Library Home » Research 101 Home » Information Cycles

Books

General Information

Publications of one or more volumes bound between two covers, books can take several years to create and are not published on a regular schedule. Books often require a proposal, research, reflection, synthesis, editing, revision, and printing. Popular books (e.g. unauthorized celebrity biographies) can be rushed into production because they often aren't carefully researched and represent a quick profit.

Strengths:

• Broad overviews of topics (textbooks are especially good for this)
• Long enough to explore ideas in depth
• Scholary books contain bibliographies which can be helpful for starting research and finding more information

Considerations:

• Contain older information than other periodicals, such as newspapers and popular magazines
• Essay collections on a broad theme may contain an essay on your topic that is not directly indicated by the book's title -- you may need to think more broadly
• Popular books are often not well-researched, but may give you ideas
• Target Audience: General public, scholars, or professionals in all disciplines

Example: Immigration Reform

Here are example citations to books on this topic:

• Adams, John A. Bordering the Future: The Impact of Mexico on the United
       States. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2006.
  
  
• Ueda, Reed, ed. A Companion to American Immigration. Malden, MA:
       Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
  
  
• Daniels, Roger. Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and
       Immigrants Since 1882. New York: Hill and Wang, 2004.

Tools for Finding these Sources

• UCAT
• San Antonio Public Library