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Intro to Library Research

Depending on your discipline of study, books can play a vital role in the information gathering process. Specific types of books are important in finding background information about your topic. These include:

  • Subject specific encyclopedias
  • Bibliographies, i.e. lists of various published publications about a subject
  • Subject dictionaries

Other books that are more narrative in nature provide a broader context of specific topics that helps you gain a “big picture” perspective.

The library does not purchase textbooks, but we do have a small collection of donated textbooks available for checkout. If you are looking to find your textbooks or course materials for free through the library, be sure to search our catalog to see if we have them on our shelves. If not, use the other techniques suggested on this page to search for textbooks.

To find books in the JKM library, use the Library Catalog tab on the library homepage and enter your search terms.  Keeping your search terms simple and direct will usually yield the most relevant results. For example: women's social history, protestant reformation, climate change, autism.

Once you click on a relevant title, look at the location for the floor the book is on and record the call number. You will also want to check the status to make sure it is available before you look for it.

If you need a book that is not in the library’s collection, you can request it through EZBorrow. Type in the title of the book you need, and EZBorrow will search for it.

If the book is able to be requested, you will see a prompt to request it. You will need to login with your Chatham credentials to place the request. After requesting, your book will arrive at the Jennie King Mellon Library in 2-5 business days, and you will receive an e-mail notification when it is available for pick-up.

The JKM Library has access to a large collection of eBooks that can be searched through the eBooks tab on the homepage, individual collections or via the Discovery database.

Some titles can be downloaded and all can be read within the database.

To download eBooks, Adobe Digital Editions needs to be installed on your computer. Consult this guide for further information on viewing and downloading eBooks.


 
 
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