English: Books, Ebooks, & Reference
Books
Books and reference material are useful for getting an overview of a given topic. For reference materials this overview is usually a short, fact oriented description of the topic, occasionally with references. They are considered one of the most authoritative sources. Books, similarly, usually approach a topic from multiple perspectives. These are some of the longest forms of research, and you may find that you only need a specific chapter or section of a book, rather than the whole thing.
Keep in mind, a book can go the complete other direction in terms of specificity. Rather than an bird's eye view of a topic, it could delve very deep on just one aspect of a topic, exploring it fully and providing a deep understanding. Again, it may be valuable to focus on sections of books rather than complete works while doing research.
The TCTC Catalog:
To search the TCTC book catalog, head to library.tctc.edu/primo, type your search term in the search box, and select "TCTC library catalog only" from the drop down that appears.
Ebooks
- Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Thousands of ebooks from a wide range of subject areas. Go to your Bookshelf account to save links to books, highlights, bookmarks, notes, and more.
- Ebooks from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Thousands of high-quality ebook titles from major academic publishers and university presses from around the world. Collection encompasses broad range of subjects.
- Ebooks from Gale This link opens in a new window
A broad ranging general reference collection of ebooks. Search thousands of authoritative reference sources across all fields and disciplines.
- Ebooks from Infobase This link opens in a new window
This collection features thousands of reference works from imprints such as Facts On File, Ferguson's, and Bloom's on a wide range of subjects areas, from history, science, literature, etc.
Reference
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Broad subject general reference database searching hundreds of encyclopedias and other reference works. Provides subject/topic maps.
- Bloom's Literary Reference Online This link opens in a new window
A resource for the study of literature. Edited and curated by Yale University professor Harold Bloom. Includes thousands of critical essays and discussion questions, author biographies, character analyses, full-length poems, and the full text of hundreds of reference books. Also contains full-length videos of classic plays and films, and more.
- Literary Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Full-text literary database covering all genres and time-frames. It includes thousands of synopses, critical essays, book reviews, literary journals and author biographies, plus full-text classic novels, short stories and poems. Also includes the Masterplots series and "Critical Insights" volumes.