THE OXFORD GUIDE TO LIBRARY RESEARCH
Fourth Edition
Thomas Mann
A CHOICE Top 25 Outstanding Academic Title for 2015
Oxford University Press (March 2015)
Paper • ISBN 9780199931064 • US $24.95 • 392 pgs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
- Provides a systematic overview of the best sources, both electronic and print, that go far beyond the coverage of Google and Wikipedia
- Demonstrates why brick-and-mortar research libraries are more important than ever
- Teaches, with multiple concrete examples, how to find the best search terms to use in searching databases
New to this Edition:
- Explains in greater detail six important differences between the thousands of specialized subject encyclopedias that exist and Wikipedia, and provides an updated sample listing of the former
- Discusses in detail scores of major subscription databases that did not exist in 2005, or whose earlier versions were not discussed
- Provides the best explanations of how to find the right search terms for any inquiry
- Provides the only current discussion of the essential differences between keyword relevance ranking (as in Google) vs. conceptual categorization (as in library catalogs)
- Provides new instructions (and examples) on how to zero in immediately on literature review articles
- Provides additional examples of what can be found via published bibliographies that cannot be found via online sources
- Provides expanded coverage of sources for statistical information
- Lists free websites that reference librarians find to be particularly useful
PRAISE:
“A masterful summary of the main techniques and resources for conducting ‘serious’ research at postgraduate level and above.”
Reference Reviews
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Thomas Mann has been a general reference librarian in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress for more than thirty years.
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
For all languages and territories, please contact Taryn Fagerness at Taryn Fagerness Agency.
See here for a list of Taryn Fagerness’s foreign subagents.