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Books and Journals in the Social Sciences: Differences in Uses

eBooks and Journals: Differences Online

In LibrarySearch, books, ebooks, and journal articles look similar: 

This is a book: 

a book displayed in LibrarySearch. Above the title, book is highlighted in red. Below the title, the call number and location is highlighted in red

This is an ebook: 

an ebook in LibrarySearch. Above the title, the word book is highlighted in red. Below the title, the link to the ebook is highlighted in red

This is a journal (journal articles are almost always online, although some have in print copies) 

An article in LibrarySearch. Above the title, the word article is highlighted in red. Below the title the link to access the full text is highlighted in red

 

eBooks and Journals: Differences in Use

Empirical Journal Articles: contain specific information about an experiment a professor or doctor did on a specific topic. These articles have created new knowledge and have moved the field forward. 

Literature Review Journal Articles: contain a summary of the research done on a topic up to this point. Think about Literature review articles as the 35-second summary before the first episode of a new season on Netflix. It's catching the reader up on all the information that happened before 

Book: contains background and foundational knowledge on a specific subject. Often you can find an overview or summary of your topic by looking at the table of contents and choosing one or two chapters to read or by looking in the index for the specific pages on your topic.