"Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations... Their authors are a natural aristocracy in every society, and more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind."

- Henry David Thoreau

In the 21st century academic library, librarians must reacquaint students and faculty with the print reference sources that have served as fact and finding tools for generations of researchers.

Features:

The Index- The index is an essential part of any reference tool. A good index will include all of the pertinent subjects and their accurate locations. The index serves as a guide through the reference tool.

Bibliographies- These form the backbone of any scholarly source. They offer users a way to discover primary and secondary sources related to topics. A well-researched source will contain a comprehensive bibliography of each main subject included. Bibliographic entries increase the usefulness of reference tools.

See / See Also References- These references are found most frequently in the Library of Congress Subject Headings and guide users to the best term for a subject. Many bibliographic dictionaries and encyclopedias include these and they direct users to related entries.

Searching Techniques:

Area Scanning- Browsing materials that are located on the shelf next to sources users already found represents the greatest advantage of a print collection. Users will find related sources that they may not have discovered. This technique takes advantage of library's organizational structure.

Footnote Chasing- Following the footnotes included by scholars enables users to expand their topic, obtain related sources, and understand a scholar's method of research. This represents an excellent way to use the standards of scholarly research to one's advantage.

Journal Run- Journals contain the latest findings in scholarly research. After locating the most essential journal in a field, users can search a significant span that journal's volumes. With this technique they will find relevant articles and gain a historical perspective on subjects of interest. As most electronic journals are only digitized since the mid-1990s, it is essential to use the bound print versions to accomplish comprehensive research.

After mastering these techniques with print sources, users can apply them to electronic searching.