In many cases,
books will provide the majority of the information you need for
your research. Books typically provide a broad, detailed treatment
of a subject, usually from a retrospective point of view.
The humanities and some of the social sciences depend largely
on books for information. If you require only very current information
or information that is more focused on a specific aspect of your
topic, periodical articles, which are covered in the following
lesson, may be a more appropriate source of information.
The
Library Catalog
The catalog lists all the books, as well as some other types of library
materials, in the college. Campus locations are identified in the
catalog. The catalog may be searched from any computer that is connected
to the Internet. For more information on how to search the catalog, consult
a librarian or reference assistant and/or use our Ask a Librarian service.
Patrons who possess
a valid library card may borrow books and other materials from any other
campus library of the college. If the book you need is not at
your campus, you may request that the book be sent to your campus by
completing
a Intercampus Loan request form, available at all library locations
and online. With the exception of videocassettes and materials
on short-term reserve, books and other materials may be returned to any
campus location. If
the book you need is not at this college you may be eligible to request
an Interlibrary Loan.
For more information about the LRC's services, speak to a staff member
and/or refer to the LRC
home page on the Internet.
Bibliographies
in Textbooks (Citations)
Most scholarly books and articles contain bibliographies and lists of
references to other sources of information related to the subject of the
book or article. These lists of citations are usually found at the end
of the book and/or the end of each chapter. Check your text book and other
readings assigned by your instructor to see if other relevant books exist
on your topic. If you find citations for books that seem relevant, you
will need to search the catalog to see if the college owns the books you
want.
A book citation identifies
the book in which particular information can be found. A book citation
includes:
the author and title of the book
the publisher, date and place of publication, and
the page numbers for your quote or paraphrase
If the book is a collection of articles or essays, the citation includes:
the author and title of the essay
the editor and title of the book
the publisher, date and place of publication, and
the page numbers for your quote or paraphrase
| Cottle,
Thomas J. Barred from School, 2 Million Children. Washington, D.C.:
New Republic, 1976.
Coombs, Orde, ed. What We Must See: Young Black Storytellers. New
York: Dodd, 1971.
Battiscombe, Georgina. "Christina Rosetti." British Writers.
Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. Vol. 5. New York: Scribner's, 1982. 247-260.
|
Browse
the Shelves
Once you have found one or more relevant books, browse the shelves in
the same area for other books on the same subject. Searching the indexes
of
books often reveals information not retrievable through the catalog. Most
academic libraries use the Library
of Congress Classification system to arrange books on the shelf.
This system uses a combination of letters and numbers to arrange materials
by
subject. The first letter(s) of a call number represents the broad subject
of the material. Read Library
of Congress Classification in a New Setting, Beyond Shelfmarks by Dr.
Lois Mai Chan for more information.
Finding
books by Call Number
Books are shelved alphabetically by first letter of the first line of the
call number, then by the second letter, if any. In the example below, Book
1 comes before Book 2 because plain B comes before BF. Second lines are
arranged as whole numbers with Book 2 coming before Book 3 because 198 comes
before 1003. The third line is a decimal so that Book 4 would be shelved
before Book 5 because .A42 comes before .A7.
| Book
1 |
Book
2 |
Book
3 |
Book
4 |
Book
5 |
| B |
BF |
BF |
HV |
HV |
| 792 |
198 |
1003 |
964 |
964 |
| .T51 |
.S2 |
.M49 |
.A42 |
.A7 |
| 1989 |
1998 |
1973 |
1999 |
1996 |
Reprinted
& adapted with permission from Ross Tyner's Electronic
Information Literacy |
