1. Finding Scholarly Books
1.1. Netlibrary
1.1.1. NetLibrary Information at ZSR
1.2. ZSR Catalogue
1.3. Google Books
1.4. WorldCat
1.4.1. Search EVERYTHING!
1.5. Amazon.com
2. What to Look For
2.1. Purpose-why was the book written?
2.1.1. To Persuade-to change a point of view
2.1.2. To inform-historical events; results of an experiment
2.1.3. To entertain- most fiction or humor books
2.1.4. Teach how to do something- business plan
2.1.5. Give an overview- encyclopedia; textbooks
2.2. Publisher
2.2.1. University Press; Commercial publisher; Professional or Trade Assoc; Gov't; Vanity Press
2.3. Organization
2.3.1. Look at the Table of Contents to see if the book is organized in a logical manner
2.3.2. Added material- Check for an appendix
2.4. Date
2.4.1. Geology vs. Health Science- some areas value only current info
2.5. Author
2.5.1. are they an expert in the field, or just out standing in a field?
2.6. Bibliography
2.6.1. Scholarly works ALWAYS have a bibliography
2.6.2. look at the bibliography for length, primary sources, and consistent citation style
2.7. Usefulness
2.7.1. does the book support your topic
2.8. Coverage
2.8.1. does the book cover the topic comprehensively
2.9. Audience
2.9.1. what reading group is the author writing for?...general, students, professionals, scholars, etc
2.10. Illustrations
2.10.1. are photos, charts, graphs, used to illustration concepts in the book.