1 Initial Overview Sources: Specialized Encyclopedias
Starting Points beyond Wikipedia
Advantages of Specialized Encyclopedias
Identifying Standard Works, Providing Primary Sources, and Providing Overview Lists of Articles
How to Find Articles in Specialized Encyclopedias
Peculiar Strengths of General Sets
2 Subject Headings and the Library Catalog
What Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) Contain
Problems in Determining the Right Subject Headings
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Uniform Heading: Standardization of Search Terms
Displaying Unanticipated Aspects and Relationships: Browse Menus
Linkages to Classification Numbers
Subject Headings in the OPAC as Index to the Classification Scheme
Recognition Access (Provided by Conceptual Categorization Rather Than Relevance Ranking)
Scope-Match Specificity and Its Modifications
Solving the Problem of Excessive Granularity
Preventing Overload in Coverage
Predictability in Selection of Terms
Loss of Relationship Networks in Faceted Catalogs
Five Ways to Find the Right Subject Headings
Digresssion: Precoordination and Postcoordination
Miscellaneous Tips on Subject Headings
3 General Browsing, Focused Browsing, and Use of Classified Bookstacks
Alternative Methods of Shelving Book Collections
Problems with Shelving Books by Accession Number or Height
Enhanced Recognition Capability and Full-Text Depth of Access
Focused Browsing Access vs. OPAC Access: Depth vs. Range
Sending Books Offsite “Because They Are in Google Books”
4 Subject Headings and Descriptors in Databases for Journal Articles
The Importance of “Full” Displays
Major Subscription Databases That Use Descriptors
Miscellaneous Databases with Controlled Descriptors
How to Identify Databases in All Subject Areas
Cross-Disciplinary Searching and Federated Searching
Problems with Variant Search Terms
Finding Which Journals Exist, Which Are Electronically Available, and Where They Are Indexed
Problems with Abbreviations of Journal Titles
The 1981 Change in Cataloging Rules for Serials
Disadvantages of Controlled Vocabulary Searches
“Researchers Accustomed to Google Don’t Use Subject Headings”
Problems with Keyword Searches
Major Advantages of Keyword Searching
Printed Sources for Keyword Access to Older Journals
Keyword Searching on the Internet
Full-Text Book and Journal Sites on the Open Internet
Other Approaches to the Internet
The Nature of Citation Searching: Circumventing Vocabulary Problems
The Mirror Image of Footnote Chasing
Web of Science and Its Component Databases
Two Different Ways to Do Citation Searching
Digression: The Cross-Disciplinary Coverage of Web of Science
Cycling Sources and “Reviews” of Journal Articles
Other Features of Web of Science
Scopus and Other Citation Search Databases
Citation Searching on the Internet
Finding Articles with Shared Footnote References
Circumventing Vocabulary Problems
Different Ways to Progress from an Initial Starting-Point Article
8 Higher-Level Overview Sources: Literature Review Articles
Specific Databases and Other Sources for Finding Review Articles
9 Published Subject Bibliographies
Advantages of Subject Bibliographies
Structured Arrangements of the Literature on a Topic
The Importance of Indexes within Bibliographies
Problems Causing Bibliographies to Be Overlooked
10 Truncations, Combinations, and Limitations
Word Truncation and Wildcard Symbols
Combinations Using Component Words within Controlled Subject Strings
Limiting by Geographic Area Codes
Combining Keywords with Citation or Related Record Searches
Refresher: Combinations without Computers
11 Locating Material in Other Libraries
Worldcat and the Pre-1956 National Union Catalog
Full-Text Websites Created from Multiple Library Holdings
Other Databases and Union Lists
Finding Copies of Books for Sale
Determining Which Libraries Have Special Collections on Your Subject
Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery
The Value of Contacting People Directly
Sources outside the Open Internet for Identifying Knowledgeable People
Talking to Reference Librarians
Resources Not Covered by Conventional Databases or Catalogs and Not Shelved with Regular Books
Special Collections Online: Subscription Databases
Special Collections Online: Free Websites
Archives, Manuscripts, and Public Records
14 Special Subjects and Formats
Illustrations, Pictures, and Photographs
Tests (Psychological and Educational)
15 Reference Sources: Types of Literature
Recap of Ways to Approach Research Questions
Problems Experienced by Most Researchers
Structuring Questions by Predictable Formal Properties of Retrieval Systems
Specific Sources for Identifying Types of Literature in Any Subject Area
Appendix A: Wisdom and Information Science