Library session: computing programmes

Textbooks

Textbooks are a particular kind of book. They are written in order to explain various broad areas of knowledge, e.g. research methods or C# programming. 

You are likely to come across two types of textbooks:

1. Textbooks discussing a subject (e.g. Internet of Things, cyber security etc). Such textbooks discuss the main ideas in a balanced manner. It is helpful to use good textbooks when studying a new subject (module). Read more about textbooks.

2. Instruction textbooks (e.g. C#, Web programming languages etc). Training videos can be a good alternative to such textbooks if you prefer watching to reading.

Finding textbooks

Use the library catalogues (Solent University and QAHE) to find textbooks.

Catalogues do not search inside books, so try to predict what helpful books may be called. For example, a topic of cost-benefit analysis is likely to be discussed in books about information systems or systems development . Search for "information systems" or "systems development". Then search these books for the section discussing cost-benefit analysis. Read more about finding and accessing ebooks from Solent University and QAHE.

• ACTIVITY: Use the Solent University library catalogue to find Date, C.J. (2015) SQL and relational theory: how to write accurate SQL code, 3rd ed. in ebook format and access it.

Part of the library collection is O'Reilly Learning - a particularly good source of instruction textbooks and video tutorials.

Google Books can be helpful if you do not know what books cover your topic of interest. Google Books searches inside many printed and electronic books; however, it is usually not allowed to show their full texts. Browsing some pages may be enough for your research. It may also give you an idea of what books to search for in the library catalogues.