Public and Nonprofit Administration

LibrarySearch offers a streamlined interface for finding books and other media that combines the collections of UO Libraries and Summit libraries.

Books can offer a chance to learn about a subject in-depth. Edited books can provide a chapter or chapters related to your topic. In addition to print books, the UO libraries offers many e-books that can be accessed remotely by current UO students and faculty.  As with articles, books may be scholarly or popular in approach.

Tips on Searching:

If you want only books/videos/music/maps, etc. in the UO Libraries, change the search scope to "UO Libraries"

If you want books/videos/music in the UO Libraries system and the consortium of 37 colleges and universities in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, select "UO + Summit." You can place a request for books within Summit using LibrarySearch. Requests generally arrive within 3-5 days.

If you want to broaden your search even further, use WorldCat to search beyond the UO Library and the consortium.  These materials are requested through Interlibrary Loan and may come from any library. Books and AV items arrive within an average of 10 days. You can also request individual book chapters be scanned and sent to you. There is a link to WorldCat on the Libraries' homepage.

You can limit your search results by resource type using the search filters, usually on the left-side of the screen (or click on the filter icon if you are on a mobile device). Click on "Print books" and "eBooks" to limit your results to both types of books.

Scholarly books disseminate research and academic discussion among professionals within disciplines.  They are intended for academic study and research, and are preferred when writing college-level papers. They are often published by academic or university presses.

Non-scholarly books are written to entertain and broadly inform, rather than to advance a field of study. Often the author is not an academic in the subject field. Generally, non-scholarly books are published by commercial presses.

Keep in mind: a non-scholarly book may be academically appropriate to use for some topics.  The author may have experience and expertise in the subject. The information may be valid and useful for your coursework. Always check with your instructor and follow the assignment requirements.

Scholarly books and chapters in scholarly books have many of the same characteristics as scholarly/academic articles.  Look for:

• Purpose:  To share with other scholars the results of primary research & experiments.
• Author: Named author(s) who is a scholar or researcher in the field
• Publisher: A university press; a professional association or known (independent) scholarly publisher
• Intended audience: Other scholars or researchers in the field, or those interested in the topic at a research level
• Style: Language is formal and technical; usually contains discipline-specific terms