introduction to library research
background material
books, and more specifically, reference books, will give you background information on your topic. they are also useful as a shortcut to other sources (both books and journal articles) on your topic.
one of the best tools for finding reference books is credo reference. you can enter your search term in the box below and it will retrieve material from lakehead's collection (both online and print).
why use print/ebooks in your research?
books may be a better starting point for certain topics or subjects...why? well, books will give a broad overview, so if your topic is more general (example: the causes of world war i), books can provide the overview, as well as chapters devoted to more specific topics. see our tutorials on using omni to find books.
how do i locate books in the library?
the paterson library uses the library of congress classification system. to find the books on the shelves, copy down the exact call # (or take a picture of it with your smartphone), and head to either the 3rd or 4th floor. books with call numbers starting with a-l are located on the 3rd floor and books starting with m-z are on the 4th floor.
*note that books may also be located at nsrc (5th floor of paterson) or education/orillia libraries.