Research within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction

Citation

Leong, J. (2009), "Research within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 312-313. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830910968272

Written by current and former reference librarians at the University of Denver, this book grew out of discussions about university work to integrate teaching on writing and research into the undergraduate curriculum. It will be most useful to its principal target audience: entry‐level librarians and students of librarianship and information studies. Eight chapters show the varying characteristics of the research process in different fields, how these shape methods of investigation, and some of the key tools used for finding information. There is also a chapter on integrating discipline‐based library instruction into the curriculum, which provides a sound introduction. The final chapter on disciplinary and interdisciplinary research struck me as more theoretical and less appropriate to the target audience.

Topic‐specific chapters cover humanities, music, history, social sciences, business, government documents, science and engineering. The chapters capture the character of research in various areas well and provide helpful overviews, although these vary in depth of coverage. The chapter on government documents focuses exclusively on federal US sources. The business research chapter is also most useful for US readers, but the wider principles covered are of interest, as are many of the resources mentioned. The text focuses on responding to common research topics such as developing business start‐up or product marketing plans, in contrast to the humanities and social sciences fields, which encompass diverse approaches and search tools.

The importance of “chaining” or following a trail of citations for the humanities is shown, as is the use in this mega‐discipline of a wide variety of sources from scholarly to popular and from ancient to recent. For social sciences the research process is identified, the importance of collecting data is acknowledged, and there is a very brief introduction to a variety of search methodologies. Included in this chapter is some basic advice on effective catalogue searching suitable for novices. This is an example of a significant amount of generic information, which is scattered throughout the book. The sciences chapter covers library‐based research, not that done in the laboratory. Its author, Joseph Kraus, deserves a tick for readability as well as for presenting an accurate, up‐to‐date portrayal of the field.

At the end of most chapters is a section on basic information literacy skills required by students of the discipline or topic area. These vary considerably in their depth and quality, but scanning them gives a quick insight into the diversity of research methods and provides useful checklists. The search tools covered are not comprehensive, but the book does not make this claim, and there are a number of references to more specialized, in‐depth sources. This is a useful book for highlighting the variety of approaches to research needed for different groups, and it could serve as an introduction to a new area for librarians working in the fields it covers.