Textbooks
A good place to start
Textbooks are often a good place to start your research:
They explain the theories, questions and solutions logically.
Their authors are experts in their field.
They reflect the current state of knowledge.
They are written in clear language.
They include illustrations, case studies, indexes, glossaries etc.
Textbooks are not good for:
News: use newspapers and news databases instead.
In-depth analysis of specific topics: use academic journal databases instead.
Statistics, market data and market research: use specialist databases instead.
Discussing professional practice and experiences: use trade publications instead.
What books do I need?
Start with your reading lists. Ask your lecturer or librarian for suggestions.
Consider Google Books. It allows you to do full-text searches across millions of books. It is a convenient tool for researching topics covered in just a few pages of even very large volumes.
Use library catalogues to identify textbooks in libraries. Library catalogues do not do full-text search inside books. Search instead for words in the title, the author's name, or keywords. Library catalogues may not be able to identify all the useful books if you are searching for topics covered in only a few pages. Give a thought to what kind of textbooks may discuss your topic (if unsure, use Google Books to help you). For example, 'employee motivation' is likely to be part of textbooks on work psychology or organisational behaviour, while 'CSS' is discussed in books on web design.
Where are my ebooks?
VLeBooks
Most QAHE ebooks are located on VLeBooks. Please see the guide. You can also use the QAHE library catalogue to search for these ebooks. VLeBooks is a library; the books there can be read online or "borrowed" (downloaded) for a few days or weeks. After the download period ends, the books and all the notes disappear from your device. The books you read online ("Read Online" button) can partially be printed out; the notes and highlights you make while reading online will stay indefinitely.
Partner universities
Some universities have their own ebook collection available to QAHE-based students:
London Met • Solent • Ulster • Roehampton