Digital paper : a manual for research and writing with library and internet materials /

Abbott (Univ. of Chicago) offers substantive insights into library research using print and digital materials in this addition to the "Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing" series. He explains how linear arguments presented in research papers, dissertations, articles, or books emerge from the essentially nonlinear process of "design, bibliography, scanning and materials search, reading, maintaining files, analyzing retrieved material, and writing." With illuminating examples from social science and humanities research, and with self-deprecating humor, Abbott develops an economic model describing tradeoffs between searching and reading. This volume complements Thomas Mann's Library Research Models (1993) and The Oxford Guide to Library Research (3rd ed., CH, Apr'06, 43-4363). Abbott critically compares particular online tools to their physical counterparts, lamenting database "chartjunk" that impedes scanning of search results, and purported efficiencies that reduce the rewards of "doing" over "having" bibliography. He urges students to frame empirical and theoretical puzzles as multiple "minianalyses" and to seek out classic disciplinary-based bibliographic tools recommended in older printed editions of ALA's Guide to Reference Books (11th ed., ed. by R. Balay et al., CH, Jun'96, 33-5453). This eloquent manual resembles an extended essay featuring a glossary and an index but, ironically, lacking a bibliography. It reveals the thrill of back-and-forth "brachiation" between high-quality sources and their references. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Pamela Effrein Sandstrom, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Abbott (sociology, Univ. of Chicago; Methods of Discovery) begins by telling readers that this work "covers finding things.different ways to read, how to browse or scan, and strategies for writing." It is evident that Abbot has a scholarly audience in mind. Statements such as, "your own university's catalog is better than Worldcat," demonstrate a presumption that the reader, whether student or scholar, has access to a large research library. A more fitting title for this book would be A Humanities Scholar's Research Considerations, as there is little focus on using technology to conduct research. There is no mention of using electronic resources or digital archive collections; physical files are recommended over digital ones with the author's questionable reasoning that "physical materials make us exercise more judgment." Likewise, a note on primary materials states, "You tend to find them by accident." Serious researchers may find the comparison of controlled vocabulary in physical vs. digital tools and the relevancy ranking used by Google Scholar vs. JSTOR to be useful, but overall this book has a limited audience. VERDICT Librarians involved in instruction should instead consider The Craft of Research by Wayne C. Booth et al.-Karen Venturella, Union Cty. Coll. Libs, Cranford, NJ (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.