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Languages Research Guides: Home

Why You Should Learn a Second Language Infographic

RESEARCH TEMPLATES

Research is a process with many steps, and is rarely linear. A good researcher uses multiple sources and continually goes back and reviews their question and keeps  adding new vocabulary and  learning to their search. This Libguide has been created to provide support for your research tasks in the language you are studying.

For some research tasks books are still a good source of information. Unlike novels we generally do not read non-fiction books from cover to cover so it is important to understand how to use a book more effectively for your research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Appears at the front of a book and gives a list of the chapters or sections in a book, The table of contents may give a general idea of the topics covered in the book.

PREFACE / FOREWORD / INTRODUCTION

If there is one it is located after the contents, and may provide you with ideas about the author's intention or purpose for writing the book.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Is a list of materials related to a specific topic. The list may be items that were used as reference for the work they accompany, or it may be a list of additional materials on the topic. Bibliographies are usually  located at the ends of chapters or at the end of the book.

INDEX

Is usually located in the back of the book and is an alphabetical list of the specific subjects in the book, with the corresponding page numbers.  

 An index can also provide subject terms and keywords that might be useful for further research on a topic.

 


You can use Oliver to find books in the library however sometimes it is helpful to know the Dewey numbers for a subject. In doing so you will be able to find  books on that subject in most libraries. It will also be useful at those times when you know the topic but don't know where to start looking.
Note that, resources about specific events will be located within the Dewey division for the country where the event took place.

440 French Language
450 Italian Language
470 Latin
490 Other Languages

840 French Literature
850 Italian Literature
890 Literatures of Other Languages

913 Geography of & travel in ancient world
914 Geography of & travel in Europe
915 Geography of & travel in Asia
930 History of the ancient world (this includes Egypt, Greece and Rome)
931 China to 420
937 Italy to 476
938 Greece to 323
940  History of Europe
944 History of France
945 History of Italian Peninsula
950 History of Asia
951 History of China