A bibliography may also be an entire book of sources that pertain to specific subject disciplines, such as history, law, and social work. If you want to know the important books and articles written on your topic, a subject bibliography is a wonderful resource. Indexes Indexes are extremely helpful when performing research. An index located in the back of a nonfiction book lets you look up a specific subject, name, place, or other piece of information, and directs you to the page number where the information is located. Using the indexes in the books in the Library's reference collection helps you quickly find statistics and other facts that might otherwise take days to find.
Reference books are often quite dense and require helpful finding aids, such as indexes.
Another type of index you will find in the Library's reference collection is a periodical index. A periodical index points you to journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on specific topics. Refining Your Topic Identify the most important questions, the current issues, organizations, people, and trends associated with your topic. Current books, periodical articles, the Internet, and news programs might be helpful in this research step. If your topic is a controversial one, consult sources that address controversial issues.