Library Guides: ENGL 202C: Effective Writing: Technical Writing (Harrisburg): Finding Technical Literature: Books

Finding Books

Books are the bridge between your textbook and scholarly journal articles. They are usually your best resource for "the basics" -- an introduction, overview, and history of your topic. The quickest way to find books is to search the library's book databases:

Catalog (Penn State University Libraries catalog) This link opens in a new window
List of books, videos, and other items owned by Penn State.
This is the online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items is also provided. Coverage: Presently contains about 7 million records. Updates: Continuous up-to-the-minute as new records are added.

Google Book Search
Google's search engine for books. Includes some partial and full text.

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
EBook Central contains thousands of e-books by many different publishers. If you only need a few resources and you're comfortable reading books online, this is a good choice. Although the titles in this database are also listed in the CAT, EBbook Central's interface is easier to use and allows you to search the books' full text.
Ebook Central is a platform that provides access to electronic books acquired by Penn State University Libraries. Titles formerly found on EBL and ebrary migrated to Ebook Central on 5/30/17 & 5/31/17.
SpringerLink (full text journal articles and electronic books) This link opens in a new window
The library's largest database for science and engineering e-books. If you only need a few resources and you're comfortable reading books online, start here. Although the titles in this database are also listed in the CAT, SpringerLink's search features are more user-friendly.
Access to electronic editions of journals and electronic books to which Penn State University Libraries subscribes, published by a company called Springer-Verlag. Journals cover the fields of chemistry, computer science, economics, engineering, environmental sciences, geosciences, life sciences, mathematics, medicine, and physics. Coverage: 1996-present. Updates: Continuous
Taylor and Francis ebooks This link opens in a new window
A large collection of engineering books, many dating from the 2010s. Although all of these titles are listed in the CAT, CRCnetBASE enables you to search the books' full text.
Provides full-text access to purchased and various open access Taylor & Francis Ebooks, which include imprints published by Routledge, CRC Press, and Garland Science.

Another way to find books is to "browse" -- go to the library's book shelves and take a look.

At Penn State Harrisburg Library, we use the Library of Congress call number system to shelve our books:

Most Math and Computer Science books have numbers that begin with "QA."
Most Astronomy, Physics/Weather, Chemistry, and Earth Sciences books have numbers that begin with "QB" through "QE"
Most Biology (human and animal) books have call numbers that begin with "QH" through "QR"
Most Medical books have call numbers that begin with "R"
Most Agriculture books have call numbers that begin with "S"
Most Engineering and Technology books have call numbers that begin with "T"

For more details, see the Library of Congress Classification Outline.