The College Student's Research Companion, 4th ed.

Citation

Lee Eden, B. (2009), "The College Student's Research Companion, 4th ed.", Collection Building, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 87-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/01604950910953152

The fourth edition of this straightforward, easy‐to‐use handbook for tertiary students on how to use the library and other resources to conduct research provides concise and applicable guidelines to move forward with writing term papers and bibliographies. Chapters have been updated and revised from the previous edition, and contain exercises for instructors to incorporate into their assignments.

Chapter 1 discusses such research as selection of topics, available research sources and time management. Chapter 2 examines database searching, including web search engines, library online catalogs, and periodical indices. Finding print resources in the library is covered in Chapter 3, and finding articles both print and online is explained in Chapter 4. An overview of reference sources is given in Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 discusses the complexities and decision‐making processes of choosing electronic resources for research. Chapter 7 looks at the internet, and the variety of search engines and other features that can enhance research papers. Finally, the various citation formats are examined and presented in Chapter 8, in order to produce a bibliography.

This book is probably most useful as a basic textbook for introductory library research classes, as students generally jump straight into the internet to begin research, and do not take the time to read a book about it on their own.