Print books

The TCC Library has many books in print, but what kind of books are they and how do you find them? This section will cover:

the characteristics of books
searching the Library Catalog for a print book on your topic, and
finding it in the Library

Why use books?

Books provide an in-depth look at a topic. If you were thinking of the information timeline as we've discussed in class, books would fall toward the far end of the timeline. Books require a large amount of time to research and write. So, while they aren't covering the most current of events, they provide background and thorough looks at topics, often involving original research.

What are the key characteristics of books?

As far as books are concerned, the Library primarily contains monographs, or books focused on exploring academic topics in depth. You don't have to read an entire book to figure out if it's useful for you. Use the features below to determine if a book is appropriate for your use:

a title page
- Where: at the very beginning of the book
- What: lists the title, author, publisher, and publication date
a table of contents
- Where: also at the beginning of the book
- What: a great place to get a quick idea of the book's contents
a preface, forward, or introduction
- Where: precedes the chapters of a book
- What: gives the reader an overview of the author's purpose for writing the book and also an insight into the content of the book
an index
- Where: at the end of the book
- What: great for looking up specific terms, concepts, or names that might appear in the book. Gives the specific page number where that term is located in book.

More specifically, monograph books contain features that give them more rigor, meaning that they provide a detailed and researched exploration of a topic.

Monograph features include:

original research
citations to original sources used in the research or related sources that the reader may find helpful
author(s) with an extensive background in an academic field
terminology specific to a discipline
written for an audience of scholars or students in that discipline

So... how do you find these types of books in the library? Click "Next" to explore the answer to this question.

Except where otherwise noted, the content in this module by Tacoma Community College Library is licensed under CC BY SA 4.0