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HIST 3560: The Scientific Revolution: 1550-1800: Secondary Sources: Books

Tips: All UM Libraries Catalog & MOBIUS

1) Do not only browse the shelves. We have a lot of books stored off-site in the Depository, so take time to look through the books under appropriate subject headings in the UM LIBRARIES CATALOG.

2) Subject headings: if you have a name, start by searching the name (last name first) as a subject heading. Even if you don't have a name, try a broad subject search. Look for smaller subdivisions of the subject that may be helpful.

3) To save time, look for the Limit Search button to limit your search to English language.

4) If we don't have a book you want, search for the book in All MERLIN and use the Request Item function. Still no luck? Use MOBIUS. Within MOBIUS, there is also a link to Prospector, which you should use if MOBIUS fails you.

Library Catalogs

To search for books on a topic, go straight to a library catalog such as MERLIN (for the MU Libraries), MOBIUS (for all Missouri academic libraries) or Worldcat (for most U.S. and some non-U.S. libraries).

Searching Books: Two Very Different Approaches

Approach 1: Search for books ABOUT a person or other subject, or search for a known book. Search the MERLIN catalog to look through titles, subject headings, some tables of contents. 

Approach 2: To find books that MENTION a particular work, person, technology, named idea, etc., use full-text searches. Search the Discover@MU, limiting to books, or search HathiTrust and use the Find In a Library function.