TAFTCOLLEGE
Books are excellent sources for information such as:
A book doesn't need to be read cover-to-cover to be used for research. To determine how appropriate and useful the book might be, look at its parts as outlined below.
The Title Page gives publication information such as complete title, names of all authors or editors, edition of the book, name of the publisher, city of publication, and date of publication.
The Table of Contents appears at the front of a book and gives a list of the chapters or sections in a book, usually with the corresponding page number. The table of contents may give a general idea of the topics covered in the book as well as how the book is arranged (for example, chronologically or topically).
A List of Illustrations, which may appear at the front of a book, gives a list of photographs, drawings, tables, or other types of illustrations used to support the contents of the book, usually with corresponding page numbers.
A Preface, Forward, or Introduction may provide the reader with ideas about the author's intention or purpose for writing the book, and may give an indication of the depth of research presented.
A Bibliography is a list of materials related to a specific topic. The list may be sources that were used to create the work they accompany, or it may be a list of additional materials on the topic. Bibliographies may be located at the ends of chapters throughout the book, or at the end of the book.
The Index, which is usually located in the back of the book, is an alphabetical list of the specific subjects in the book, along with the corresponding page numbers. Indexes may provide names, dates, events, geographic locations, and other detailed terms related to the contents of the book. Browsing an index is an excellent way to identify exactly where in the book relevant information may be located. An index can also provide subject terms and keywords that might be useful for further research on a topic.
Just because something is in print does not mean that it's a good, reliable, authoritative, appropriate source of information for your research. Listed below are some important criteria to consider when evaluating a book - or any information source - for your research.
When you're reading books, ask yourself the following questions to help you assess what type of publication you are reading:
If there is a published book review for a book, use that to help you evaluate the source and answer the questions above. However, not all books will have a review. In this case, use the book itself to answer the questions. If you cannot answer all of the questions for a particular book, you may want to choose another book; however, if you can determine the quality and reliability of the book and answer most of the questions, then the book may be a good choice. There is no way to determine if a book is scholarly without evaluating it using the criteria above.
| Criteria | Suggestions for how to determine whether or not the book meets the criteria |
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Content Does it cover your subject? |
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Date Do you need recent information or a current perspective on an old issue? Or do you need an account of an event from the time it actually happened? |
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Authority Is the information reliable? Is the information authoritative? |
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Level of difficulty Is the information written at a level you can understand and use? Who is the intended audience: the scholar/ specialist or the lay person? |
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Purpose for writing What is the bias/ perspective of the work? |
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