What are scholarly, or academic, books?
Unlike popular books, which are usually written to entertain their reader, scholarly books are written to share research findings and contribute to academic discussion (the 'scholarly conversation') If you look up the author of a scholarly book, you should find that they are an expert in the subject area they are writing about.
Image credit: Julia Cameron
When would I use a book?
There are a few things you might want to consider when using books in your assignments.
Pros:
Books enable you to:
get an overview of a topic
compare different opinions and theories on a topic
find key facts and figures
Cons:
Be mindful that books:
take a long time to publish and won’t always contains the most up-to-date information
tend to give a subject overview and may not look in detail at a more specific topic area
To find the latest research on a topic, or to look at an issue in greater depth, have a look at journal articles.
Watch the video to find out more about using ebooks at UEA
What are ebooks?
Ebooks are often just an electronic version of a print book, however some have additional features or link out to other resources or information.
Some ebooks can be downloaded, others need to be viewed online.
You can find ebooks that UEA Library has access to using Library Search.
Pros
Accessible anytime, from anywhere
Some can be downloaded
Cons
Some need to be viewed online, so you will need internet access