EN101 Library Resource Sheet

All the information below can be found on the library’s website, which can be accessed both on campus and off campus using your username and password. Also, please stop by the library anytime and check with a librarian if you need any help or have any other questions!

RESEARCH ASSISTANCE =

            Citing Sources – how to cite different types of sources in different formats

            Evaluating Web Pages – what to look for in a website

            Searching with Boolean Logic – gives explanations and searching examples

WORLD WIDE WEB =

            If you are looking for up-to-date information and statistics from a corporate, government or non-profit source, the internet is, of course, the place to be. Just make sure to consider the source when looking at the information!

            If you are looking for information about a specific person, put their first and last name in quotes when using the search engines. Also, add specific terms such as biography or other important events in their life such as adoption, important works, etc.

            If you are using a well-known person, search for their name in quotes and the term iconoclast to see if you can find any information about that aspect of their personality.

            For example, Google:

                                                            “Henry David Thoreau” and iconoclast

LIBRARY CATALOG =

            The library’s catalog is a good place to start to see if we have any books on the

            subject you are looking for.

            If you are searching a specific person, choose the link that says

            subject search.

            Type the last name, first name of the person you are looking for.

                        For example:                 kerouac, jack

            If you don’t find any results this way, change drop down box to author to try again.

                        (Some works by the author may include biographical information).

            If you still don’t find any results, try another subject search that deals with what

            your subject was involved in during their lifetime. For example search artists if they

           were an artist and look for the correct time period. This would also work for

           composers, musicians, etc.

                        For example:        beat generation (or beat literature)                      

            If looking for a sports figure, try searching their specific sport as a subject.

When searching in a database, the best method is to start with broad ideas and then narrow your search with more terms. Use Boolean operators (and, or, not) – “and” is most commonly used (the more terms you string together the narrower your search will be and the fewer results you will have). Also, use “” (quotes). Any term in quotes will be searched as those words together in the same order.

EBSCOHost =

Choose the Academic Source Premier Database

You can limit your search to full-text or peer-reviewed results.

Try:       “Charles Darwin” = 2,230 results – way too many to look at!

            Go back, Limit to full-text and peer-reviewed = still find 648

            Go back, add and controversy = now only 6 results!

This is a good example of ways to narrow your search, and also shows some of the more academic articles that are available on Ebsco.

In EBSCO, you can also narrow your search by clicking on the more specific subjects in the tan box on the left hand side of the screen.

When you are looking at a list of sources, make sure and look closely at the citations. The journal title, year, and page numbers all give you an idea of what kind of article it is (and how long it is). If it is full-text it can be accessed either through a PDF or HTML file. Many articles from newspapers may only be a few hundred words – usually less than a page – and some may be editorials.

Also, when you are looking at the article description (after clicking on the citation), the abstract will give you a really good idea of what’s in the article and how relevant it is to your topic.

As you find relevant articles in EBSCO, make sure and add them to your folder. After you finish searching, you can open your folder and print all your full-text material at once instead of as you go. You can also email them to yourself, but make sure to use your Bethany email address, since emails to yahoo, hotmail, etc. don’t always go through!

Also in EBSCOHost, the thesaurus can help you find similar and also narrower terms for the ones you are already using. Make sure and look here for additional terms if you are using a concept or idea and have not found many results.

*For something really cool, make sure and check out the Visual Search (in the green tool bar) for a different way to search for the same information in EBSCOHost!

OTHER DATABASES =

There are several other databases available on the library’s databases page. Although they have a different format than EBSCOHost, they work in much the same way – you can limit your search by full-text or peer-reviewed and you can add records to a folder to print, email or save.

            Try:       OCLC FIRSTSEARCH (including WORLDCAT – that has books)

                        INFOTRAC

                        LEXIS-NEXIS (all full-text with newspapers, including the NY Times)

                        SCIENCE/SOCIAL SCIENCE FULL-TEXT

            *If you are using an author as your subject, there is a direct link on the Library’s Databases page to the Literature Resource Center that is a part of Infotrac. The LRC defaults to an author search, so type in the last name, first name of the author for lots of different kinds of information about that person.

INTERLIBRARY LOAN =

If at any time you find a book that the library does not have or an article that is not online, please speak to one of the librarians or student workers about using the Interlibrary Loan service, which makes resources from any library in the United States available to you free of charge!

NEWSPAPERS =

The library houses the current and past month of 5 local papers:

            Lindsborg, McPherson, Salina, Hutchinson, and Wichita

We also have the current month and the past year of the Wall Street Journal, which can be searched online at www.wsj.com. There is no charge to make copies from the newspapers.

Remember: Database searching is different than the natural language searching that is used more commonly on the internet. Make sure to use correct spelling and always combine your terms with “and” or quotes for the best results. And don’t forget – the librarians are always happy to help with any questions you might have!