Books
In the 1470's William Caxton produced the earliest books known to have
been printed in English. However printed books were produced in China
as early as the mid 9th Century and from 1041 Chinese printers began
using movable type. This method was adopted by French printers in about
1380 and spread to Germany and Holland. In 1456 Johann Gutenberg published
the Gutenberg Bible, one of the earliest known examples of printing
using movable type in Europe. (It took him 5 years to produce the Bible!)
A facsimile copy of the Gutenberg Bible is held in the Rare Books Collection
at the Baillieu Library.
Primary or Secondary Sources?
Books, depending on their content, can be either primary or secondary
sources.
For instance, Charles Darwin's diary of the
voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle (New York: Macmillan, 1934) would be
classified as a primary source. (This is a published version of Darwin's
original diary.)
On the other hand Alan Moorehead's book, Darwin
and the Beagle (London, Hamilton, 1969) is a secondary source. (This
is a book about Charles Darwin.)
However, in special circumstances even the book Darwin and the Beagle
might be classified as a Primary Source. For instance if you are researching
the life of the author, or if you are interested in the changing attitudes
to Darwin and his work.
Bibliographies
A bibliography can be defined simply as a list of books and other publications,
arranged in a logical order. The details provided for each publication
generally include the author, title, place and year of publication,
publisher and details of the edition.
The scope of one bibliography can vary greatly from another.
A national bibliography, such as the Australian
National Bibliography (Canberra : National Library of Australia,
1901-1950, 1961-1996), aims to cover all material published in a particular
country.
A subject bibliography on the other hand concentrates on material published
on a specific subject, for instance a person, a place, an event or a
time period. For example:
Stress,
strain, and Vietnam : an annotated bibliography of two decades of psychiatric
and social sciences literature reflecting the effect of the war on the
American soldier / (New York : Greenwood Press, 1988)
Antarctic
miscellany : books, periodicals, & maps relating to the discovery
and exploration of Antarctica (London : J.J.H.Simper, 1980)
Other types of bibliographies concentrate on the works of one author,
or a publisher, or on the contents of a particular collection of published
material, for instance, a library catalogue.
TIP: Once you have located a work that is relevant,
check through the sources in its bibliography, as some of them are sure
to be useful as well.
Library Catalogues
Library catalogues are useful tools for identifying (and locating)
books, and other resources. The catalogues of academic, state and national
libraries (along with many public and special libraries) are available
electronically via telnet and the www.
The University of Melbourne Library catalogue is the logical starting point for research at the University of Melbourne. It can be searched by author, title, subject and keyword. KEYWORD is probably the best option when searching for material on a particular subject. It is very flexible and allows you to use Boolean operators, and limit a search by date of publication, language and material type (etc.)
The University of Melbourne Library catalogue can be accessed via Telnet (Login : library) or via www (no login needed). Links to both versions are available from the Library's web site, along with links to many other library catalogues from Australia and overseas.
Link to Catalogues
Electronic Books
A vast amount of "out of copyright" material is available electronically via the www. Collections containing tens of thousands of books (including both primary and secondary sources) are freely accessible.
For instance, Project Gutenberg (which commenced in 1971) provides free access to a huge number of electronic books ranging from literature to reference works.
A site called Alex , covering mainly literature and philosophy, contains a fully searchable catalogue, with the catalogue entries linking straight through to the full-text.
There are also a number of sites which focus on history. For example, American and British History Resources on the Internet provides access to full-text books, as well as archival material and links to other sites.
A select list of electronic book sites is available via the Library homepage. You might find these sites useful one day. For instance if a book you require urgently is out on loan, it may be available electronically.
Microform Collections
In addition to print (hardcopy) and electronic versions, books are also available in microform. This includes copies of individual books, and large collections of books. For further details, see the section on Microforms.
