Subject Guides: Public Administration: Books

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Where to Find Books?

The following are the main sources for finding books in libraries.

American University Library Search
Books, journals, DVDs in the collections of American University Library, George Mason U., George Washington U., Georgetown U., Catholic U., U. of the District of Columbia, Gallaudet U., Marymount U., and Trinity U.

WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window
Publications from before 1000 B.C. to present. Updated: Daily.
The largest library catalog in the world. Includes records from many library collections of books, manuscripts, maps, computer programs, musical scores, films, slides, newspapers, journals, magazines, sound recordings, and videotapes.

Current Online Books

The following databases of ebooks contain current book titles. Each of the titles in these databases can be found in the American University's catalog.

IMF E-Library This link opens in a new window
Contains the working papers as well as books, periodicals, and reports published by the International Monetary Fund.
OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
Books, periodicals, statistics and working papers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
RAND Reports This link opens in a new window
RAND is a nonprofit public policy research institution and think tank. Founded after World War II with a focus on national security, their portfolio grew starting in the 1960s to include domestic issues such as health, education, sustainability, criminal and civil justice, and development. Full text of 17,000+ books, reports, and working papers. Covers 1946-present.
World Bank e-Library This link opens in a new window
Contains over 1,700 World Bank books and reports (1968 to present; all titles from 2000 to present) and over 2,400 Policy Research Working Papers.
Cambridge Companions Complete Collection This link opens in a new window
Access to hundreds of electronic books, introductions to the major works and figures in the areas of literature, philosophy, religion and the classics.
Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
Online version of over 300 volumes of the Cambridge Histories book series published since 1960. Covers the history of the ancient and modern world, literature, language and linguistics, philosophy and religion, political thought, music and theater, science, economic history, and law in America.

Older Online Books in AU Library's Catalog

The following databases of ebooks contain older book titles. Each of the titles in these databases can be found in the AU Library Search. Access is limited to .

The advantage to searching each database versus the library's catalog is that one can search full text of every book in each database, not just the book record.

ACLS Humanities E-Books This link opens in a new window
The American Council of Learned Societies Humanities E-Book Collection contains 5,400 scholarly books from 250 publishers in the subject areas of anthropology, area studies, international history, literature, philosophy, political science, and women's studies.
Early American Imprints, Series I & II: Combined This link opens in a new window
This primary source collection contains digitized images of nearly every extant book, pamphlet, and broadside published in America from 1639 to 1819. Series I is based on a definitive work called the American Bibliography by Charles Evans and covers 1639-1800. Series II, based on the authoritative bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker, covers 1801-1819.
Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
A collection of over 125,000 titles, from the first book published in English, through 1700. Disciplines covered include literature, history, philosophy, theology, music, and the sciences.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) features the digitized format of 150,000 printed works -- nearly every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas.
Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926 This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of 22,000 British and American legal treatises from 1800 to 1926. They include books, casebooks, practice books, pamphlets, letters, speeches, essays and other works about the making of law, but not the transcript of actual laws or actual cases.
Making of the Modern World: Parts I-IV This link opens in a new window
Images from 61,000 works of literature on economics and business published from 1450-1945.
Part I, Goldsmith-Kress Collection 1450-1850; Part II, 1851-1914; Part III, 1890-1945; Part IV, 1800-1980.