Keywords in Context
Thanks to Google Books' page snippets, you can search topic keywords/phrases and read them in context, giving you a more definite sense of a book's relevance to your research. Use this technique to determine which books to borrow, or to expand your working bibliography.
You can search the full text of Coates Library's ebooks in exactly this way, and then download the book section you need. For help using our ebook collection, see the Tips and Tools tab of this research guide.
Finding Books
Books may provide a comprehensive overview of your topic. Scan the index or the table of contents for key ideas, arguments, and thinkers. Use the bibliography for additional leads.
- Coates Library CatalogSearch for books and media available at Trinity. Skim the entire record entry for additional search help in the form of subject keywords, tables of contents, and publisher summaries.
- Internet ArchiveUse the Internet Archive to search for digital copies of books the library has only in print. Thanks to a program called controlled digital lending, you can check out and download these books as if they were physical copies on library shelves. You must create an account to borrow books.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR has added more than 30,000 e-books to its platform in response to the COVID crisis. All users have unlimited access to these titles until June 30.
- Google BooksUse Google Books to find page previews of scholarly monographs, or to find your keywords in context in order to assess a book's relevance to your topic. See the right-hand column for more information.
- WorldCatWorldCat is a catalog of library holdings worldwide––a meta-catalog. When Trinity doesn't have the book you need, submit an interlibrary loan (ILL) request straight from WorldCat.
Search by Subject
Use subject headings to create narrowly tailored search queries.
Subject headings constitute a controlled vocabulary that can help you find sources by their primary subjects. The Library of Congress maintains this vocabulary making it standard across many different databases and catalogs.
For example, imagine you're developing a topic on theme parks. Searching that term in LC's subject heading thesaurus reveals the preferred subject heading, "amusement parks." Using the advanced search interface in a given database, you can change the search field from keyword to subject as pictured below. Searching "amusement parks" in the subject field returns all results tagged with that heading. Now cross-reference your subject search with keywords specific to your interest in amusement parks, such as the way they're marketed.
Caveat searcher! Anytime you construct a query like this you may filter relevant results. It's often best to begin with broad, keyword-based searches, then subject searching when you have a clear and well-defined sense of the resources you need. Research is a process of moving between broad and narrow levels of inquiry.