History and Political Science Research Guide: Books

Google Books provides full to partial access to some books. Google Books is a good place to look for digitized copies of older books published before 1924, which means they're in the public domain and no longer under copyright. 

Use this option when requesting items that are not available at Ryan Library:

      InterLibrary Loan

• Articles, books and other materials can be requested from InterLibrary Loan.
• Books requested via InterLibrary Loan may take a minumum of 7-10 business days.
• Loan periods and renewal availability varies depending on the participating libraries.
• Overdue fines will apply.

Click Here for ILL Request Form

Please select either the article or book form

Ryan Library uses Dewey Decimal Classification. Use these call numbers to browse books in print. Books in the 200s are on the Lower Lever, books in the 320s are on the Middle Level, and books in the 900s are on the Upper Level. In addition to books in print, the Library provides over 180,000 ebooks (see the box below).

• 266: Missions (missionary biographies/autobiographies)

  • 266.99: Nazarene Missionaries/Missions

• 287: Methodists and Related churches

  • 287.99: Nazarene Church history

• 270: Christian Church History

  • 274 Christian church in Europe

  • 275 Christian church in Asia

  • 276 Christian church in Africa

  • 277 Christian church in North America

  • 278 Christian church in South America

  • 279 Christian church in other areas

• 320: Political Science

• 900: History

  • 920: History—Biography

    • 922: History—Biography—Theology (missionaries, theologians, and pastors)

WorldCat is the tool you need to research books (and more). With one search, you will find:

• Books and media materials at PLNU
• ebooks available through PLNU
• Articles from some of our most-used databases
• Books available from other institutions through InterLibrary Loan

A few things you should know:

• For books found in Ryan Library, the check out period is 3 weeks, with an optional 3-week renewal.
• Renew books online by logging in and then selecting "My Library Account" in the upper right of the screen.

Below are three databases Ryan Library subscribes to for ebooks. You can also limit your search in WorldCat to ebooks.

Ebook Central delivers, with breadth and depth of ebooks from scholarly sources, including University Presses and other top publishers. Use Ebook Central to quickly and easily find relevant ebooks and chapters; read online; search within the ebook; and highlight, take notes and bookmark pages in your online copy, stored on your bookshelf for you. You can also share your research with others, download ebooks and chapters to your laptop or mobile device, and more. 

Oxford Reference Online has full-text history books

• The Oxford Companion to United States History
• A Guide to Countries of the World
• The Oxford Guide to the United States Government
• A Dictionary of Political Biography
  And many others

Also see Cambridge Histories Online database.  This unique historical reference compendium allows access to the renowned texts of the Cambridge Histories series from Cambridge University Press. With access to over 250 volumes of up-to-date and authoritative scholarly content, Cambridge Histories Online is an invaluable resource, for undergraduates, graduates, and faculty alike.   NOTE: Cambridge Histories is currently available on campus only.

GVRL (Gale Virtual Reference Library) is a collection of over 70 encyclopedias, handbooks, and other reference e-books many of which relate to History/PoliSci.