Books are essential information sources because they provide thorough and in-depth discussions of topics. Books represent accumulated knowledge covering many years, decades, and centuries.
It takes time for a writer to do research, to analyze their findings, to organize their thoughts, and finally to write a book. After that it may take a year or longer for a book to be accepted for publication, and then published, before it becomes available to you. This often results in better quality control as books are edited and proofread before publication.
The value of books in your research process will most likely depend on your subject area and the timeliness of your topic. If some ground-breaking discovery or new insight happened last week, or a month ago, books will obviously not be the source you go looking for. For up-to-date information you would turn to newspapers, magazines, or journals, i.e. periodicals.
Look for a book when you need a thorough and lengthy discussion of topic or subject area. Books provide a more comprehensive, thoughtful, and longer-term examination of the issues, ideas, cultures, and societies of our world.
Use the Hawai'i Voyager Library Catalog to find books and videos in the Leeward CC Library and other UH libraries. Learn more about using Hawai'i Voyager to find books by clicking the Books tab under Find.
