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Slavery in the United States: Home

SRS 200

Background Material

Credo Reference - online library with publications on a variety of topics.

The following Reference Books are authoritativeinformative, and conciseOf the three, authoritative counts the most.

Getting Started

Use Primo to search through almost everything the library owns. 

  • If you know the title of the book you are looking for, type the title in Primo. 
  • If you the topic you are looking for, use keywords. 

An Example of Keywords: Iran AND "green movement"

  • Keyword Tips: 
    • Use synonyms. For example, you might use "green wave" instead of "green movement."
    • Putting quotation marks around a phrase will tell Primo to keep those words together. For example: "green movement."
    • Using an * at the end of a word such as Iran* will bring back everything with that root (Iran's, Iran, Iranian, Iranians).

Look at the subjects for a book that is of interest to you. Follow the subject links to more resources on the topic.

Books as scholarly sources

Do books count as scholarly sources?

Scholarly books are written for scholars/researchers in the author's field, and are typically intended to share research findings and contribute to the ongoing scholarly "conversation." Textbooks, encyclopedias, and books published for commercial audiences often do not count as scholalry.

Consider these questions when you're deciding if a book is academic or not:

  • Who is the author? The author should be an expert in the topic of the book with graduate degrees and preferably a current position at a research institution
  • Where does the information come from? There should be a list of cited sources and other evidence in the book to support the arguments or findings.
  • Who is the book written for? The book should not be written for laymen.
  • Who published it? Academic book publishers are often university presses, like Oxford University Press, but you will encounter other academic publishers, such as Routledge and Palgrave.

The Book or Article I'm Looking for isn't Available at Union