1. Problem:

Often, students do not know where to search for useful books for their research papers, or how to search effectively and efficiently.

See Expected Learning Outcomes and Methods below for help with this problem.

2. Expected Learning Outcomes:

• • After reading "How to Evaluate Books," all students will list three criteria to keep in mind when selecting books for a research paper.

  • After reviewing information provided through links to the right, all students will use one or more library catalogs in order to identify two books related to their research paper topics.

3. Methods:

Exercise--in-class (10 min.) or homework:

Ask students to complete a Library Catalog exercise. (See Exercises & Handouts.)

Online Tutorial:

"Road to Research: Find It! Books (lessons, interactive exercises and quiz)

Video:

Road to Research: Find It!: Books (2.5 min., English, English with captions)

Links:

• • How to Evaluate Books by Naomi Lederer, Colorado State University

  • How to Read Call Numbers in an Academic Library, University System of Georgia

TIPS!

When searching, try British spelling as well as U.S.--e.g., aging and ageing.

Some Library Catalogs use a question mark (?) as a wild card symbol, so that child? will find "child," "children," and "childhood."

What is the truncation symbol for your library's catalog?

4. Assessment:

"Road to Research: Find It! Books":

• • Exercise 1

  • Exercise 2

  • Exercise 3

Note: Links above are to archived copies of pages in the Internet Archive, as the "Road to Research" is temporarily unavailable as of 16 Sep 2015 due to revision work on the UCLA Social Sciences Computing Center's website.

In addition, this tutorial has not been maintained by the UCLA Library since Summer 2011, and some portions may be out of date. It is used here as an example.