Making the Most of Books
- ALWAYS browse the books near the one you are looking for. If there is one book on your topic, chances are there are more and they will all be shelved together!
- Briefly look through the table of contents and/or indexes for relevant material for your paper.
- Read the introduction, forward, etc. to get a feel for the book's purpose and point of view. Sometimes the introduction to a complicated topic gives you enough of a summary to help you form your own thesis or structure your own paper.
- Take note of appendices that may contain maps, chronologies, etc.
- Use the bibliographies to point you to other secondary and primary sources.
Course Guide
ZSR Library Catalog
Use the library's online catalog to locate books, films, microfilm, and other materials in the library. Search by Author, Title, Subject, Call Number, or Keyword, or use the Advanced Search feature to combine these features.
Books may serve as either primary or secondary sources, depending on the content and when they were written. Books may also contain references to primary source material in the text or in the bibliography.
You can start with a keyword search to identify relevant items. From there, look at the subject headings used to describe that item to identify other potential items (click on the subject heading to see all other items that are tagged with that subject).
Example:
Some call number ranges that may be helpful:
- DG > History of Italy
- DG 532-537.8 > Renaissance Italy
Some subject headings that may be helpful:
- Renaissance
- Renaissance -- Italy
- Women -- Italy -- History -- Renaissance, 1450-1600
- Italy -- Civilization -- 1268-1559
- Italy -- History -- 16th century (or sub with the century you are interested in)
- Turkey -- History -- Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918
- Turkey -- Relations -- Europe
- Europe -- Relations -- Turkey
To locate potential primary sources, use the Advanced Search option to search in the Genre field for items that contain the generic term, sources, or more specific terms such as diaries, letters, correspondence, autobiography, interviews, or personal narratives. (This option is only available in the Library Catalog search.)
If you can't find the information you need in ZSR Library's holdings in Primo, you can choose "Include Items with No Full Text" in the facets on the left side to expand your search beyond ZSR. Make sure to limit to the types of sources you want to see first (i.e. books or book chapters), so that you don't get overwhelmed by the number of results!
If you can't find the information you need through the ZSR Library's online catalog, try searching WorldCat, which includes holdings information from other libraries. You can request these books through Interlibrary Loan. (Remember that it may take 1-2 weeks or more for items to arrive through Interlibrary Loan, so plan ahead!) You can also check out materials from other universities in the area through the Triad Academic Library Association (TALA). Lending privileges vary by institution, so be sure to read through the TALA guidelines and contact the institution before visiting.