There are a couple of basic types of books:

• Reference Books - can not be checked out
• Circulating Books - can be checked out, or "circulated"

Reference books provide facts, figures, background information, directory information. Some types of reference books are specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, handbooks, company directories, atlases, and bibliographies.

Circulating books are shelved in "the stacks", on the main and second floors of Gutman Library. However, the important thing to remember, when considering any type of book, is that Gutman Library and other academic libraries exist to support the institutions of which they are a part. Therefore, they select books based on the courses that are taught and the programs that exist at their college or university. So, unlike your local public library, Gutman has a small leisure reading collection, and a large collection of Business, Architecture, and Design books. 

Here are some of the instances in which a book might be a good choice:

• If you need reference or background information on a topic
• If you need in-depth information on a topic
• If your topic is historical in nature
• If you need biographical information
• If your topic has been around long enough for you to have heard it reported in the media

Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to decide whether or not to use a book as a resource:

What kind of information do you need to find? 
It takes time for books to be written, compiled, edited, published, and printed. Up-to-the-minute information is generally found in magazines, journals and newspapers. If you are looking for a scholarly, well-researched book about something that has happened quite recently, it most probably does not yet exist! 

Do you think an entire book would be written on your topic?
If your topic is very narrow, there are often a few pertinent chapters that can relate very specifically to your topic, or some aspect of your topic. You will have to be flexible and broad-minded enough to locate several books, and use the good parts from each. Examine the Tables of Contents and Indexes of likely books to see of your topic is included. However, you may luck out and find an entire book that is useful, depending on your  topic.

If Gutman Library does not have the books you need, is there another library that might?
Just because Gutman Library does not own a book on a particular topic, it does not mean that such a book does not exist. If you know of another college or university that has a strong program in a particular subject, their library's collection probably has more material to support that program than Gutman Library has. Ask a librarian to help you determine if a book that you need can be obtained from another area library.

Return to Research Guide Start Page