LibGuides: Basics of Library Reference: Overviews and Monographs (Books)

Introduction: Overview vs. Monograph

Once a student has gained an understanding of their topic using a specialized reference source, they're ready to start looking for secondary sources. Often these are books written by historians, which either place their topic or event in a larger context, or provide an analysis of some aspect of their topic. For the History classes at PEA, students will be looking for two types of books, which they refer to as Overviews and Monographs.

An Overview is a book which addresses a time period such as American Colonies by Alan Taylor. Use the index to find your topic; it may be a chapter or just a few pages. An overview is meant to place your topic within the context of the time and larger world. Sometimes, but not always, an overview will be a book written with chapters by different authors, compiled by an editor.

A Monograph is a book which addresses your specific topic. If you are researching a person, a monograph could be a biography of the person. If you are researching an event, a monograph might be The Atlantic Slave Trade. Think of a monograph more like a book that, if you were interested in the topic, you might pick up at a bookstore and read cover to cover.

Use the catalog to search for these books. You can use keyword searches, advanced search, or subject headings to try and find items on a topic. See the "how to search the catalog" video for more information and search tips.

Tips for searching the catalog

Start with a keyword search

It's best to start broad and narrow down. Keyword searches, or using the basic search box, will search all relevant fields for your keywords (title, author, description, table of contents, etc.) Be aware of the keywords you're using: "American Revolution" and "Revolutionary War" will pull different search results, even though they mean the same thing. Sometimes a few keyword searches will have to be done to find relevant results.

Refine your search

Use the limiters on the left-hand side of the page to limit to "books," or "print books." You can also limit or sort by publication year, which can be helpful if you're looking for primary sources or the most recent scholarship on a topic.

Use linked subject headings and linked authors

Since "American Revolution" and "Revolutionary War" keyword searches will pull different search results, the Library of Congress has standardized this by giving all books on the subject the subject heading "United States—History—Revolution, 1775-1783." If you click into the detailed record for an item in the catalog, you can click on this subject heading to find all books and materials that have been assigned this heading. This will also work for authors--if you find a book by an author in the catalog, clicking on that author's name will bring you to all of the books by that author.

Use Boolean operators

Using terms like AND, OR, and NOT (capitalized) will change your search results by grouping or separating keywords. See this guide for more information on how to use Boolean logic in searching.

Use the call numbers

The Dewey Decimal System is a subject based cataloging system. While imperfect, if you or the student finds a book that seems promising, it can be very helpful to do a shelf check for other books with the same call number that might also be useful in research.