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Research 101 (older version)

What kinds of books does Hostos Library have?

Here are a few types of books within Hostos Library:

TYPES OF NON-FICTION BOOKS

icon of dictionary created by Smalllike from the Noun ProjectReference books

These books have information that you look up quickly.

  • Dictionaries give definitions.
  • Encyclopedias offer an overview of a subject and are usually about the same length as a Wikipedia article.
  • Specialized reference books, like nursing plan books, offer quick look-it-up info for a particular field.

Our physical reference books are downstairs in the Information Learning Commons (room with the computers). Our online reference books can be found through OneSearch (use the "resource type" filter on the side and choose "reference entries") or in Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Here is an EXAMPLE of an entry in a reference book:OneSearch result: reference entry Gerrymandering from the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, 2020 available online  


icon of dictionary by karina from the Noun Project

 

General audience books 

These books assume that you are interested in but not yet an expert on the subject. 

Their authors might be professors or researchers, but could also be journalists, or professionals in other fields (e.g., politics, restaurants, fashion, sports), or could be writing about their personal experience.

EXAMPLE of a non-fiction book written for a general audience: 

OneSearch result: 50 things you can do today to manage stress by Wendy Green, 2012; available online

 

icon ideas book created by Laymik from the Noun ProjectScholarly books

These books assume that you have already studied quite a lot about the topic, and will explore ideas, events, people, or places in detail and depth.

They are often published by a university press, and usually written by researchers and professors. Their authors are usually professors or other academic researchers.

They are more likely than general audience books to explicitly cite references, including journal articles, primary sources, and other scholarly books.

EXAMPLE of a scholarly book:

OneSearch result: Reds at the blackboard: communism, civil rights, and the New York City Teachers Union by Clarence Taylor, 2011, available online 

 

icon textbook created by Andrei Yushchenko from the Noun ProjectTextbooks

The library will put textbooks on reserve at the request of course professors. These required readings can be found upstairs in the reserves room (or in the case of three-day loans, at the circulation desk).

TYPES OF LITERARY BOOKS

icon literature created by visual language from the Noun Projecticon Poetry created by Wes Breazell from the Noun Projecticon Theater created by Adrien Coquet from the Noun Project

The category of literature includes: 

Novels: Novels are long works of fiction imagined and created by their author. They may be realistic or fantastic. They may be based on historical events, or set in the present. We have novels in English and Spanish, and a few in other languages.

Short Stories: The library has anthologies of short stories. Anthologies are books that include works written by many different authors.

The library also has plays and poetry.

To browse works of literature, you can look on the shelves in the "stacks" in the main reading room downstairs. For the most commonly read books at Hostos, see books that start with call numbers:

  • for literature in French - PQ (1-3999)
  • for literature in Spanish - PQ (6001-8929)
  • for British literature - all numbers starting with PR
  • for US literature - all numbers starting with PS

For call numbers of literature from other places and in other languages, see here. (You'll notice that although works from all over the world are represented, the Library of Congress classification system unfortunately reflects a Western/Northern bias, by creating much more detailed categories for works of literature in the Western and especially English-speaking world.)

We also have graphic novels (sometimes called comics or graphic narratives)--works that combine visual images with written text. These works can be fiction or non-fiction (including a lot of reportage and memoir).

Most, though not all, of our graphic novels can be found in the section with call numbers in the PN 6700-6800 range.

 

E-books

How to find a book on the shelf

Ebook packages

OneSearch will search across our collection for ebooks (filter with the "books" filter on the right).

If you prefer, you can also search a particular package of ebooks. Included below are some highly recommended open access collections as well. Each platform has a different look and features.


Credo Reference — An online reference library that provides access to a selection of reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, and a range of subject-specific titles. It also includes a collection of handbooks on Criminology.

Ebrary — An interdisciplinary collection of almost 100,000 academic ebooks avaialble to all CUNY libraries.Click here for instructions on how to download Ebrary ebooks onto mobile devices.

Ebsco ebook Subject Collection — A small collection of books on computers and history.

Gale Virtual Reference Library — Encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

Latin American Women Writers — Approximately 19,500 pages of prose and poetry and 36 plays by women writers from Mexico, Central, and South America.

Latino Literature — Approximately 380 plays and 67,500 pages of prose and poetry by Chicano, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican and other Latin writers working in the United States.

Nursing eBooks @ Ovid  — A small collection of popular titles in Nursing and Allied Health.  Not available for download onto portable devices.

Palgrave Connect ebooks — Academic ebooks chiefly in the social sciences, humanities and business.

Project Gutenberg — A free collection of classics from all over the world.

SpringerLink — Scientific documents from journals, books, series, protocols and reference works.

STAT!Ref — Ebooks for allied health students — NCLEX study guides, care planning books, and more. Click here for instructions on how to download STAT!Ref ebooks onto mobile devices.

Textbooks

You can find a textbook in OneSearch by searching for the title(or the most important words from the title).

textbook title search

You will find a list of results.

Please note we often have more than one edition of the same textbook. Click on the title or on "see all versions" to see all the editions. 

multiple versions of textbook

Look for the edition your professor wants you to use. 

stacks vs reserves

"Stacks" means that the book is on the shelves downstairs in the large reading room of the library. For textbooks, books in the stacks are usually the older versions.

"Reserves" means that the book is upstairs.

  • How many copies are there? Click on the book title to find out.

shows number of copies on OneSearch screen

  • If there is only one book available, you can use it in the library to make copies of the chapter you need.
  • If there are several books available, you can borrow one for 7days.

Loan periods are short so that everyone in your class gets the chance to read the chapter before the next class! 

book result in onesearch with call number circled in red

You will find the "call number" in the OneSearch listing, within parantheses. Please write down or take a photo of the call number and show it to the reserves room library staff upstairs.

Give them your Hostos ID card, title of the book, and call number, and they will check out the book to you.

For stacks books, see "how to use the call number" to find your book, or come talk to a librarian downstairs for assistance. 

I am only supposed to use "print" or "non-internet" sources

Nearly every academic journal is now published only electronically (online). The library also has access to more ebooks (books that you read online) than to physical books (an e-book is just a book that you happen to read on your computer: it is still a book!) Click here for more information on using e-books.)

Both these things were not true a generation ago, and some assignments have not been updated to reflect this new reality. If you are told you must use "only print sources",  or told you cannot use "online sources", please do this: 

  • First: Ask your professor what they actually mean by "print". It might be that they do not want you to use commercial websites that you would find via Google, but WILL let you use online scholarly articles, online books, and maybe reputable online news articles. This is often the case, so it is worth your time to ask.
     
  • Next: If you can use online library resources, continue your searches on OneSearch or through one of our nearly 200 databases.
  • If it turns out your professor really only wants you to use printed, bound books, you can use the "Currently on shelf" filter in OneSearch to see only physical books. 

Before the "Currently on shelf" filter is applied:

screenshot of search for undocumented students DREAM ACT showing over 8,000 results

After the filter is applied:

screenshot of search for undocumented students DREAM ACT showing 2 results


As you can see from the example above, limiting to only physical books will eliminate most of the available resources, particularly for topics of current interest, so please come to a librarian for assistance on the lower level of the library if you need help finding enough sources that fulfill the printed-book-only requirement.

  • You can also learn more about OneSearch here.
  • Finally: Physical books will have a call number that will enable you to find them in the library. See more about book locations here.