Research Within the Disciplines

Book excerpt: Research lies at the heart of all academic disciplines. Research Within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction is an expansion of that concept. The book provides an overview of research practices and literacy standards in the various disciplines_humanities, music, social sciences, business, government publications, engineering, and sciences_to help shape library instruction and reference assistance. Conceived and developed by the reference librarians at the University of Denver, the book grew out of team discussions about teaching research and writing within the disciplines. The book's main objective is to provide a degree of orientation toward conducting research within specific disciplines and across others. The volume includes separate chapters on the broad disciplines covered in undergraduate education, as well as concluding chapters addressing interdisciplinary research and the role of instruction as a means of developing effective researchers. The continued necessity of understanding the foundations of research, whether within the physical library or via the electronic environment, remains an underlying concern, and the advice put forth by this team of practicing academic librarians is an important step to achieving this goal.