American Religious History: Help in Finding Library Materials

The books listed in this guide are only a sampling of the books available to you as a library user.  The library has two different methods for searching for books, Browse or Keyword.

The "Classic Browse Search" is usually used when you know the title of a book, the author that you are looking for, or the exact subject heading for the topic.   Be sure to use the down arrow to choose the type of search that you wish to make.  When you are searching for diseases or medical conditions, you often just have to search for the name directly.  When you do not know the title or author, it is often best to use the "Classic Keyword Search", which allows you to put in search words for your topic in any order. 

HCU's Moody Library has access to more than 250,000 electronic books (e-books).  A majority of these books come in two major collections: ebrary and eBooks on Ebscohost.

Interlibrary Loan --An HCU student, faculty or staff member can request an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) for a book or article that Moody Library does not own by filling out an Interlibrary Loan Request Form and giving it to a librarian or using one of the online forms below. The Interlibrary Loan Librarian will try to obtain the material from the nearest free or inexpensive source after searching a nationwide network.  Items will be shipped to Moody library.  Every effort is made to obtain the materials quickly and at the least possible expense, but we cannot guarantee a speedy arrival.  Moody Library only borrows books and articles; no CDS, cassette tapes, DVDs, or videocassettes will be requested.  The patron will be notified by email when the item arrives.  Please complete your use of the borrowed materials quickly and return them to the Interlibrary Loan department at HCU.  Questions about Interlibrary Loan should be directed to the Interlibrary Loan Librarian at 281-649-3181 or ill@hc.edu.

Journal Article Interlibrary Loan Request Form

Book Interlibrary Loan Request Form

TexShare Cards -- The TexShare card program is an agreement among several libraries which allows users of TexShare libraries to directly borrow from other TexShare libraries.  Using a TexShare card HCU faculty, staff and currently enrolled students can borrow books in person from participating libraries.  The number of books that can be borrowed is limited by the policies of the TexShare libraries.  A TexShare card can be obtained at the Reference Desk or the Circulation Desk along with a list of the local libraries that participate in the TexShare program.  Rice University does not participate in the TexShare card program.

Borrowing From Rice University -- To borrow books from Rice University an HCU affiliate must obtain an official ALA (American Library Association) Interlibrary loan form from the Moody Reference Desk, fill it out completely and have it signed by an HCU librarian.  Users must know which book is to be borrowed from Rice.  An incomplete form will not be accepted.  Librarians can assist patrons to find book citations in the Rice University catalog.  The agreement between Rice and HCU allows our faculty, staff and students to borrow up to four books at a time.  Each book borrowed needs its own form. HCU constitutents who use this service are responsible for returning all items to Rice.

Moody Library is pleased to offer remote access to the library's many databases. The databases are available to currently-enrolled HCU students, faculty, and staff.  An HCU network User ID and password is required for proper authentication.

Most of the following databases index and in many cases provide full-text access to the peer-reviewed journal literature, i.e. secondary literature, of history.

Note: A digital archives such as JSTOR a can be considered a primary-source database depending upon the researcher's purpose.