OskiCat Search Terms
Here are some terms you can use in OskiCat or Melvyl that may help you find books on your topic. 
Remember, these search engines only let you search brief information about the books - you're not searching in the full text of the books themselves! If you're not getting enough results, try leaving out some search terms, searching for a less specific topic (same-sex marriage california instead of same-sex marriage berkeley) using Google Books, or asking a librarian.
Most of these terms are Library of Congress subject headings -- which means you'll get the most complete results if you enter them exactly as typed (ex: lesbians, not lesbian.).
Read moreSearching Library Catalogs
Use OskiCat to locate materials related to your topic, including books, government publications, and audio and video recordings, in the libraries of UC Berkeley. OskiCat will show you the location and availability of the items that we own. (Note: OskiCat does not cover the Law Library, but undergrads can't borrow books from the Law Library.)
Use Melvyl to locate materials related to your topic located at Berkeley, or at other campuses in the UC system. Melvyl also includes articles, and allows you to expand your search to libraries worldwide. You can use the Request button to request materials that UC Berkeley doesn't own.
Google Books
Google Books contains millions of scanned books, from libraries and publishers worldwide. You can search the entire text of the books, view previews or "snippets" from books that are still in copyright, and read the full text of out-of-copyright (pre-1923) books. Want to read the entire text of an in-copyright book? Use Google Books' Find in a Library link to locate the book in a UC Berkeley library, or search OskiCat to see if UC Berkeley owns the book.
Why use Google Books?
Library catalogs (like OskiCat) don't search inside books; using a library catalog, you can search only information about the book (title, author, Library of Congress subject headings, etc.). Google Books will let you search inside books, which can be very useful for hard-to-find information. Try it now: