Q. I would like to get some material to do research on a govenor william cosby. He was a royal gov of new york in the colonial era. If there is a way

You should be able to find quite a bit of information on William Cosby by using some of the databases and collections available from the IUP Libraries. A good place to start would be with some of the databases. You can find these by going to the Library Home Page (www.iup.edu/library)and then clicking on "Article Databases" option. This will bring up an alphabetical list of the databases available from the IUP Libraries. Just select the one you want. I would start with some of the biography databases. There is a particularly nice article in the "American National Biography" database. It gives an overview of Cosby's life and administration and has a bibliography of book sources at the end of the article. There is also the "Biography Resource Center" database, but I didn't find anything useful there. You will be able to find periodical articles in history magazines and journals by using the following databases: America : History & Life, American Periodicals Series Online, and History Reference Center. In many cases, the full text of the journal articles are available online in .pdf or .html format. You'll be able to read those through the computer. If the article you need is not available online or if you need to find out if IUP owns a book listed in the bibliographies of any of these articles, you can check the PILOT online catalog for that information. From the Library Home Page, click on "Online Catalog". This will open the PILOT online catalog and you can search by author, title or subject. If IUP owns or has electronic access to any material, there will be listing in the catalog which will tell you where that material is stored. This should get you started on your search for information. I would also recommend that you stop at the Reference Desk on the 1st floor of Stapleton Library and talk with the librarian on duty. He or she can help you with some of the more advanced searching strategies available on the databases and help you locate material found in the IUP Libraries. The Reference Desk is open until 10:00 p.m. Sunday thru Thursday, and 5:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. You can also get assistance by calling the Reference Desk at (724)357-3006 or (toll-free) 1-866-836-8815.