You will often have to find academic books for your assignments. Scholarly books have gone through a quality control process whereby experts in the field have assessed the merits of the book, though the process is not the same as that of a journal article. You can use Omni to filter for academic books that are in physical and electronic format.
Step 1
Visit Omni at https://brocku.ca/library.
Step 2
In the search box, search for your topic using key concepts. Remember, use the OR operator to link synonyms together (policy OR law); use the AND operator to link different concepts together (policy AND indigenous); and, use quotation marks (" ") to search for specific phrases (policy AND "indigenous communities").
Step 3
Review your results. Use the filters on the left-hand side of the screen to narrow your results by resource type, publication date, and subject matter.
To filter for books and edited collections specifically, make sure you select Book Chapters and Books and EBooks.
Step 4
You can always edit your search phrase to include additional key concepts. Remember that the research process is iterative—this means you'll often have to revise your search multiple times. That's totally normal.
Step 5
Once you've found a book that looks promising, click on the title and you'll be presented with a lot of information. If the book is an eBook, simply click click on one of the available links.
Not all books are available electronically, however. You may have to visit the library to locate a physical book if we do not have electronic access. The call number and location of the book are listed in the record title.
Finally, the Brock Library may not have access to a physical or electronic copy of a book. In that case, you'll see "Not locally available." You can request the title from another library in Ontario using Omni (simply follow the request instructions!). If the book is not available in Ontario, we can request a copy from one of the thousands of participating academic institutions in the world.
