Introduction to Chaplaincy

What are Books For?

Books and eBooks generally serve one of two purposes:

1. To present an overview of a field of study - these are often used as your textbooks.
2. To focus, in long form, on a very particular issue - these are often adapted from theses, or expanded from journal articles.

The content of a book and its eBook is identical; only the format varies. Wherever possible, the library purchases eBooks to support accessibility; however, our collection of physical books will still be important to your studies.

Overview books or textbooks can help you feel comfortable in a new field of study, or provide an introduction to a new subject area within your field; however, books with a very broad view may not include the full picture for the sake of length. More topic-focused books usually present a specific view of the topic, which may be more information than you need, and you may need to read multiple books to understand the full picture.

Books are also quite slow to publish, which means that information may be old even when a book is new. This means that for overviews and setting out general principles, books are very helpful, but you should look to journal articles for current research and new trends.