FTS: Animal Minds: Finding Books

To find books in our library, search the Library Catalog - you can also search directly via  the search box on the library's homepage. Use our guide to finding books for more on how to use the online catalog and find books on the shelves.

Browse the shelves when you find a useful book. Books are shelved according to topic, so chances are you'll find other relevant books nearby. For instance, for the Animal Finds FTS, you might browse in the BF660-685 (Comparative Psychology) section or the QL (Zoology) section.

You can check books out at the Information Desk.

Sometimes people shy away from books because they are longer to read than a journal article. Many disciplines still publish current research in books, so you don't want to miss out on key resources by ignoring books. There are some tricks you can use to understand a book's structure and argument, so you DON'T have to read the whole thing.

• Read the table of contents 
• Read the book's introduction/first chapter AND conclusion/last chapter - these present and highlight the main arguments
• The end of chapter one will often provide a roadmap for the rest of the book
• Skim chapter headings
• Browse the index 

Once you have a good idea of the book's structure and argument through skimming, you can narrow in on the portions of the text most useful for your research.