Research Within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction

Research lies at the heart of all academic disciplines. Research Within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction is an expansion of that concept. The book provides an overview of research practices and literacy standards in the various disciplines-humanities, music, social sciences, business, government publications, engineering, and sciences-to help shape library instruction and reference assistance.

Conceived and developed by the reference librarians at the University of Denver, the book grew out of team discussions about teaching research and writing within the disciplines. The book's main objective is to provide a degree of orientation toward conducting research within specific disciplines and across others. The volume includes separate chapters on the broad disciplines covered in undergraduate education, as well as concluding chapters addressing interdisciplinary research and the role of instruction as a means of developing effective researchers. The continued necessity of understanding the foundations of research, whether within the physical library or via the electronic environment, remains an underlying concern, and the advice put forth by this team of practicing academic librarians is an important step to achieving this goal.

Peggy Keeran is the Arts and Humanities Reference Librarian at the University of Denver. She is co-editor of the Scarecrow Press series, Literary Research: Strategies and Sources.

Suzanne L. Moulton-Gertig is the head of the University of Denver music library.

Michael Levine-Clark is the Collections Librarian at the University of Denver.

Nonny Schlotzhauer is the Social Sciences Librarian at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

Esther L. Gil is the Business & Economics Reference Librarian at the University of Denver.

Christopher C. Brown is the Reference Services Coordinator and Government Documents Librarian at the University of Denver Penrose Library.

Joseph R. Kraus is the Science and Engineering Reference Librarian at the University of Denver, Penrose Library.

Carrie Forbes is the Instruction Coordinator and Reference Librarian at the University of Denver Penrose Library.

Jennifer Bowers is the Social Sciences Librarian at the University of Denver Penrose Library. She is co-editor of the Scarecrow Press series, Literary Research: Strategies and Sources.