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FYS 100 -- Religion and Animals: Find Books

Remember: Although the library owns a book, it doesn't mean the book qualifies as academic.
Use the hints below  to determine if the book is scholarly/ academic or popular.

Considering books? Ask yourself some of the following questions.

  • Who is the author and is s/he an expert? Read the book jacket or information often located in the beginning or end of the book. Try Google or Amazon to see what else the author might have written and to check his affiliation. Check the online catalog to see if the library has other items written by the author.
  • Who is the publisher? Do they have a specialty? University presses, some societies, and some associations usually publish academic titles, but some other publishers do as well. Visit their website to see their focus.
  • Is there a bibliography, references or footnotes?
  • What is the language of the book? Is it technical or is it for the general public?
  • Is it well-organized with a clear structure? Does it have a preface, a table of contents, an introduction, an index?

Now find the books.

  • Online
    • Ebsco eBook Collection

      A collection of electronic books in all subject areas. Coverage dates vary.

    • ProQuest Ebook Central

      Ebook Central provides online access to scholarly e-books in all subject areas. You can read books online or download them. Coverage varies.

  • Browse the shelves in the Micro-Library
    Tips: look in the the 200 range.
  • Search for books using CataLION.
    Tips:
    • The CataLION online catalog searches like Google. It tries to match as many of your terms as possible with the best matches appearing on the first pages.
    • The database will do automatic truncation, both left and right, so truncation symbols are not needed. E.g., typing in rain will find both rainfall and brain.
    • The database is searchable by title, author, subject or keyword options.  When searching by keyword mode only input the keywords and ignore the prepositions, articles, etc. to make the search more efficient.
    • To do a more comprehensive search, use the CataLION advanced search.