Doing Research

Books

Content types

There are two types of books in terms of content. These are the scholarly books and the non-scholarly books. Scholarly books can be used as secondary sources to support your arguments. Non-academic books can be used as primary sources.

Watch the videos to find out more differences between these types of books.

Format types

There are two types of books in terms of format; ebooks and print books. In our library we offer the ebooks through subscription databases. If you wish to learn more about ebooks you can check our ebooks guide. In our library, we also have a strong print collection of books. You can search for all types of books through our Discovery  .

Inside books

Books offer you detailed and in-depth information about several topics. However, it is not always easy for you to find a book with the title of your topic or the argument that you want to develop. This is why you should look inside the book to locate relevant information.

Suppose that you want to do research on the effects of pesticides on public health. You find the book Agricultural and Food Controversies: What Everyone Needs to Know. It is not obvious from the title that it includes relevant information. So, you can always check:

• the table of contents which lists all the chapters of the book. It appears at the beginning of the book.
• the index of the book which lists all the terms which appear in the book and the corresponding pages. It appears at the end of the book.
• the bibliography or suggested readings of the book. This page lists relevant sources of information. It appears at the end of the book or a book chapter.