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Archaeology and Anthropology: Find Books

mySearch

mySearch is an interface which allows you to search across a range of library resources simultaneously, including books, journal articles and databases.

Essential Links

These are the 3 main links you'll need to use a lot in finding and using books for your work.

Understanding the different types of academic books

  1. Usually big - you willl often just want to read a chapter or a section rather than the whole book.
  2. They are best for getting a good overall introduction to a topic, and explaining the main theorists and theories..
  3. Best place to start and find the main areas of debate and discussion.

  1. Chapters are written by different authors.
  2. There is an editor or editors on the title page.
  3. In referencing you list the author and title of the chapter, and also the details of the book (see referencing guide).

  1. A specialist book on one topic.
  2. Often (but not always) just one author.
  3. Good for going deeper in academic discussions and debates.

  1. A family of books by a publisher on a similar theme/ area.
  2. By different authors/ editors..
  3. Can be useful for finding other books on a topic.

  1. Festschrifts: Written in honour of a scholar, and the subject matter will be in areas of the scholar's own work and interest.
  2. Conference Proceedings: Sometimes published as a book, and can bring together some of the most recent research in an areas.
  3. Reference Books: Many books in the library are labelled 'reference only' - what we mean by reference books in this context is that they are books you'd dip into for short articles, definitions or statistics.