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LEAP 8 Research Paper and Presentation

Finding Books & Videos: Which Tool Should You Use?

Langara Library offers two tools for locating books and media (videos) on your topic: The Library Catalogue and Quick Topic Search.

Here's a comparison, so you can select the tool that best suits your needs:

Library Catalogue Quick Topic Search
  • Searches for books and media. No journal articles!
  • Searches for books, media, and journal articles from many databases in a single search. Think of it as Google for the library.
  • Retrieves fewer, but more specific, results. 
  • Retrieves many (many!) results. However, not all of these results will be relevant to your topic. 
  • Provides more control over the research process, when combined with a database search for articles.
  • Provides convenient one-stop-shopping. However, you will need to spend some time sorting to select the best possible results.

Finding Books: The Library Catalogue

Books and Media Search

 

Tip: On the results page, click the Modify Search button to narrow by Format (for example, eBooks, Streams (online videos)). 

Finding Books: Quick Topic Search

Quick Topic Search

Advanced Search

 

Tip: On the results page, use the check boxes along the left side of the page to refine your results.

Research Tip!

Books are often hundreds of pages long. This can be intimidating! 

Remember: Your instructors don't expect you to read a book from start to finish. Rather, they want you to read strategically. To locate information on your topic:

  • Look at the table of contents at the beginning of the book
  • Look at the index at the back of the book (this is the long list of topics discussed in the book organized alphabetically from A-Z with corresponding page numbers)
  • Use the keyword search feature in e-books
Subjects: LEAP