What books can do for you

Books provide in-depth analysis combined with breadth of view. A book will cover lots of ground and show how all the parts are connected. Even if you're only focusing on one small part of something, it usually helps to have some idea how other parts might be related to what you're researching. If you are writing about one treatment for cancer, for example, it is good to have information about other treatments.

There's more. If you are focusing on one small part of something, a book is more likely than a reference book or an article to bring in a lot of specific details related to that single part. A book will more often include many details from many other sources, perhaps in a chapter or section devoted exclusively to the focus of your research. If you were writing about Hamlet's relationship with his mother, for example, a book might look at a variety of interpretations, relating a variety of details from the play to the various perspectives on their relationship.

What to look for in a book

To get the most value out of books, here are some things to look for:

• Does the book have a Table of Contents and/or an Index? Using these tools, can you find significant portions of the book that relate to your research? You may not have to read the entire book.
• Does the author indicate the sources of her information, using either footnotes throughout the book or a list of sources (called "Bibliography" or "References" or "Works Cited") toward the end? Books that incorporate information from other sources (and give credit to those sources) may be the best for college research.
• Can you understand what the book says? You don't have to understand everything, but you have to understand something to even get started.

Where to find books

You will find more books in libraries than on the Internet. There are actually very few books available to read online, even if you're willing to pay a price.

To find books in the HCCS libraries, use the Library Catalog.

You can also find a few books in some of our databases, especially the NetLibrary database, which includes the full text of about 20,000 books.