Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

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 -- 1. 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 -- 2. 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 --

3. General browsing, focused browsing, and use of classified bookstacks -- Alternative methods of shelving book collections -- The 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 -- The complementary relationship of the library catalog and the classified bookstacks -- The catalog as the index to the classification scheme -- Trade-offs and remedies -- Exploiting the internal structure of the cataloging system -- The problems that result when the system is ignored -- Browsing in other contexts -- Importance of full texts of books arranged in subject groupings --

4. Subject headings and indexes to journal articles -- Descriptors -- Separate thesauri -- Descriptor fields in online records -- Eureka databases -- Browse search feature -- FirstSearch databases and WilsonWeb counterparts -- Related subjects search feature -- Contrast of Eureka and FirstSearch softwares -- EBSCO host research databases -- Search features -- Dialog and DataStar databases -- ProQuest databases -- Miscellaneous databases with controlled descriptors -- Cross-disciplinary searching -- Finding where journals are indexed and which journals are available electronically -- Identifying the best journals -- Problems with abbreviations of journal titles -- The change in cataloging rules for serials -- 5. Keyword searches -- Problems with controlled searches -- Advantages of controlled vocabularies -- Problems with keyword searches -- Advantages of keywords -- Index-Abstract-level keyword databases and printed sources -- Full-text databases -- Convenience vs. quality of access -- ProQuest databases -- EBSCO host research databases - InfoTrac databases -- JSTOR -- Project Muse -- LexisNexis -- Web sites on the open Internet -- Search engines -- Subject directories -- Invisible web sites -- Google Print project -- Summary --

6. Citation searches -- Finding where a known source has been footnoted by a subsequent journal article -- ISI indexes -- Web of Science -- Cross-disciplinary coverage -- Cycling sources -- "Reviews" of journal articles -- Additional features of ISI indexes -- Citation searching in other databases -- 7. Related record searches -- Finding articles that have footnotes in common with a starting-point article -- Examples -- Differences between CD-ROM versions and Web of Science -- 8. Higher-level overviews : review articles -- "Literature review" or "state of the art" assessments -- Differences from book reviews and encyclopedia articles -- Web of Science "review" limit capability -- Other sources of literature reviews -- 9. Published bibliographies -- Differences from computer printouts of sources -- Doing Boolean combinations without a computer -- Two problems in identifying published bibliographies -- Bibliographies not shelved with regular books -- Subdivision "- Bibliography" can be missed in library catalog -- Finding bibliographies via the library catalog -- Finding bibliographies in Z class shelving area -- Other sources for finding bibliographies -- Guides to the literature -- Bibliographies not superseded by computer sources --

10. Boolean combinations and search limitations -- Boolean combinations -- Component word searching within controlled subject strings -- Word truncation -- Proximity searches -- Limitations of sets -- Limiting by time periods -- Limiting by geographic area codes -- Limiting by document types -- Combining keywords and citation searches -- Boolean combinations without computers -- Precoordinated headings and browse displays -- Published subject bibliographies -- Focused shelf-browsing -- How to identify which databases exist -- 11. Locating material in other libraries -- Determining library locations of desired items -- WorldCat, RLG Union Catalog, National Union Catalog of Pre-1956 Imprints -- Other union lists and databases -- Web sites for identifying out-of-print books for sale -- Determining which libraries have special collections on your subject -- Interlibrary loan and document delivery -- 12. People sources -- Journalists and academics -- Inhibiting assumptions -- "Find it on your own" -- Advantages of people sources -- Listservs and discussion groups online -- Techniques for students -- Sources for identifying experts -- Associations and directories -- How to talk to reference librarians --

13. Hidden treasures -- Resources not shelved or cataloged with conventional research materials -- Microform sets and counterpart Web sites -- Web collections -- Government documents -- Particular importance of Congressional hearings -- Archives, manuscripts, and public records -- 14. Special subjects and formats -- Biography -- Book reviews -- Business and economics -- Copyright status information -- Genealogy and local history -- Illustrations, pictures, and photographs -- Literary criticism -- Maps -- Newspapers -- Out-of-print and secondhand books -- Primary sources -- Standards and specifications -- Statistics -- Tabular data -- Tests (psychological and educational) -- Translations -- 15. Reference sources : searching by types of literature -- Reference questions vs. research questions -- Review of search techniques for research questions -- Type of literature searches -- Internet sources for fact searches -- Coverage of the various types of literature -- Understanding the formal properties of retrieval systems -- The discipline of library and information science -- Sources for identifying types of literature in any subject area -- Concluding thoughts -- Appendix : Wisdom -- Index.