ENG 101

Using the library & finding information

Martin Crabtree

MCCC Library

Agenda

• Finding books• Important places in the library• Electronic searching• Databases available fro the

library• Database Info ≠ Web Info

Finding Books

• Books are put on the shelves grouped by subject.

• You may be familiar with the Dewey Decimal System which is used by many school and public libraries.

• MCCC, like most colleges, uses a different system called the Library of Congress (LC) system.

• The LC system uses both letters and number. For example career info can be found at:

HF5381 & HF5382

Finding books in the libraryUsing the online card catalog

• The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other materials both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries.

• You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL)

• You will need to have your student ID card to borrow books or use the computer lab in the library

Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

Some useful items in the library

Consumer products• Consumer Reports – Monthly periodical

with test results of many types of consumer products

International customs• Do’s & Taboo’s Around the

World(HF5387.D66)• Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands (HF5389.M67)

Getting Around in the Library

Important Places in the Library

The Reference Desk

The Circulation Desk The Stacks

The person at the reference desk will help you find what

you needThe Reference Librarian will help you to: •Do database searches•Find books, periodicals and other materials•Find useful web resources

At the Circulation Desk

You can:

• Check out book here.• Get textbook for use in the library • Get videos & current newspapers here.• Get materials (books, journal articles,

etc.) that your professor has set aside here

• Ask for help in your research

There are 2 kinds of stacks

• The Reference stacks:– Holds the reference books– These books do not

circulate– Located in the middle of

the library

• The General Collection Stacks– Holds the books that you

can check out– Located towards the back

of the library

We have computers too!

The library’s computer lab

• To use the computer lab you need to sign in & have your student ID with you.

• You can use the computers for research as well as for email, writing papers, spread sheets, etc.

• Bring you own disks, CDs, thumb drives, etc. to save your work.

The library’s computer lab

• Anything saved on a computer’s hard drive will be erased once the computer is turned off.

• Printing costs 10¢ a page (you can also email articles to yourself).

• There is a lab assistant there to help with computer usage questions.

• You’ll need to go to the reference desk for research questions.

Searching Electronic Resources

Starting An Electronic SearchKeywords

• Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines.

• With a possible topic in mind, generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or would commonly be used when discussing your topic. Write this down if it helps.

• For example:– Ozone– Layer– Depletion– Atmosphere– Hole

Starting An Electronic Search

Boolean Searching/Logic

• Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms– and– not– or

• For example– eagles NOT football– (car or automobile) and exhaust

• More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

Searching More Than Just Keywords

Phrases & Truncations• To search for a phrase, use quotation

marks– “survival of the fittest”

• Truncations allow for searching related words all at once– The * is usually used (! For Academic

Universe databases) . For example:• child* would include: child, children,

childhood, childproof, etc.

Searching More Than Just Keywords

Field Limiters• Database field limiters allow you to

specify your search within varied parameters for example:– Only full-text articles– Only peer reviewed (scholarly)

publications– Date (or date range)

Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

Electronic DatabasesIn General

• Over 60 databases available• Not every article is available full text

though many are• Abstracts (summary) is often

available when full text is not

Electronic DatabasesIn General

• Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network

• Most are available off campus, though you do need to use a password.

• Can print/e-mail/download articles

Accessing Databases Remotely

• You can access most of the databases from any computer with internet access.

• Use your student ID number (no dashes) and your last name to log into the databases. i.e.

• Library issued IDs and passwords for students are no longer valid.

Remote Login Screen

Use your previously issued User ID & password

Use your student ID number & last name

Some Useful Databases In general• Academic Search Premier (EBSCOHost)

– Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities including many scholarly journals

– Not every article full text– Need Acrobat Reader for some articles

Biographical databases:• Biographies Plus – Biographical info• Literature Resource Center – Criticisms,

Biographies, and other info about authors and their works.

Still more useful databases…

For your news on your birthday:• New York Times Historical – Covering 1851-

2003• Academic Universe: News – Newspaper

information including:– Washington Post (1977-present)

• ABI Inform Global – Business info including:– Wall Street Journal (1984-present)

• Microfilm: Time, Newsweek, US News & World Reports (1950- 1998). Databases about 1991-prresent

More Databases• Academic &Universe: Reference

– Country Profiles• A number of subject specific databases are

available covering:– Criminal Justice (Criminal Justice Periodical Index)– Architecture (Architectural Index)– Education (Proquest Educational Journals)– more

• Also other resources– Encyclopedia Britannica– Oxford English Dictionary– AP Photo Archive – News & historical photographs

Database information vs. web information

What is a databases?

• A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet

• Access to this information is by paid subscription only (paid by the library).

• It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

Database info ≠ Webpage info

• Though both use a browser (like Netscape or Explorer) the information is not the same.

• Database info comes from known sources of information such as Newsweek or The New York Times.

• Web information can be put up by anyone hence the quality of this information varies greatly from site to site.

Database info ≠ Webpage info

• Accuracy: Editors & fact checkers insure this for periodicals, can’t tell if it’s done for many websites.

• Authority: Articles are written by experts or people who have researched a subject, with web info it can be hard to tell if the writer is an expert.

• Objectivity: Periodicals strive to give an unbiased presentation of information, some websites can be very opinionated

Database info ≠ Webpage info

• Currency: Periodicals always have a given date (i.e. Spring 2002, January 2005), often you can’t tell how old web info is.

• Coverage: Periodical articles, especially journals cover their subject thoroughly (though sometimes it can be very narrow), web info tends to be abbreviated (20 page journal articles are common, 20 page web pages are not).

One useful website…

Occupational Outlook Handbook (from the Department of Labor) at: http://www.bls.gov/oco/

…a hard copy is also in the library

Now it’s your turn…