To find books, go to the BOOKS tab on the library homepage. In the blank for finding books enter the name or topic you are looking for.
To find primary resources
Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts from people who had a direct connection like original documents and newspaper reports by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote people who did.
If possible choose a person that has a substantial amount of writings. You can find the primary sources a person wrote by entering the last name first and searching by Author using the drop down on the right of the blank. If the book is in a foreign language there will often be a translation available.
Example: A search using the Author drop down selection and Last Name, First Name gets you things written by Caesar, like: Caesar. The civil wars, with an English translation by A. G. Peskett.
To find Secondary sources
Topics like Ancient Rome have secondary sources written about that topic. You can also find secondary sources about individual persons.To find secondary writings about a person. Do an any word / anywhere search for the persons name. This will give you things written about the person.
Secondary sources are written by by others about a person about a topic, person or event. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. To find them, enter the terms for searching a topic or aspect of a topic using any word / anywhere.
For best results, less is often more valuable.
Use I-Share to follow up on the searches you do from the WIU Library catalog. From the library home page click I-Share from the Books tab. If you are searching in the library catalog, choose IShare from the top of the page. You have to Login to I-Share to borrow a book.
Login To I-Share at the top. You also need to choose Western as your pick-up location. Search for your book. Check to see if the item can be requested. Then request it. You will get an email to pick it up when it arrives.