Research Guides: Geffen Academy Advanced Global History: Finding Books

How to Read a Book

How to Read a Book
Excellent, detailed approach to non-fiction reading by Paul N. Edwards of the University of Michigan. "So unless you're stuck in prison with nothing else to do, NEVER read a non-fiction book or article from beginning to end."

Tips for Book Searching

When searching for books in the UCLA Library Catalog, here are a few strategies to start with:

If you are not sure of where to start, do a Keyword search for relevant terms or phrases (put the phrases in "quotation marks")
If you find a useful title, click on the Subject(s): to get a list of subject headings that will lead to other books on the same topic
If you already have a relevant book or article in hand, use its bibliography to find other sources on the same topic
If you have the title of the book you want, do a Title (start of) search to find the call number
Use quotation marks if you want to search a phrase
Use * to truncate a word, e.g., america* will retrieve american and americans

E-books at UCLA
A research guide to help you find the 1000s of e-books available in the UCLA Library.

Selected E-book Collections

HathiTrust Digital Library
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A repository of scanned books contributed from academic institutions across the United States, including UCLA. Books still in copyright are scanned and searchable, but the full text scans will not become available online until their copyright expires. Access to the Emergency Temporary Access Service ended on September 13, 2021.
UC Press E-Books Collection, 1982-2004
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Online access to over 2000 University of California Press books covering a range of topics. More recent online publications from UC Press can be searched for in the UCLA Library Catalog. On the Advanced Search screen, search for University of California Press in Publication Information and limit to online. Formerly eScholarship Editions.

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