Where to Start: Book Research
Searching library catalogs is the best place to start when looking for books. The links below are for searching the UCLA Library Catalog, which shows books held in UCLA libraries, and UC Library Search, which shows books held in all University of California libraries. If you don't like searching in catalogs you can browse the shelves of the Research Library, the Science and Engineering Library, or the Biomedical library using the call numbers below. Just be aware that there are also relevant books in our off-site storage facility, SRLF.
Online Catalogs
To find books in the UCLA Library and beyond, use the following catalogs:
UCLA
- UC Library Search This link opens in a new windowUC Library Search is the unified discovery and borrowing system for all 10 UC Campuses. Select the UCLA Library Catalog scope to search holdings of materials owned by the UCLA Library and other UCLA collections, whether online or in print. Does not contain full-text articles or article citations. Select the Articles, books and more scope to search for materials in all 10 UC campuses. More information in this guide.
University of California and beyond
- WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window
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OCLC FirstSearch catalog includes citations for books, journals, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, computer files, newspapers, slides, videotapes, archival material, etc., in libraries around the world.
Selected E-books
In general, searching for electronic books is the same process as searching for print books. Start with the catalog. However, we do have access to some e-book collections that make it easier to browse. I will add individual, open access e-books having to do with the history of science, technology, or medicine as I come across them. Please suggest titles to add!
- Disreputable Bodies: Magic, Medicine, and Gender in Renaissance Natural PhilosophyEssays by Sergius Kodera on Medicine, Magic, and Gender in the Renaissance. Available in pdf format.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
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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.
- Internet ArchiveFree access to text, audio, moving images, and archived websites.