Argument and research: Books

Books can give you the in-depth analysis of your topic

Books...

• can get you a historical perspecitve on your topic to see how it has evolved over time
• often are written by authors who are experts or have taken the time to do research on a particular subject
• help you understand the complexity your topic

When you find a book...

• you do not have to read the whole book! Instead look at the table of contents in the front to find which chapters will be most helpful to you
• look in the back of the book.  Often there is a list of sources that the author consulted when he or she wrote the book.  You might want to use these sources for your research, too!

The TCC Library arranges books by Library of Congress ("LC") call numbers.

Here's an example of a call number in our library catalog:

For information on how to read Library of Congress call numbers, click below:

E-books in the Ebook Central library database are ALSO included in the library catalog. But if you just want to focus on e-books, you can also search directly in the Ebook Central library database.

Once you've found general, background information on your topic, it's time to find more in-depth information. One way is to find books that you can check out at the TCC Library or e-books that you can read online. You can search the library catalog for books by doing a keyword search (e.g., "bilingual education" or "drug abuse") by clicking the link below.

Click the link below to search for books in the library catalog:

Search tips:

1. Type in your keywords in the search box and click the "Search" button
2. Take note of the format of the results. You can narrow down to print books or e-books by clicking one of the boxes.
3. Take note of the publication date range. You can narrow down results to a specific data range.
4. Click the title of the book for more detailed info
5. Take note of the format of the book. An e-book will have an "E" icon; a print book will have a book icon.
6. If it's an e-book, then you can click the "Electronic access" link to read the book online.
7. You can also text any book record to yourself.