Library Research Skills Assignment
1. After an examination of the book write a very brief summary (no more than 50 words) describing what the book is about.
You only need to write a sentence or two about the book. You can usually determine the subject by looking at such things as the cover, title page, table of contents and index, Browsing through the book may also help.
2. Use Libbie to find another book written about the same subject.
3. Use WorldCat to find a book written by the author of the book.
You may use any library (except for Libbie) catalog for this question. You can find a number of catalogs listed here: Library & Book Catalogs
In Libbie, a subject or a keyword search will work well for this question.
4. Find a book about someone mentioned in the book.
For this question, you need to browse through the book and identify a person who is likely to be a subject of a biography. (Pick a name you recognize). Then go to Libbie, or another library catalog, and search for this person as a subject
5. Find a videorecording that deals with one of the topics of your book
A very good source for finding videocassettes or DVDs is WorldCat. (Check the “visual materials” box before you search. You may also use online video sources such as Google Video or YouTube.
6. Find a review in a magazine or newspaper of the book you have chosen
You can find book reviews by searching in such databases as MasterFile and Academic Search Premier. On the search screen, type the name of the book and/or the author, and in the “Document Type” pull-down menu, choose “Book Review”.
Another way to find book reviews is look on the index shelves next to the copy machines. Two sets of volumes, Book Review Digest, and Book Review Index provide information about book reviews.
7. Find an article from a newspaper that deals with one of the subjects of the book.
An excellent database for finding newspaper articles is Lexis Nexis Academic Universe. You could also try Google News.
8. Find an article from a popular magazine that deals with one of the subjects of the book.
Popular magazines contain articles for general, non-expert readers. They can be on a wide variety of subjects. The best database for finding popular magazine articles is MasterFile.
9. Find an article from an academic journal that deals with one of the subjects of the book.
Academic journals are published by scholars and professionals in academic disciplines. The articles are directed to other scholars and serious students, and are often not easy to understand by general readers. An excellent database for finding academic journals is Academic Search Premier, (Tip: when searching for these kinds of articles in this database, check the “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals” box before your search
10. Find a biographical article about the author of the book you have chosen.
The best way to find biographical article is by looking in the reference set, Contemporary Authors which is in the reference section of the library. (Call number: Z1224 .C6) You will need to look up the author’s name in the blue soft back indexes where you can find the volume number to look in.
11. Find an article in a general encyclopedia about one of the subjects covered in your book.
You may use any of the encyclopedias we have in the library, or use an online encyclopedia, such as Britannica Online
12. Find an article in a subject specific encyclopedia about one of the subjects covered in your book.
A subject specific encyclopedia is an encyclopedia on a specific subject area, such as law, music or drug abuse. We have a large number of such encyclopedias in the reference collection in the library. Find one that is related to your subject by browsing the reference collection shelves, paying attention to the subject labels on the end of each shelf.
13. Find a statistical table that deals with one of the subjects of your book.
An excellent source of statistical information is a reference book “Statistical Abstract of the United States” (HA202 .A1) There is an electronic version of this source at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Another source of statistical information is FedStats (http://www.fedstats.gov)
14. Select a city mentioned in the book. (If you can’t find a city mentioned, use the place where the book was published)
The best source of current US population figures is the Census Bureau. An easy way to search population figures is at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/
Another good source for world population is the reference book, The Columbia Gazetteer (G103.5 .C645 1998)
15. Find a Web site of an organization that is connected with the topic of the book.
Use any search tool to find the page of an organization (.org site) whose mission is connected with the topic of the book.
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