Revised and updated, this compendium helps readers identify and understand the scope of key government reference sources-traditional books (including publications catalogs and telephone directories); information clearinghouses; and materials in new formats, such as CD-ROMs, datafiles, and Internet sites. The authors focus on free information and depository materials-both readily available through toll-free phone numbers, mail or e-mail requests to agencies, or federal depository library collections. Materials are fully described in annotations that differentiate between similar materials, identify typical citation formats, and note common abbreviations

Research within the Disciplines is designed to help reference librarians – and students studying to become librarians – gain that deeper understanding of disciplinary differences that allows them to comfortably solve information needs rather than merely responding to questions, and practical knowledge about how to work with researchers in a library setting. The book has three chapters that cover the disciplines at the broadest level – humanities, social sciences, and sciences, plus supplemental chapters that focus on associated disciplines (research in history, business, and engineering, research using government sources) and across disciplines (interdisciplinary and critical information literacy). For the second edition of Research within the Disciplines, several chapters have been added that together give a broader and deeper overview of research across all subject areas: research practices of creative and performing artists and of clinical scientists, research in international documents, research strategies for foreign language materials, and visual literacy across the disciplines. Major shifts in technology have been accounted for that have changed how we do research and have expanded the range of resources available to researchers in all disciplines. All of the chapters have been rewritten or heavily revised; this is much more a new book than a new edition.