Title
The Oxford guide to library research / Thomas Mann.
Edition
Fourth edition.
ISBN
9780199931064 paperback
0199931062 paperback
9780199931040 hardcover
0199931046 hardcover
Published
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2015]
Copyright
©2015
Language
English
Description
xxx, 359 pages ; 21 cm.
Call Number
Z710 .M23 2015
Dewey Decimal Classification
025.5/24
Summary
"The Oxford Guide to Library Research spells out the range of amazing resources available in research libraries that cannot be found on the Internet. These include not only the tens of millions of books, journals and other post-1923 printed sources that cannot be digitized because of copyright restrictions, but a rich array of subscription databases in all subject areas that are not accessible on the open Web, but are freely searchable via research libraries"-- Provided by publisher.
"The information world has undergone drastic changes since the publication of the 3rd edition of The Oxford Guide to Library Research in 2005, and Thomas Mann, a veteran reference librarian at the Library of Congress, has extensively revised his text to reflect those changes. This book will answer two basic questions: First, what is the extent of the significant research resources you will you miss if you confine your research entirely, or even primarily, to sources available on the open Internet? Second, if you are trying to get a reasonably good overview of the literature on a particular topic, rather than just "something quickly" on it, what are the several alternative methods of subject searching--which are not available on the Web--that are usually much more efficient for that purpose than typing keywords into a blank search box, with the results displayed by relevance-ranking computer algorithms? This book shows researchers how to do comprehensive research on any topic. It explains the variety of search mechanisms available, so that the researcher can have the reasonable confidence that s/he has not overlooked something important. This includes not just lists of resources, but discussions of the ways to search within them: how to find the best search terms, how to combine the terms, and how to make the databases (and other sources) show relevant material even when you don't know how to specify the best search terms in advance. The book's overall structuring by nine methods of searching that are applicable in any subject area, rather than by subjects or by types of literature, is unique among guides to research. Also unique is the range and variety of concrete examples of what to do--and of what not to do. The book is not "about" the Internet: it is about the best alternatives to the Internet--the sources that are not on the open Web to begin with, that can be found only through research libraries and that are more than ever necessary for any kind of substantive scholarly research. More than any other research guide available, this book directly addresses and provides solutions to the serious problems outlined in recent studies documenting the profound lack of research skills possessed by today's "digital natives.""-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Initial overview sources : specialized encyclopedias
Subject headings and the library catalog
General browsing, focused browsing, and use of classified bookstacks
Subject headings and descriptors in databases for journal articles
Keyword searches
Citation searches
Related record searches
Higher-level overview sources : literature review articles
Published subject bibliographies
Truncations, combinations and limitations
Locating material in other libraries
People sources
Hidden treasures
Special subjects and formats
Reference sources : types of literature
Appendix A: Wisdom and information science
Appendix B: Scholarship vs. quick information seeking.
