You can read the full-text or do a keyword search of many of the books.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg contains over 60,000 digitized public domain books that are available in a variety of eBook formats.

Can't find what you're looking for? Use the links below to access materials we don't own.

Citizens Library
Citizens Library is the public library located at 55 S. College Street at the corner of E. Wheeling Street. Go to their website for hours, their online catalog and other information. They also have a good collection of popular fiction. All you need is your W&J ID to get a Citizen's library card.
E-ZBorrow
E-ZBorrow is the fastest way for W&J Students, Faculty, and Staff to borrow books that may not be available at the Clark Family Library. You can simultaneously search and request books from more than 50 academic library catalogs throughout Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia.
Interlibrary Loan
Use these forms to request materials through interlibrary loan. This is a free service that provides you access to materials W&J doesn't own.
WorldCat
WorldCat is a global catalog of library collections. Find items we don't own and then request them through ILL.