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| Before you start . . .try to define the subject you mean to investigate, getting it clear in your own mind, so that you can describe it clearly to your teacher or to someone whose help you want; then be ready to redefine it if you find your ideas developing or as you start to explore the information available to you.At this early stage it may be a good idea to look up the basic subject or concept in an encyclopedia or other reference source. |
| There are three main types of resource,BOOKS,ARTICLES (items from journals and magazines and, in some cases, essays or chapters from book) and WEB SITES, and each of these comes in a variety of types.Some resources are physically located in the library building, some not, but the Library's catalog and the database services we offer can help you build up lists of research materials, including many that are available by arrangement with other libraries. |
The
WORLDWIDE WEB is now your connecting link for information about the Library
and the rest of Eastern, as well as for more remote information sources.
You may wish to bookmark the Library Home Page or make a note of its address:http://www.easternct.edu/smithlibrary/ |
| This
page allows you to investigate many aspects of the Library's services.
One link in particular, the Online
Catalog link, leads to information services provided by the Connecticut
State University Libraries, including listings of all books, videos, journals
and other forms of document that belong to the four State University libraries
and the Connecticut State Library (which also participates in our system.) |
| Database page |
You can also find listings
and descriptions of articles in journals via the CONSULS menu: click
on "Access to Databases
& Information Resources" and choose from a menu that includes
the following:
- EBSCOhost,
giving coverage of about 3,000 journals in all academic fields, and
full texts of articles from 1,200 of them
- BIOSIS
and Medline, giving coverage of research literature in Medicine and
Biological Sciences and CINAHL for Nursing and allied fields
- ERIC,
PsychINFO and Sociological Abstracts, covering research literature
and providing extensive descriptions of articles and documents in
the fields of education, psychology and sociology
- MLA
Bibliography, covering research literature in Literary and Language
Studies
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe for information on current events, business and
legal and medical information, most of it supplied in full text articles
drawn from various sources, including many newspapers
- The iCONN databases, including Expanded Academic ASAP
- Special
Databases, including Books In Print, College Source and Encyclopaedia
Britannica. Other databases can be found by clicking on the Databases link on the Library Home Page.
|
| Looking for information in books |
| If
you point and click at "Online Catalog"
you will find a set of choices under the heading "Search the CONSULS Catalog."
You may look for books and other materials by authors' names, titles and
so forth. The most powerful and flexible way to look for materials on
your chosen subject is to select Keywords. The screen
that now appears allows you to key in a word or words that you think will
be present in the titles and descriptions of most relevant sources. It
also offers a number of options such that you can specify the kind of
material (book or video, for instance) or a range of publication dates,
or you may limit your search by location, so that only Eastern's collection
or that of another library is included. |
Please
note that helpful explanations of further ways to make your searches more
efficient may be found by simply scrolling down from the Keywords screen to the box headed "Help and Examples for Keyword Searching."
One important aspect of efficient Keyword searching goes by the name
of " Boolean Logic." |
| Looking for information in journals |
| You
may use the Databases and Information Resources link from the CONSULS
page, or you may turn to the Library Home Page and select the" Databases" pulldown for a wider selection; these databases can generally
be used from off-campus locations, but only by Eastern students, faculty
and staff, and these individuals must first comply with the guidelines
of the "Off
Campus Database Access Information" page. When you start to use a
database, remember that there are differences in the ways that database
search systems operate, and you will need to be observant and flexible
in learning to use them. Remember, too, that, while the Library
does receive some 2100 journals, any database you select will cover many
journals that we do not own; look for commands that will help you to check
the library's holdings, or go to CONSULS and try Journal Title for the journal you need. (It may be a good idea to try one of our
full text databases first and then go on to a specialized database for
additional coverage of the literature) |
| A
note on the placement of journals in the library building |
| Current issues, (copies received fairly recently) are shelved on the second floor, in an area whose windows look out to the Webb
Classroom Building. Earlier issues, which we generally own either
in microfiche (microfilm for older numbers, 1970s and previous)
or in volumes bound with cloth covers, are on the first
floor. |
| Looking for information on the web |
The Worldwide Web is a free-for-all, where all kinds of information can
be posted by all kinds of groups and individuals. Some sources are
fully as reliable and reputable as any scholarly book or journal, some
are different in every way. When you use the Web, you need to bear
these points in mind:
- Choose
an appropriate search engine.
- Look
for clues to the source of the information presented on each site
and to how up to date it is. Who is the author, and what are
the author's qualifications?
- Make
sure you can identify any web site you have chosen to use for a paper
or project. The English Department has posted information on proper
ways to cite electronic sources: go to the Eastern
Home Page, click on ACADEMICS, click on English Department, click
on The Writing Program, click on Resources
for Students, and scroll down to Writing Resources.
- If
you're interested in exploring some advanced and timely ideas about
selection and identification of search engines, you might try this
site: websearch.about.com
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