Research Tips for Faculty Research Assistants

When doing research for faculty, you may be finding specific books that the professor wants or that you find cited in other articles, or you may be searching to see if there are any books that are relevant for your research. This page walks you through where to find books when you know what you are looking for and where to go to find out if there are any books out there that you may also be interested in.

Searching on the BYU Lee Library's website searches both the BYU Lee Library’s collection of books as well as the BYU Law Library's collection. Depending on your research, this may be the better place to search than the law library’s website because you can see materials from both libraries (and in which library those materials are located) quickly and easily. If you have the time to wait, you can request the book on the BYU Lee Library's website so that it is reserved for you and available for pick-up at the Circulation Desk. This is especially useful if you are requesting several books as it can save you time from going and finding them in the BYU Lee Library yourself. It generally just takes a few days of waiting.

Google Books allows you to search the full text of books that Google has scanned and stored in its digital database. Results from Google Books show up in both a universal Google Search and in a dedicated Google Books search website (books.google.com). Google Books allows users to view full pages from books in which the search terms appear if the book is out of copyright or if the copyright owner has given permission. Google Books also allows users to see snippets of text around the search terms if the book is still under copyright.

Interlibrary Loan can get you access to most materials if you cannot access them through the BYU Law Library or the BYU Lee Library. It is free to use! Click on the hyperlink to read more about how to request a book through interlibrary loan. 

It is best to request books early on in the research process because it may take a while for other libraries to send the books to the BYU Law Library. If you know the pages or chapter of the book you need, request those specific pages because they can likely be sent as an electronic scan and you can access the material faster.