Finding out more about your topic
Background information can be found in encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks. These sources may also point out other books or articles relevant to your topic and can be helpful to find keywords, important terms, concepts and author names to use when searching databases.
UBC Library provides access to many excellent resources in both print and online versions; a select number are listed below.
Searching Summon for Books and eBooks
When searching in Summon, use the filter book/ebook or start your search here (already limited to books and ebooks):
Additional resources for finding books
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Knovel Basic AcademicKnovel contains dozens of handbooks in engineering and the physical sciences. Special features include data search, interactive tables, and case studies.
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MIT Press Complete CollectionAccess to all ebooks published by MIT Press, over 3000 titles, dating back to the first date of publication.
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SpringerLinkFull-text online access to journals & ebooks published by Springer, Nature, and Palgrave.
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Taylor & Francis eBooksAccess to a multidisciplinary collection of ebooks from Taylor & Francis. Imprints include Routledge, CRC Press and Garland Science.
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University Press Scholarship OnlineA vast and rapidly-expanding online research library, University Press Scholarship Online (UPSO) offers full-text access to the best scholarly publishing from around the world, making disparately-published scholarship easily accessible, highly discoverable, and fully cross-searchable via a single online platform.
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Wiley Online LibraryWiley Online Books features over 16,000 scholarly and professional books, handbooks,dictionaries, companions and landmark book series. Journal articles can also be found here.
Subject Terms
Keywords are natural language terms that you think describe your topic and typically words used to search in Summon or Google. Results may include some irrelevant content.
Subject terms are selected words pre-defined by a database and are used to describe the content of each item within that database. Results are typically very relevant to your topic.
Here are some useful subject terms in the catalogue that can be built on to locate resources: