Searching for Books
Books give you more in-depth background than encyclopedias and dictionaries. Use library catalogs to find titles on your topic.
BGSU Libraries Catalog
Start with the BGSU Libraries Catalog to search for items owned by the BGSU Libraries. Items in the catalog include books, journal titles, newspapers, government documents, sound recordings and more. If your aren't finding what you want in the catalog, ask a library staff member for help.
Subject Headings include:
- Indians of North America
- Indians of North America--Canada
- Specific names, places, or events such as:
- Rosebud Indian Reservation
- Kickapoo Indians
- Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief 1768-1813
- Wounded Knee Massacre SD 1890.
Word Searches:
- Use single terms or phrases: Shamans, Anasazi, Code talkers, etc. Or combine terms to narrow your search:
- Women Indians
- Indians Health
- Indians Education History
- Custer Little Bighorn
- Indians Diaries
- Canada Indians
- (Aboriginal or Native) and Canada
OhioLINK
OhioLINK Central Catalog lets you search the combined catalogs of 88 academic libraries in Ohio. You can borrow books from other OhioLINK libraries over the computer, and have them delivered to BGSU in two to three days time. T
here are online instructions for ordering materials over OhioLINK. Remember, your account with BGSU's Library must be up-to-date before you can order books from OhioLINK.
HathiTrust Digital Library
The HathiTrust Digital Library provides access to a database of digitized books and other materials. You can search the catalog, search full text, or browse the public collections. Note that not all books are available full text.
To find only those books that are available full text, you can search the catalog on the main search page and click on the box next to "Full View Only."
To do a more complex search, click on the Advanced Catalog Search link. You can also select "Full View Only" on this page.
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a database of books, magazines, audio and video files, maps, etc. It's a good place to find books that are old enough to be no longer under copyright.
To search for a book, type in a search term in the search box on the home page and select "Texts" from the drop down search box.
If you want to do a more complex search, click on the Advanced Search link to the right of the search box on the home page. This allows you to customize your search in many ways.
Reference Books
Reference books provide background information to help you put your research in context. They include encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc. Below are just a few reference books we have on Native Americans in the Jerome Library.
- American Indian and the United States byCall Number: REF E 93 .W27 v.1-4ISBN: 0394472837Publication Date: 1973-01-01Texts of important primary sources illustrating the relationship between Native Americans and the federal government. Materials are drawn from five principle sources: reports of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, Congressional debates, judicial decisions, treaties, and acts of Congress.
American Indian History by Call Number: REF E 77 .A496 2003 v.1-2ISBN: 1587650673Publication Date: 2002-08-01Brief, signed essays on event, legal cases, treaties, organizations, etc.
Encyclopedia of American Indian History by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9781851098170Publication Date: 2007-07-23Chronological and topical essays on many topics in Native American history. This book has made an effort to present information from a Native American perspective.- Encyclopedia of North American Indians byCall Number: OnlineISBN: 0585077649Publication Date: 1996-01-01Entries include: descriptions of tribes; biographies; overview of significant topics, historical eras, or cultural traditions; and definitions.
Native American History by Call Number: REF E 77 .N45 1996ISBN: 0345393503Publication Date: 1996-12-03Provides side-by-side chronologies of Native American history and world history. It tries to place the history of Native Americans in the larger world context.
Native American Sovereignty on Trial by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 1576076245Publication Date: 2003-04-24Surveys the historical and current sovereignty of Native Americans.
Native Americans and Political Participation by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 1576072622Publication Date: 2005-11-07A guide to "Native American political participation, institutions, issues, governmental relations, and values."
Treaties with American Indians by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9781576078815Publication Date: 2008-01-09Thematic and regional essays about treaties. Inlcudes copies of some treaties.
Google Books
Google Books is a searchable database of books and magazine articles, but not all of the books are full text.
At the Basic Search page, you can simply type in keywords to do a search. You can also browse by subjects, listed on the left side of the page. Each book in the results list will include the designation:
- Full View -- You can view the entire text of the book
- Limited Preview -- You can view some pages of the book
- Snippet View -- You can see the publication information, plus a few sentences from the book
- No Preview Available -- You can see only the publication information about the book
To search for only full text books:
- Go to the Advanced Book Search
- Fill in the elements of your search
- From the Search: line, choose Full View Only
- Click on the Google Search button