Books and E-Books
Still valuable sources
Books cover virtually any topic, both fact (non-fiction) and fiction. For research purposes, you will probably be looking for non-fiction books.
Libraries organize and store their book collections on shelves called "stacks." Your library may also subscribe to online book collections, like Netlibrary or Books 24x7.
Another source for books may surprise you: Google Books. Through partnerships with libraries and publishers, Google is amassing an extensive collection of digitized books. You can search these books from cover to cover and see some or all of the contents -- from a few lines to several pages to the whole book. You can even "thumb through" many books using the "Selected Pages" feature.
After completing this tutorial, you should be able to
- Recognize when books are the appropriate type of source for your research.
- Apply checks to determine if a specific book is credible and appropriate for your need.
updated: 28 August, 2009