1. You can browse subjects to get an idea of some titles and authors in the field. Then check your library's online catalog to see if they have them.
2. If the book in question is out of copyright, you may be able to download the entire book for free! As of August 2009, there were over 1 million public domain books available for download. ("Download Over a Million Public Domain Books from Google Books in the Open EPUB Format". Google. http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/08/download-over-million-public-domain.html. Retrieved 2011-03-07.)
3. By using the "Find in a Library" link, you can quickly determine if your local library owns a copy. If not, you can find the closest library to you. Depending on the urgency, you might schedule a road trip or borrow the item for free or for a very small fee from your local library (also known as Interlibrary Loan or ILL).
4. In many cases you may be able to see a preview of the book to determine if it would be helpful for a paper.
5. As of October 2010, Google announced that the number of scanned books is now over 15 million! ("On the Future of Books". Google. http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-future-of-books.html. Retrieved 2011-03-07.)
Watch as we find a book using the Google Books Advanced Search and then check to see if the Salmon Library has it. Please note that if you are off campus, you may need to find a library near you within WorldCat. Try using 35899 for the zip code and that should pull up the UAH Salmon Library. Please check with a librarian if you have any questions.