• when looking for a lot of information on a topic
• to put your topic in context with other important issues
• to find historical information
• to find summaries of research to support an argument

Books cover virtually any topic, fact or fiction. For research purposes, you will probably be looking for books that synthesize all the information on one topic.

Libraries organize and store their book collections on shelves called "stacks." A few books are now available electronically on the Web (e-books) and are purchased by the library.
 
Examples

• Nash, Gary B. ed. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, 1990.
• Coupey, Eloise. Marketing and the Internet, 2001.
• Smith, J. T. Roman Villas: A Study in Social Structure, 1997.