ENC1101 English Comp I Instructor:  Eileen Murphy

Amish Culture

Guide to Your Research Paper

Getting Started | Finding Books | E-Books | Finding Articles | Internet Resources | Getting Assistance | Library Home Page | Your Assignment

Reserve Materials chosen by your instructor
Several resources have been place on reserve for you class.  These are good resources to start your research.  Ask the circulation staff or librarian for assistance.

 Other places to check:

Use the Online Catalog on the Library Home Page to find books at the PCC libraries (or any Florida Community College library) Some topic words to use are Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite. The Online Catalog is simple to use...

The Catalog includes "e-books" 

E-Books are electronic books. 
The entire book is available via the Internet; simply click on the link and
logon with your ID (social security number) and PIN (last 4 digits of SSN).

You can find e-books in the PCC Online Catalog or through the e-books or NetLibrary databases.

E-books are denoted by the symbol.  Here is a sample of some titles of interest.
	You can search the entire content of ebooks, jump through chapters, flip pages, cut and past, print out pages and take notes using the software provided.    Functions vary depending on the publisher of the specific book.

PCC's Databases - online access to periodical articles, references resources, & electronic books The PCC Libraries have many databases.  They all work in a similar fashion, like the Online Catalog (which is just another database - it's just that it is for books, not articles) there is usually a box where you type in what-ever it is that you are looking for and then you click on search and the clever thing gives you a list of compatible results - it's kind of like computer dating only the computer is matching you to an article not a date.  Actually, a good search strategy is a bit more complicated than that's but that's a start. Your Borrower ID is your Student ID (SS#) Ask a Librarian for assistance if you are prompted for a "User Name" and "Password" or if you get a message that your ID is invalid.

Where to begin? Which resource to Choose?

• Some of PCC's periodical databases only index articles -- it will tell you where to find the article, but will not give you the article.
• Some databases provide "abstracts" -- you will receive a summary or overview of the article, but not the entire thing.
• Some databases are "full text"  -- they will provide a link to the actual text of the article.
• Some provide a copy of the article with the graphics and everything -- these are "full image" databases.
• Some databases are a combination of index, abstract, full text and full image.

Try Academic Search Premier - Academic Search Premier (ASP) is a combination index, abstract & full-text/image database

EBSCOhost's Academic Search Premier offers full-text articles for over 1,250 journals dating back to 1990, and abstracts and indexing for nearly 2,880 scholarly journals dating back to 1984. Many of the journals are peer-reviewed. Academic Search Premier offers embedded images and provides journal coverage for most academic areas of study, including biological sciences, economics, communications, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences and women's studies.

Click on the "Databases" button on the library home page
and logon on with your SS# and PIN (last 4 digits of your SS#)

Once you are logged in you should see a list of databases - select the first one on the alphabetical list - Academic Search Premier.
Once you "connect" to the database you should see a search screen like the one below.

1. Put your search term(s) in the "Find" box
Omit little words like an, and, or the
2. Click on Search
You will receive a list of results in the form of citations.
(Notice that at the top you will see how many records were found - you may need to broaden or narrow your search?)
3. Choose what results you would like to see
Click on the title of an article and you will receive more information about that article - a summary
To see the "whole enchilada" click on the link that says " Full Text" or "Full Image"... and there's your article.
4. Print your article or save it to a disk.
You can print from the file menu or from your tool bar, or e-mail the article to your e-mail account, or save the article to your floppy disk.

There are many more databases you can use...

Additional databases you might find useful for this project:

• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• Gale Virtual Reference Library offers more than 85 reference sources including encyclopedias, almanacs, series and more, allowing libraries to provide respected authoritative essays on varied topics from numerous subject areas. Gale Virtual Reference Library provides the flexibility to buy one eBook or multiple eBooks; search across a single eBook or an entire eBook collection.
   
• OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition (Wilson)  Periodicals - Abstracts, Citations, & Full Text
  Full text periodicals, along with article abstracts and indexing, covering business, education, science, social sciences, art, humanities and plus popular magazines.
   
• InfoTrac OneFile (Gale)  Periodicals - Full Text
  A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily
• JSTOR  Scholarly & Peer Reviewed Journals - Full Text
  Accesses back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. More than 115 titles available.

• READ THE HELP SCREENS
  Every search engine has a tutorial or help -- Take a minute or two to learn a few of the basic tricks.
   

• Try the ADVANCED SEARCH OPTION (example: http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en )
  If you getting a lot of "junk", try using the advanced search option for the search engine you are using.
  The advanced options actually help you create a more specific and more efficient search strategy.
   

• Try GOOGLE SCHOLAR http://scholar.google.com/
   

• USE A SUBJECT DIRECTORY, SPECIALIZED SEARCH ENGINE OR PATHFINDER
  Many are listed on the PCC search engine page - http://www.polk.edu/It/Library/search.htm

Evaluating the Information You Find

Before you use a website, evaluate it carefully. 
Who wrote this?
Why did they write this?
Does the writer have the expertise to write about this subject?

 

If you can't find an author, the credentials of the author or any responsible party --
then you probably don't want to use that resource.

 Use a check list to evaluate your resources if you aren't sure.
LAB (Library Assignment Bank) Resource Evaluation Checklist

You can stop by the library and ask the Librarian for assistance. Library Hours
You can call the librarian at the library and get assistance over the phone. (WH 297-1040 or LK 297-1042)
You can e-mail the librarians. Staff Directory
You can use the TLCC tutors for writing assistance
You can use any of the many tutorials and help screens available from our college or others.

Looking for online assistance with writing, citing, or set-up?

You can link to several sites through the PCC Library "How To" Pages
and the PCC Library Bookmarks Page for English Comp sites
or...
check out UC Berkley's page for Style Sheets for Citing Internet & Electronic Resources
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Style.html
or
The University of Illinois' Writer's Workshop
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_resources/citation_styles/citation_styles.htm