Why use Books in your Research?

Books are great sources for information.

In books, you will find:

• in-depth coverage of a subject
• overview of a big topic
• background information
• lists of additional sources, or bibliography

You don’t need to read a book cover to cover for research.  You can focus on a chapter or section of a book that fits your needs, and use that instead.

Academic books are often a collection of discrete essays.  You only need to read the essays that are relevant to your topic.

To determine which sections will be most useful to you, use the:

• Table of contents at the front of the book.  This will list the chapters or sections that are included and give you a general idea of what topics are covered in the book and how it is arranged.
• Index at the back with an alphabetical list of names, events, locations, and subjects included in the book.  Use the index to identify which parts will be most useful.  It’s also a good idea to browse the index for helpful keywords to use for your searches.

Keep in mind, books can take a long time to go from an author’s brain to the library shelf.  If you are looking for the most recent information on a very new topic, you might be better off using an article.

Portland State University Library has both print and digital (eBooks) books for you to use.  Sometimes, we even have both print and digital versions of the same books!