ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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Books really do have an infinite number of uses.. [Pile of books]

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Door stop…

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Fly swatter…

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And with some sturdy rope, even stilts! [Someone swats a fly with a book]

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But uh…maybe don't try that last one… [Kids falls over using books as stilts]

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And if you do, don't tell anyone we gave you the idea.

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Anyway, a book's best use also happens to be its intended use: to contain and share information.

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And guess what?

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They're pretty good at it!

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And when it comes to trying to locate information in a non-fiction book, it couldn't be easier.

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After all, many non-fiction books contain certain elements specifically designed to [Someone takes a book from the nonfiction trolley]

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help you find the information you need.

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For starters, near the beginning of the book, you'll usually find a table of contents.

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And hey, Maria von Trapp wasn't lying…the beginning is a very good place to start. [Kids sat round as she plays guitar]

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The table of contents outlines the different chapters and tells you which page they start on.

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Often, this will give you a good idea as to where you should begin your research. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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Say you have a book on dinosaurs and you want to look up the Jurassic period.

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There will probably be an entry in the table of contents about that era.

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If the table of contents doesn't seem to be too much help, or you have a very specific

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word you'd like to search for, then your best bet is to flip to the back of the book and [The book is flipped to the end]

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look for an index.

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An index is an alphabetical list of terms, topics and phrases that appear in the book, [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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as well as the specific pages that you can find them on.

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It's useful for when you want to read about pterodactyls, because heck, who wouldn't

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want to read about pterodactyls?

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They're dinosaurs that fly. [Pterodactyl flying]

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And if, on your never-ending quest for knowledge, you come across a word or phrase that leaves

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you flat-out confused, never fear! [Kid reading a book looks perplexed]

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The glossary is here!

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Say you came across the word coprolite.

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What could that be? [The word is highlighted]

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Well, just flip to the handy dandy glossary, usually found near the back of the book.

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This is a list of terms and phrases in the book that the authors expect readers may have [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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some trouble with.

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And beside each word or phrase is a definition, explaining exactly what it means. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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Couldn't get any more useful than that, right?

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Oh and by the way, a coprolite is fossilized poop. [Kid reading the book looks happy]

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Thanks glossary! [Thumbs up]

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So between the table of contents, the index, and the glossary, locating information in

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a non-fiction book is easy as pie.

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And if you don't know what the phrase “easy as pie” means,

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you know where to look: the glossary! [Kid goes back to the glossary]

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We like to think that phrase exists because of how easily we can eat an entire pie in one sitting. [Kid looks stuffed after eating the whole pie]

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Mmmm, banana cream…

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