Use a book for:
in-depth coverage of a subject
history and chronology
overview of a big topic
background information
bibliographies of additional sources.
Search the Library Catalog above to find books/e-books. If we own the title, Texas A&M University-San Antonio Library will appear on the last line of the citation. The library's catalog also gathers titles that appear within San Antonio area libraries and throughout the world. These books will either have San Antonio Libraries or WorldCat Libraries on the last line.
Any book that is tagged San Antonio Libraries can be checked out by using a TexShare card. For any book that is tagged WorldCat Libraries or San Antonio Libraries, an Interlibrary Loan request can be made to get that book to the patron.
These reference works are designed to give comprehensive introductions to their subjects. They are excellent when you are beginning a research project and need an intellectual map of how to proceed. (Note: These are not considered "scholarly" sources in that they are not research studies or articles published in scholarly journals.)
To find out the basics -To narrow the topic --Is information available? --To identify significant people--To identify search terms --To learn the theory--To plan your research---To formulate questions