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Return to the Guide to Academic Research
Find books beyond the Grinnell College Libraries
For more specialized and in-depth research projects, you don't want to limit your research to what Grinnell's library owns.
Here are three ways to look for books beyond our collection:
Searching WorldCat
WorldCat is a catalog of academic and public libraries across the United States and many in other countries.
Books found on WorldCat can be requested through Interlibrary Loan.
Searching the Center for Research Libraries
Grinnell College is a member of the Center for Research Libraries, a consortium of North American universities, colleges, and independent research libraries. The consortium acquires and preserves traditional and digital resources for research and teaching and makes them available to member institutions for extended loan periods through interlibrary loan and electronic delivery. The Center responds quickly to interlibrary loan requests with most requests arriving within a week.
The Center for Research Libraries is an especially good place to look for primary source materials, newspapers, and magazines. You may often be able to get more materials and keep them longer than regular ILL.
To find materials that the CRL owns, you can search their catalog, browse their topic guides to find uncataloged materials, or ask a librarian for help determining what they might have that is relevant to your topic.
Once you've found something you want, you can request it using this special version of the ILL form.
Searching other libraries in Iowa
For some projects, you may want to browse widely through a set of books, newspapers, or magazines. It is worthwhile to check the holdings of other nearby Iowa libraries to see if something you need is readily available there.
Some libraries to try are:
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