"With all of the new developments in information storage and retrieval, researchers today need a clear and comprehensive overview of the full range of their options, both online and offline, for finding the best information quickly. In this third edition of The Oxford Guide to Library Research, Thomas Mann maps out an array not just of important databases and print sources, but of several specific search techniques that can be applied profitably in any area of research. From academic resources to government documents to manuscripts in archives to business Web sites, Mann shows readers how best to exploit controlled subject headings, explains why browsing library shelves is still important in an online age, demonstrates how citation searching and related record searching produce results far beyond keyword inquiries, and offers practical tips on making personal contacts with knowledgeable people."--Jacket.

Preface. --What research libraries can offer that the Internet cannot (both resources and search techniques) ; -- Trade-offs of what, who, and where restrictions on free access ; -- Hierarchy of levels of learning ; -- Data, information, opinion, knowledge, understanding ; -- Wisdom separate ; -- Implications of format differences ; -- Nine methods of subject searching ; -- Patterns in inefficient searches -- Initial overviews : encyclopedias. -- Characteristics of encyclopedias ; -- Specialized vs. general encyclopedias ; -- Examples ; -- How to find articles in specialized encyclopedias ; -- Cross-disciplinary searching ; -- How to identify additional specialized encyclopedias ; -- Peculiar strengths of general sets -- Subject headings and the library catalog. -- Problems in determining the right subject headings ; -- Uniform heading ; -- Scope-match specificity and its modifications ; -- Specific entry ; -- Four ways to find the right subject headings ; -- Cross-references ; -- Alphabetically adjacent terms ; -- Subject tracings ; -- Browse displays of subdivisions ; -- Recognition vs. prior specification ; -- Use of three menu listings ; -- Precoordination and postcoordination ; -- Particularly useful subdivisions ; -- Miscellaneous tips on subject headings ; -- Narrowing a topic ; -- Proper names ; -- Finding foreign language books ; -- Pattern headings -- General browsing, focused browsing, and use of classified bookstacks. -- Alternative methods of shelving book collections ; -- Problems with shelving by accession number, by height, or in remote warehouses ; -- Serendipity and recognition ; -- General browsing vs. focused browsing ; -- Full-text searching and depth of access ; -- Lighthouse libraries example ; -- Searching for a single word ; -- Valery and Dreyfus example ; -- Inadequacy of Google Print as a replacement for classified bookstacks ; -- Complementary relationship of the library catalog and the classified bookstacks ; -- Catalog as the index to the classification scheme ; -- Trade-offs and remedies ; -- Exploiting the internal structure of the cataloging system ; -- Problems that result when the system is ignored ; -- Browsing in other contexts ; -- Importance of full texts of books arranged in subject groupings --