| Your Assignment | Finding Books |
|
|
Library Guide to Your Research Paper A Matter Deserving More (or Less) Public Awareness |
|
|
ENC 1101 |
|
| Your Assignment | Finding Books |
|
Getting started usually involves
1. Choosing a Topic
2. Finding some background information
3. Making sure there is enough information about your topic available
1. Choosing a Topic You already have your assignment, and your instructor has narrowed your topic down for you somewhat -- Now what? Your instructor has suggested that you begin your choosing a topic by brainstorming ideas. Where can you get these ideas?
|
| 2. Finding Background
Information
Collecting background information will give you a solid start to your research. It can be as simple as consulting a couple of encyclopedias. Perhaps you have already looked at one of the resources mentioned above. If you don't find your topic there, try a general encyclopedia or a subject specific encyclopedia that covers your area of interest. By doing a "background check" on you topic you may find some search terms, key words, or areas of discussion that will make your searching easier and more fruitful. General Encyclopedias:
Subject Specific Encyclopedias:
You will find these titles in the Reference Collection. You can locate these titles, and many others, by using the Online Catalog See the PCC Library How To: Use Encyclopedias for more information. |
| Check for availability of resources
Once you have your great topic and you know something about it, make a quick check of the library catalog, database resources, periodicals, and web resources to be sure that there will be enough material for you to write your exciting and wonderful paper. Don't make your project harder than it needs to be by choosing a topic that has very little information written about it. Remember, you can request books and articles (if you can't find full-text articles) from the other PCC campus and from other Florida Community College Libraries or from other libraries around the USA - just make sure you allow enough time for your materials to get here if you choose to do that. |
| Finding Books |  |
Take those great search terms that you found in your background research and use them to find books on your topic.
If your having trouble finding books, you may need to broaden your search. For example: If you are doing research on the incident at Roswell and you were not finding enough material you might broaden your search to Unidentified Flying Objects and then look for areas within the book that deal with Roswell.
Also keep in mind that you may have to re-think your search terms - If you search for "Vietnam War" in the LINCC Catalog you will be out of luck because it comes under the heading of "Vietnamese Conflict".
Basically, just don't give up. If you get no results for your search or you are just not finding what you need - ask the librarian, that's why we are here.
So, Where is the Online Catalog?
Just
Click on "Catalog"
on the Library Home Page
http://www.polk.edu/it/library
The online catalog allows you to search for items by keyword, author, title, subject
To find articles in newspapers,
magazines, and journals you can use a print index tool
or an electronic
indexing tool (a database).
 |
Print
Indexes - don't let them scare you. (you may appreciate them one day when the Internet Connection is down) |
 |
| The Winter Haven
Campus Library has The Reader's Guide and the NYTimes Index in print
The Lakeland Campus Library does
not have print indexes - |
 |
The print indexes are simple to
use
(you can even read the
page or two of instructions at the beginning of the indexes if
your really want a clue)
1. Pick the year you want to search
2. Look for your topic in the alphabetically arranged index
3. Copy down the complete citation information
Sometimes you may get re-directed because what you may call "guns" they may call "fire arms" but basically it works out. The most important thing to remember about using the print indexes is to write down all the information completely (or make a copy if you like).
By using the print indexes you are able to get a feel for the subject headings (future search terms) that are used for your topic.
Another nice thing about the print indexes is they go back many years; the electronic resources are working on that, but generally they go back 5 or 10 years tops. If you have found some recent articles using the print indexes you may be able to find them and print them out for free - by using on of PCC's electronic resources.
And another nice thing about the print indexes... they work even when the Internet is down
On the Winter Haven Campus, the print indexes are located on the first shelf of the reference collection
 |
Databases Searchable online access to reliable magazine, journal, and reference sources. Why bother wading through millions of Internet sites when you can go directly to the resources you need? |
What do Databases Do?
The PCC
Databases provide searchable access to reliable resources such as newspaper,
magazine, journal, and reference books.
Databases provide convenient access to a variety of resources on your topic.
Databases provide access to resources in a format that is easily to e-mail,
store or print.
The PCC Libraries have many databases that will help you search for newspaper, magazine, and journal articles about any subject. You can search by subject or by an article's title, or author, date or source of publication...
They all work in a similar fashion, like the Online Catalog (which is actually just another database) there is usually a box where you type in what-ever it is that you are looking for (you can adjust the dates or sources if you like) 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.
Where are they?
You can access the PCC Library databases through the
Library
Web Site
http://www.polk.edu/it/library
Click on the
"Databases"
button and then logon
Where to begin?
Which resource to Choose?
For this project there are several databases that would be good places for you to begin your research.
| Databases for topic exploration and provide a variety resource types on current issues | |
| CQ Researcher | CQ Press) - Explores a single "hot" issue each week, ranging from social and teen issues to environment, health, education, and science. 44 reports produced each year, including four expanded reports. Includes charts, graphs and sidebar articles. |
| Opposing Viewpoints | Search viewpoint articles, contextual topic overviews, government and organizational statistics, court cases, profiles of government agencies and special interest groups, newspaper and magazine articles and more concerning social issues. |
| Databases that provide articles from a wide variety of magazine, journal, and newspapers | |
| Academic Search Premier | Full-text resource for periodicals containing information from a wide range of academic areas including business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science and education. |
| Expanded Academic ASAP | Topics range from arts and the humanities to social sciences, science, and technology. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images. |
| InfoTrac OneFile | Includes more than 4,200 full-text titles; five newspaper indexes -- a total of nearly 8,000 titles in all with more than 20 years of backfile coverage from 1980 to present. It includes newswires from 89 wire services, newspapers, general interest magazines, refereed academic journals, business publications, technology periodicals, and specialty titles in law, health care and computers |
| LexisNexis | Full-text access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. Medical & health; federal, state & international legal materials; corporate news & financial information, and more. |
| OmniFile | Full text periodicals, along with article abstracts and indexing, covering business, education, science, social sciences, art, humanities and plus popular magazines. |
| Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature | Offers the ultimate in current events coverage, curriculum support, and quality periodicals research for students, educators, and library patrons. |
Try: EBSCOhost's Academic Search Premier:
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.
Do a quick search for your topic and see what you get.
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.
You can find anything on the "Net" - right?
Well, maybe not...
Be
very choosy about resources you find on the Internet.
One of the great things about the Internet is that anyone -
A N Y O N E
can post information to the Web;
your sister, my sister (very scary), PHD's, a
very talented pet...
...anyone.
For example: Perhaps you are doing your paper on cloning (with some very interesting point of view because you know your instructor has read many many papers on cloning and yours will have to be extremely unique and exciting to keep him awake.) ...anyway, you do an Internet search for cloning and come up with this site about cloning: http://www.d-b.net/dti/. Would you use this site as a source for your paper?
This one? http://www.clonaid.com/content.php?content.2
How about this one? http://globalgeneticsandbiologicals.com/
Some Basic Internet Searching Tips
Try using the "Advanced" Search screen for you favorite search engine.
Don't let the word "advanced" throw you, the advance screen usually provides drop-down lists that make complex searching easier. By using the advanced drop down menus you can quickly limit your search to government resources (use .gov), search for words in a particular order (phrase search -- "Legal Immigration Family Equity Act", or omit words that are getting in your way (organizations miami -dophin).
Also, try searching directories
for information on your topic
These resources
are reviewed by real live people for content, accuracy, and general usefulness...
Librarians
Index to the Internet
Searchable,
annotated subject directory of more than 7,500 Internet resources.
WWW. Virtual Library
The WWW Virtual Library (VL)
is the oldest catalogue of the Web,
started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of HTML
and of the Web itself, in 1991 at CERN in Geneva.
Many
Colleges and Universities have pathfinders, subject guides or bookmarks they
share
PCC's
Bookmark Page
USF's
Selected Websites by Subject
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 useful sites through the PCC Library "How To Cite" Page
...and don't forget your very
own TLCC
