Finding Books

Tips for Finding Articles

  • The easiest way to find articles is to use the Articles & Full Text option on the library homepage.
  • A more precise way to search for articles is to select and browse Research Guides on the library homepage, especially those recommended in this and other library guides.
  • In the databases, choose the advanced or guided searches (usually 3 lines) to help you correctly format your search.
  • Use OR between your search terms to broaden the search to include any of the terms. 
  • Use AND between your search terms to narrow the search to include all the terms.
  • Find full text within the databases in html or pdf format.
  • Use the GetIt!Cornell to link to full text found outside of the database.
  • Ask a Librarian if you need further help!  

Top Article Sources

Suggested Keywords

As disability studies continues to be highly medicalized, you may need to use medical terms or consult materials focused on medical treatments, especially with older materials. It's helpful to search using the most specific terms as is relevant to your research; for example, search "Autism Spectrum" instead of "people with disabilities." You might also need to use outdated or offensive terms, depending on the time period of your search. 

These links lead to the Browse Subjects section of the library catalog. You can either browse the multitude of subjects in the catalog as well as their sub-topics, or click on the subject title to see all the books that have that subject assigned to them. You can also add subsections to a subject term to get to more specific information, such as "employment," "legal status," "economic conditions," or "social aspects."

For more information and keywords, please see the Disability Studies guide sections on Finding Books or Finding Articles.

Call Number Browsing

You can browse the shelves in any library for books in these general call number ranges. Not all call numbers can be found in every library.

The Titles used to describe the Library of Congress (LC) Call Number ranges below are the official LC Titles, and may be offensive, outdated, or inaccurate. 

  • HD7255-7256: Vocational rehabilitation, employment for people with disabilities
  • HV888-907: Protection, assistance and relief: Children with Disabilities
  • HV891-901: Children with developmental disabilities
  • HV1551-3024: Protection, assistance and relief: People with Disabilities
  • HV1570-1570.5: People with developmental disabilities
  • KF480: Disability law and disability rights
  • P99.5-99.6: Nonverbal Communication
  • PN1590 H36: Performing Arts - people with disabilities
  • RC372-389: Neurosciences: perception disorders, speech disorders
  • RC383-388.5: Neurogenic Speech Disorders
  • RC553: Autism and Asperger's syndrome
  • RC569.7-574: Medical perspectives on people with developmental and intellectual disabilities
  • RJ137: Growth & development of children with disabilities
  • RJ496: disorders in children
  • RJ506 D47: Adjustment disorders - developmental disabilities
  • RM950: Rehabilitation technology