Useful books 1

When are books useful?
When are books useful?

Books are useful for:
providing an overview of the topic (e.g.: textbook, encyclopedia)
providing in-depth information from a variety of perspectives (books are usually longer than articles).
How do I search for books?

You will usually find books by searching online library catalogs, like ROGER. Electronic books are are increasing in number. Links to electronic books that the library has purchased can be found in ROGER. Links to freely available e-books can be found by searching the general Internet.
How do I critically evaluate a book?

When evaluating the usefulness or appropriateness of a book, pay attention to:
Scholarly or non-scholarly nature of the publication;
Date of publication, since information in some disciplines depends heavily upon current techniques or trends;
Subject headings, since they describe what the book's focus will be and should be looked at in conjunction with the title;
Author(s) and whether he/she has published extensively in this area;
Length of the work (i.e. 25 pages versus 550 pages);
Bibliography to lead you to further information on the topic;
Place of publication.