Summary
What this book covers
The title of this book makes a very big claim. No one can possibly know the answers to all the questions that a student, researcher or academic might ask, nor should they claim to do so. Information resources are constantly evolving and one of the key tasks of the librarian is to make sure that he or she keeps up to date.
What this book does offer is a survival guide for front-line staff to help them find appropriate information quickly, whether they are answering questions at a physical help desk or remotely by telephone, e-mail or instant messaging service.
The entries cover a range of queries commonly encountered in the academic library. They are also of relevance to public library staff assisting visiting students. The key categories covered are:
• Study skills. Citing and referencing; literature-searching techniques; social research methods and avoiding plagiarism.
• Locating different types of resources. Starting-points for finding commonly requested types of material, including: archives; dictionaries; book reviews; biographical information; conference papers; encyclopedias; images; films; statistical data; maps; market research reports; opinion polls; newspapers; government publications; quotations and speeches.
• PhD and researcher questions. Basic guidance to common queries such as how to trace theses and dissertations; locating sources of funding; and searching for books and journals in other libraries.
• Academic staff questions. Starting-points for tackling questions relating to open access publishing; copyright licences; finding bibliometric data; and tracing online teaching and learning resources.
• Subject literature searching. Some basic starting-points for beginning research in a number of commonly encountered academic subject areas. The full list of these is: Accountancy; Art; Business Studies; Computer Science; Criminology; Development Studies; Economics; Economic History; Education; Engineering; Environment; European Union; Geography; History; Human Rights; International Relations; Languages; Law; Literature; Management; Marketing; Mathematics; Media Studies; Medicine and Nursing; Music; Philosophy; Religious Studies; Science; Social Welfare and Social Work; Sociology; Sports Studies; Tourism; Women's Studies.
• Area studies resources. In addition, key resources for those studying a number of specific regions: African Studies, Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, Slavonic and East European Studies are also provided.
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- Information
- Know it All, Find it Fast for Academic Libraries , pp. ix - xiiPublisher: FacetPrint publication year: 2011