Research Guides: HIST 4123: Africa and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Finding Books

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Search WorldCat for Books and More

Keyword vs. Subject

Keywords--terms that can appear anywhere in a record--are the quick and easy way to search.
Using keywords, you can combine multiple ideas, or locate specific essays inside collective works.

Connectors: Use "and" or "or" to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use "and not" to exclude words. Examples:

gold coast and british
gold coast or ghana
gold coast and not chicago

Wildcards: Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk or question mark:

* for any number of characters
? to replace a single character anywhere within a word

Examples : slave*, wom?n

Adjacency: "And" is assumed between words. Place phrases in quotes. Example:

"gold coast"

Subject Headings--terms applied by catalogers or indexers--describe the content of the item. Often, subject headings are divided by geographic place, by time period, by ethnic group, or other aspects. Subject headings are searched as phrases.

Using subject headings will pull together related records with terminology you may have not considered in your keyword search.

Examples:

keywords	subject headings
modern slavery	human trafficking
middle passage	slave trade
african cultural survivals	african influences

Useful Subject Terms

Search in OneSearch, and WorldCat, the union catalog of libraries worldwide, under subjects and keywords such as:

broad topics	sample subject terms
the slave trade	slave trade slave trade--africa slave trade--africa--history--18th century slave trade--africa, west--history slave trade--africa, east--history slave trade--benin slave trade--america--history slave trade--brazil slave trade--great britain--history--18th century slave trade--united states--history slave trade--virginia slave trade--west indies
the institution of slavery	slavery--history slavery--africa--history slavery--economic aspects slavery--social aspects slavery--political aspects slavery--religious aspects slavery and the church slavery and islam antislavery movements slave insurrections women slaves
the history of africa	africa--history africa--history--19th century africa, west--history africa, east--history arabs--africa tombouctou (mali)--history ghana--history ashanti (people)--history
other places and times	slavery--rome slavery--greece slavery--middle east slavery--history-20th century human trafficking women foreign workers
ethnic and cultural encounters and conflicts	blacks--europe--history antislavery movements--great britain--history america--race relations african diaspora america--civilization--african influences brazil--race relations miscegenation sex role--southern states--history

When it's not Here

Not finding what you need in OneSearch?

Our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service can borrow books and articles not found in our collection from other libraries.

To use the ILL service:

Register as an ILL user on the ILLiad system.
For books, fill out a book request form manually, or use the ILLiad link in the WorldCat database.
For articles, most article databases allow you to place requests directly through the Find it! service. You can also type in article requests manually.

More about the ILL service:

Articles generally come in 1-2 working days; you will be notified by email with a link to the article when it is available.
Books and other physical loans generally come within 5 working days. You will review an email when there are available and they will be held for you at the Mullins Help Desk in Mullins Library.
Read the ILL FAQs.

WorldCat Discovery This link opens in a new window
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Describes items published since about 1000 and owned by libraries around the world. Types of publications include: books, journals, maps, slides, computer data files, magazines, musical scores, sound recordings, computer programs, manuscripts, newspapers, videotapes, bibliographies, master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and software. Items not held by the University Libraries may often be requested on ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan).