HY 552 - Renaissance Europe, 1350-1600: Finding Books

To find books and government documents in USA Libraries' collections, use SOUTHcat: USA Libraries' Catalog.

• Catalog tips and tricks:
  • Keyword searches – use quotation marks to hold phrases together ("early modern europe")
  • Truncation – use ? after the root of a word to find all its variants (philosoph? finds philosophy, philosophical, philosopher)
  • Browse the Subject(s) field in records to find the right words for searches. (Example: Try doing a keyword search for renaissance, then look at the subject(s) field in several records. You’ll see that the subject terms could be "europe--history--1492-1648" or "europe--history--15th century" or "renaissance."  Click on the subject heading link to find more records with this subject.)
  • Search for an author's name by typing last name first. Sometimes the last name is all you will need to enter, for example: erasmus or machiavelli
• Revise and refine your searches. To limit your search to primary material add terms such as correspondence, diaries, personal narratives, letters or sources.
• Watch for repeating call numbers and browse bookstacks in that area.
• Pay attention to the Location and Status fields. You will need this information to locate the item in the library or see if it is checked out to someone else.

Part of Google's library-scanning project. Only books in the public domain are shown in full text. Others may have just a citation or show selected pages from the book. Remember, you can check SOUTHcat to see if we have a book you find in Google Books if the full text is not available.

The USA Libraries subscribe to several subscription e-book collections. These collections tend to focus on a specific discipline or field of study in their coverage.

If you cannot find what you are looking for in SOUTHcat, try looking in WorldCat. It will allow you to search the catalogs of many other libraries around the world. If you find something you like, let a librarian know, and we may be able to get the item for you through Interlibrary Loan.

Below are some suggested search terms to use when searching the SOUTHcat catalog or library databases. Search techniques may vary with each database, so look at help screens or ask a librarian for suggestions about using quotation marks and truncation symbols.

Leave out the word "and" when doing a keyword search on SOUTHcat, since this is automatically added if the phrase is not in quotes. Put phrases in quotation marks to search as a phrase. Use ? as a truncation or wildcard symbol in the catalog. Use Advanced Boolean Search for combinations of concepts and phrases. When using Advanced Boolean searches, you will need to type in "and" or "or" to cobine search terms.

europe? histor? "15th century"
europe history
renaissance encycloped?
renaissance biography dictionar?
women renaissance history
renaissance philosoph?
renaissance and (regigio? or theolog?)
renaissance humanism
"economic history" "15th century"
"early modern europe"
renaissance politic?
seyssel
erasmus correspondence
"thomas more"
petrarc?
"church and state"
france "politics and government"
politics war "16th century"
italy historiography
women historiography renaissance
science renaissance