Current Events/Controversial Topics: Books

Reference Desk
(650) 949-7608

Circulation & Reserve
(650) 949-7611

Search the Library Catalog to find books, eBooks, and periodicals. You can search by keyword ("everything"), author, title, or subject. The results list will give you basic information about each item, including availability. To find out more, click on Details.

Three links provide different kinds of information:

• Call Number Record shows the basic information about the book, as well as the call number and whether the book is checked out.
  
• A Look Inside might show a summary, the table of contents, and/or reviews of the book.
  
• The Catalog Record provides all the details you will need for a citation plus the book's subject headings, which are clickable links and may give you ideas for other searches to try.

Books that are available to be checked out are located in the stacks (the bookshelves in the Quiet Study Area).

You can use the Advanced Search option in the library catalog if you want to do a more specific search. Click on Advanced Search under the search box in the catalog:

Using the advanced search, you can search by any combination of keyword, author, title, subject, series, periodical title, or ISBN. You also have the option to search by language, material type (such as book, e-book, video, etc.), shelving location (e.g. reserves, reference, media center), ESL reading level, and more.

You can also use the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to narrow or broaden your search.

Check out one of these book series on current events and controversial issues:

The Foothill Library has thousands of eBooks available for you to use. To find eBooks via OneSearch, limit your results by Availability and Resource Type as shown below:

Or, you can search the library's online ebook databases directly:

• EBSCOhost eBook collection: more than 180,000 titles from a broad range of subject and topic areas.

• O'Reilly Safari: over 42,000 technology, digital media, and business books and videos online.