UBC Library's default search engine Summon will return books, articles, book reviews, maps, websites and even datasets. You can always narrow your results by content type, subject, or even library branch using the filters in the left-hand column.
If you want to limit your search to books at UBC, you may be better off using our catalogue, which focuses on material physically held at UBC (it also contains links to eBooks and points to journal titles). To get to the Catalogue, select the Search Collections tab from the top of the library home page and select Books & Media (Catalogue).
One of the best ways to search the catalogue is by subject heading. From the Catalogue, scroll down to Browse and toggle Subject (begins with) or Subject (contains keyword). The best searches will contain a country name or the name of a particular ethnic group. For example:
If your country or ethnic group returns no results, try an alternate spelling (Wikipedia is a good place to find a list of common transliterations).
Some countries may have extensive subject headings. If you do not wish to browse the subject headings, you can add more precision by adding "--subject" after a country name or people. For example:
