The Oxford Guide to Library Research - Hardcover

Mann, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195123123 ISBN 13: 9780195123128

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 1998

Synopsis

Let a general Reference Librarian at the Library of Congress show you the best ways to find the information you need. With all the changes in information storage and retrieval, anyone doing research in the late 1990s may feel unsure of the most efficient ways to use the library. Through explanations of nine fundamental methods of searching, Thomas Mann provides an overview of little known but powerful strategies used by librarians and information specialists. These techniques can be applied profitably to almost any area of research, from discovering business records or government documents to unearthing manuscripts in archives or finding genealogical Web sites on line. Chapters explain how to take advantage of controlled vocabularies, browse library shelves systematically, construct keyword searches, use published bibliographies, and even make personal contacts with knowledgeable people. Throughout, Mann enlivens his advice with real world examples, positing along the way some arguments against those theorists who have prematurely announced the demise of print. This book is intended for students, professors, writers, researchers, and librarians.

About this title

Review

Of great use and enlightenment to anyone with a scholarly, professional, commercial, or recreational interest in research into any field, and also to both students and practitioners of librarianship. This is the only book that combines (very successfully) elements of reference work and of the organization and retrieval of knowledge and information. It is highly accessible to the general reader as well as being the authority for those in library and related fields wishing to add to their skills and understanding. (Michael Gorman, President, American Library Association)

This insightful, timely work deserves a place in every researcher's toolkit. Thomas Mann expertly assesses the myriad resources available to scholars in the digital age, while at the same time arguing for the continuing, crucial role of the library as the repository of all human knowledge. (Paul LeClerc, President of the New York Public Library)

Mann's exceptionally intelligent, succinct, and practical guide will become essential for novices as well as experienced scholars. He adroitly combines up-to-date expertise in electronic sources with reassuring mastery of traditional methods. (Robert Parks, Robert H. Taylor Curator of Autograph Manuscripts, The Pierpont Morgan Library)

About the Author

Thomas Mann, Ph.D., a former private investigator, is currently a Reference Librarian in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195123123
• ISBN 13: 9780195123128
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336