Using academic libraries for literature reviews. A sound approach is to begin your search in an academic library housed at a collection or university. By physically searching an academic library's catalogs and stacks, you will save time because will find comprehensive holdings not available through other sources. Although a town or city library may yield some useful literature, an academic library typically offers e largest collection of materials, especially research studies. Academic libraries typically have online catalog of their holdings so that you can search the library materials easily to find summaries and books on your topic.