Clark Family Library: Early American History: Find Books/eBooks

Why Use Books/eBooks?

Books are valuable resources in the research process because:

They provide in-depth and broad information about a specific topic
You can use the introduction, table of contents, and index to evaluate the book
You only need to read the portions of the book that are relevant
If you're using an eBook, you can conduct a keyword search within the book
They are typically well-researched, which also means that books can take multiple years to publish

Image by Abhl Sharma, Creative Commons.

Using eBooks

Our eBooks are available to read online, and you can download PDF's of individual chapters to your computer or mobile device to read later.

Use EBSCO Discovery Service to search all of the Library's databases at once.

Enter keywords in the search box
After you press 'search', use filters to refine results to include journal articles, full-text, and, if desired, scholarly/peer-reviewed
Click on the title to access the full text, if available.

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.

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.

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.