User's guide to books

When it comes to using books for homework topics, reading them from cover to cover can waste valuable homework writing time. 

When you have a specific homework question to answer, your best bet is to start with the contents page and the index.  This way you can make the book work for you, rather than spending lots of time trying to find information the long way.

The contents page

Most non-fiction books have a contents page at the front of the book.  The contents page is there to let you know what topics are covered in the book.  This is a great tool if you are researching a large topic.

Check out this example:

Dogs
Hunting dogs  Page 1
Herding dogs Page 20
Gun dogs Page 30
Mixed breed dogs Page 40

This example shows that if you are studying the dogs and need to know about dogs that work on a farm then you need herding dogs and should start reading from page 20.  This is a lot easier than reading the whole book.

The index

The index is there to help you find a smaller topic inside a larger topic.  The index is alphabetical and includes both major and minor topics, and the bigger the book you are using - the bigger the index. 

As your homework topics get harder and you have to use more books, the index will become more important.  The sooner you make friends with the index, the sooner you will find that your research gets easier.

Check out this example:

Index

This example shows that if you are looking at dogs that work on farms that you should start reading about the Border Collie on page 22, and the New Zealand Huntaway on Page 25.  Using the index means that you need to know a little bit about your topic, but the more you read the more you can use the index.

The glossary

The glossary is there to help you figure out what the technical terms in the book are, or to help you figure out what some of the terms actually mean.  If you are studying a difficult topic, make sure that you try and find a book with a glossary so that you can answer your questions better.

Check out this example

• Bitch: Female dog.
• Dog: Male dog.
• Mixed breed: A dog who has parents that are different breeds, also known as a mutt
• Muzzle: A dogs nose, chin, and cheeks.  Also a device that keeps a dogs mouth closed to prevent biting and fighting.
• Pedigree: A pure bred dog where both parents are the same breed.
• Puppy: Young dog less than 12 to 18 months old.

This example shows you some of the terms to do with dogs.  Some of them you may already know, but some of them may be new.  A glossary is a great way to help you learn your topic inside out, and can help to impress your teacher with your new vocabluary!

The appendix or appendices

Sometimes a book will have an appendix (one) or appendices (two or more) - which is a fancy way of saying that there is more information at the back of the book.

An appendix is usually used when there is a lot of information that could be helpful, or is interesting, but is too much information to include in the book. 

Check out this example:

In 1998 there were 282 serious animal attacks by dogs in one part of the United States  (see Appendix 1).

Appendix 1
Chow 49 attacks (8.3%), Rottweiler 48 attacks (8.2%), Pit bull 42 attacks (7.2%), German Shepherd 36 attacks (6.1%), Chow cross 33 attacks (5.6%), Labrador retriever 29 attacks (4.9%), German Shepherd cross 23 attacks (3.9%) Mixed Breed 22 attacks (3.7%)

This example shows you that for the 282 serious attacks that occurred in one part of the United States, Chows were responsible for the most attacks.  You may only need to know that there were 282 serious attacks, but if you needed to know what breeds were most responsible then the appendix helps to figure it out.

Copyright and publisher information

When working on assignments it is important to make sure that you are using good information, and information that is up to date.  If you are looking at technology as a topic you need to make sure that you are using a book that is only a few years old.  If you are studying history it usually doesn't matter if you use an older book.

Near the front, or the back of the book there will be a page or part of a page that has several pieces of important information.

Check out this example:

• Copyright 1978
• First published in New Zealand by Curly Coats Publishing Ltd
• All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

This example shows you that the book was written in 1978 and that it was published in New Zealand.  If you need information about what is happening today, then this book will not be very helpful.  If you are looking at what things used to be like, then this book could be very helpful.

The last part means that you can use the information in the book to help with homework, but that you have to say where the information came from, and that you can not say things from the book word for word.  This is important to remember, you can get ideas from books but you always have to make sure that you use your own words to retell the information.