Prof. Gordon’s ENG 1213 Classes

Here’s just a quick refresher of what we discussed today’s in our library instruction session!

When searching for articles–

Use the Find Articles (Databases) link on the left hand side of the library’s homepage.

From there, limit the databases by using the drop down box in the far right hand corner. I suggest picking “Current Events” as your subject.

When searching for results in the databases, remember to use your Boolean operator— OR

Again, for more information about Boolean operators—Look to the reverse side of the first page on your Basics handout.  Lost the handout? Then click here and go to page two!

Now, when searching for books concerning your topics—

Once again, visit the library’s homepage then click on the Find Books (UCO Catalog) link on the left hand side.

Once inside the catalog, use the same principles you used in the databases for searching—and, or, not, etc.

The ONE exception—when doing a truncated search in the catalog use a ? at the end of the word instead of an *

Example:

Truncated search in Academic Search Premier (a database)—athlet*

Truncated search in the UCO Catalog—athlet?

Interlibrary Loan

Need something that the library doesn’t own? Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL)!

First, if you haven’t already… Sign up for Interlibrary Loan by clicking here.

Secondly, filling out an ILL request is as simple as mud.

In the databases, when an article is not linked to or available for a particular citation, there will be a “Request this item through Interlibrary Loan” link. By simply clicking on this link and logging in, the fields to the article will automatically be filled.

When requesting a book through ILL, use a catalog such as WorldCat.

Search through WorldCat by title, author, or keyword. Once you have found a title that peaks your interest and it doesn’t appear available within our catalog. Click on the “Interlibrary Loan” link inside that book’s record in WorldCat and, once again, all fields will automatically fill themselves out.

Simple as mud.

If you still need more help with ILL, come see us/call us/email us/chat with us at the Reference desk!

We hope this helps and please do not hesitate to ask us for help with any of your research needs. Again, you can visit us on the first floor, call us (405-974-2878), email us, or even chat and text with us.

See you around the library!
Jason & Amanda 

ENG 1213– Telemeco’s English Composition

Here’s just a quick refresher of what we discussed today’s in our library instruction session!

When searching for articles–

Use the Find Articles (Databases) link on the left hand side of the library’s homepage.

From there, limit the databases by using the drop down box in the far right hand corner. I suggest picking “Current Events” as your subject.

When searching for results in the databases, remember to use your Boolean operator— OR

Again, for more information about Boolean operators—Look to the reverse side of the first page on your Basics handout. Lost the handout? Then click here and go to page two!

Now, when searching for books concerning your topics—

Once again, visit the library’s homepage then click on the Find Books (UCO Catalog) link on the left hand side.

Once inside the catalog, use the same principles you used in the databases for searching—and, or, not, etc.

The ONE exception—when doing a truncated search in the catalog use a ? at the end of the word instead of an *

Example:

Truncated search in Academic Search Premier (a database)—athlet*

Truncated search in the UCO Catalog—athlet?

Interlibrary Loan

Need something that the library doesn’t own? Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL)!

First, if you haven’t already… Sign up for Interlibrary Loan by clicking here.

Secondly, filling out an ILL request is as simple as mud.

In the databases, when an article is not linked to or available for a particular citation, there will be a “Request this item through Interlibrary Loan” link. By simply clicking on this link and logging in, the fields to the article will automatically be filled.

When requesting a book through ILL, use a catalog such as WorldCat.

Search through WorldCat by title, author, or keyword. Once you have found a title that peaks your interest and it doesn’t appear available within our catalog. Click on the “Interlibrary Loan” link inside that book’s record in WorldCat and, once again, all fields will automatically fill themselves out.

Simple as mud.

If you still need more help with ILL, come see us/call us/email us/chat with us at the Reference desk!

I hope this helps and please do not hesitate to ask us for help with any of your research needs. Again, you can visit us on the first floor, call us (405-974-2878), email us, or even chat and text with us.

See you around the library!
Amanda 

Prof. Peters’ ENG classes-

Quick links:
Searching for Articles
Databases to Consider
Database Searching Tips
Searching for Books
Interlibrary Loan
Selected Reference Works
Citation Help

When searching for articles

Use the Find Articles (Databases) link on the left hand side of the library’s homepage.

From there, limit the databases by using the drop down box in the far right hand corner.  I might suggest picking “Literature in English” for this class.

Specific Databases 

Since you are being asked to research a theme in your novel, you not only limited to the databases that pop up under “Literature in English”.

You might also consider the following databases

PsycInfo: PsycInfo covers topics such as psychology, mental health, addictions and treatment, therapies, experiments, etc.  Thus, if your theme focuses on a psycological or mental issue, you may wish to search here.  Examples of searches might include self-esteem, body image, eating disorders, etc.

America: History and Life: America: History & Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.  Thus if your theme is racism during the 1960s, this would be an ideal place to search.

SocIndex: SocIndex covers all subjects in the social sciences, including sociology, anthropology, cultural issues, public policy and administration, social planning, community development, and behavioral studies.  So, if you are researching a theme about cultural sensitivity or insensivity this might be another place to search!

Searching tips in our databases

When searching for results in the databases, remember to use your Boolean operators—AND & OR

Again, for more information about those words and their usage—Look to the reverse side of the first page on your Basics handout. Lost the handout? Then click here and go to page two!

Search Examples:

If we were wanting to find articles about the themes of racism in HuckleberryFinn, we might turn to a database such as the MLA International Bibliography and put the following in our search string

“Huckleberry Finn” racism

The reason we would put Huckleberry Finn in quotations is because we’re asking the database to search for the phrase Huckleberry Finn.  

Now, we could also add another word to our search that is similar to racism such as prejudice so…

“Huckleberry Finn” racism or prejudice

So now the database is searching for anything dealing with Huckleberry Finn and racism or Huckleberry Finn and prejudice

If we wanted, we could take it even a step further and add * to the end of racis* and prejudice* so now the database is searching for anything to deal with Huckleberry Finn and racism; Huckleberry Finn and racist; Huckleberry Finn and racists, etc.  

The * is a wild card ending.

Now, when searching for books (cds, dvds, ebooks, etc.) concerning your topics

Once again, visit the library’s homepage then click on the Find Books (UCO Catalog) link on the left hand side.

Once inside the catalog, use the same principles you used in the databases for searching— AND & OR etc.

The ONE exception—when doing a truncated search in the catalog use a ? at the end of the word instead of an *

Example:

Truncated search in Academic Search Premier (a database)—racis*

Truncated search in the UCO Catalog—racis?

What if we don’t own a certain book, cd, dvd, article?

Interlibrary Loan When you need a book or article that Chambers Library doesn’t own, Interlibrary Loan can usually borrow it for you from another library.

Two things to remember about Interlibrary Loan

1.)    Allow 7 days!

2.)    It’s free

To search for books, cds, dvds, etc. use WorldCat (http://library.uco.edu/cats/) then look for the “Interlibrary Loan” link in the section “External Resources” on your item’s record page.

For articles, usually when you pull up a result in the library’s databases that we don’t have access to, an ILL link will appear on the “Find It” button’s page.  If not, please contact us at the Reference desk for assistance. 

You can always fill out an ILL form online by first logging in athttp://eres.uco.edu/illiad/logon.html then choosing the appropriate form (”request a photocopy” or “request a book or visual material”).

Selected Reference Works- Social History & Literature

All Titles Located on 1st Floor, Northwest Corner

American history through literature, 1820-1870 — PS217.H57 A84

American history through literature, 1870-1920 — PS217.H57 A843 2006

A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American South — PS261 .C555 2004

Encyclopedia of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era — E661 .E53 2005

Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000 — HN373 .E63 2001

Encyclopedia of Social History — HN28 .E53 1994

Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them – PN50 .L574 1997

Dictionary of Literary Biography — PS21 .D5x
(Also available online at library’s website at Find Articles>Gale Literature Criticism Online)

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas — CB5 .D52

Oxford Concise Companion to English Literature — PR19 .O94 2000

Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century E740.7 .E53

World Literature and Its Times –Various Call Numbers. Check catalog by title

The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s — E165 .M5 1993

Many more reference books on specific authors and titles are available. Go to the library catalog to find them.

Resources for citing sources

MLA Style Guide - Handout given in class

The OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue) Provides additional examples and offers additional tips on writing academic papers.

KnightCite or Son of Citation Machine are citation creators that can assist you in formatting your reference or bibliography page.  These may not be 100% accurate so alway check your results with your MLA manual.

 

Please remember that if you ever need a hand in with research, you can always contact us at the Reference desk via email, phone (405-974-2878), chat, or text! You can even comment on this blog’s posting and we’ll get back to you! 

We’ll see you around the library!

Ona & Amanda

Dr. Rossberg’s ENG 1213 class

Session One – Library Resources

Databases discussed in class: 

CQ Researcher (Congressional Quarterly) – Online reference work containing non-biased coverage of political and social issues.

Opposing Viewpoints Online reference work containing various viewpoints of political and social issues.

Academic Search Premier Multidisciplinary database containing articles from journals, newspapers and magazines.

Searching tips in our databases

Remember the examples we did in class…

We added a * to the end of disorders and sororities.

“eating disorder*” soror*

Because, now, the database is looking for the words: disorder, disorders, sororities, sorority, etc., etc.

Another trick we added was that OR

“eating disorder*” or bulimi* soror*

So now the databases is searching for anything dealing with eating disorders/disorder and sororities/sorority OR bulimia/bulimic/bulimics and sororities/sorority

Looking for a book, cd, dvd, etc.?

UCO Library Catalog Searches for materials in our library including books, DVD’s, CD’s, government publications, archives and special collections, etc.  Does not search for articles.

What if we don’t own a certain book, cd, dvd, article?

Interlibrary Loan When you need a book or article that Chambers Library doesn’t own, Interlibrary Loan can usually borrow it for you from another library.

Two things to remember about Interlibrary Loan

1.)    Allow 7 days!

2.)    It’s free

To search for books, cds, dvds, etc. use WorldCat (http://library.uco.edu/cats/) then look for the “Interlibrary Loan” link in the section “External Resources” on your item’s record page.

For articles, usually when you pull up a result in the library’s databases that we don’t have access to, an ILL link will appear on the “Find It” button’s page.  If not, please contact us at the Reference desk for assistance. 

You can always fill out an ILL form online by first logging in at http://eres.uco.edu/illiad/logon.html then choosing the appropriate form (“request a photocopy” or “request a book or visual material”).

Resources for citing sources

MLA Style Guide - Handout given in class

The OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue) Provides additional examples and offers additional tips on writing academic papers.

KnightCite or Son of Citation Machine are citation creators that can assist you in formatting your reference or bibliography page.  These may not be 100% accurate so alway check your results with your MLA manual.

Session Two – Internet & Website Evaluation

 Information Cycle - Video shown in class

Website/Internet Evaluation:

Authority: Who wrote it and why?
Content:  Is it more than a brochure?
Documentation: Are facts supported?
Currency:  When was it updated?

What to do if you started your research at Google or another web search engine…

Google, Yahoo, etc. aren’t all bad. 

Sometimes they can lead you to relevant, good information.  You just have to look at your source carefully and evaluate them.

For more on evaluating websites, please refer to page 5 of our Library Basics Handout (http://library.ucok.edu/instruction/basics.pdf)

And, remember, if you pop up a result that tells you that you need to pay access to view an article-Don’t!

You should, instead, check our library holdings!

So, how do you check our holdings?

Simple.

Remember that Science Daily article we looked at in class?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126082343.htm?ref=aggre_pop

If you look at the bottom of the article, they actually have the original study’s citation

Dimitropoulou et al. Sexual activity and prostate cancer risk in men diagnosed at a younger age. BJU International, 2009; 103 (2): 178.

So copy the journal name– BJU International and take that to our library homepage (http://library.ucok.edu/) and go to the far right-hand side of our website and click on the 7th link over titled “Journal Titles”.  Paste the name of the journal there and once you hit search- If we own access (either print or electronic), the name of the journal will appear in a new window with a “Find It” button.

Hit the “Find It” button and now you will see what holdings (print or electronic) we have plus you will notice a “Check Ulrich’s” link.

Remember, Ulrich’s is the periodical checker and will tell you whether the journal you’re accessing is peer-reviewed or not.  Pretty helpful especially if you’re starting with Google, Yahoo, etc.

**Please note, that you can always access Ulrich’s directly by visiting our databases’ page and selecting the letter “U” from the alphabetical listing across the top.  Ulrich’s is the ONLY database that starts with the letter U**

If I was still trying to access that Sexual activity and prostate cancer risk in men diagnosed at a younger age article, I would then just click the first “Full Text” link, and once on that journal record’s page, go to the far right-hand side and hit the expansion plus sign next to 2009 then click into volume 103, issue 2 and go to page 178.  Voila!  There’s the article, in its entirety, for free!

That’s why libraries rock…

Ok, well that’s about that.  Remember, if you have any questions, you can always contact us at the Reference desk via email, phone (405-974-2878), chat, or text!

See you around the library!  And, don’t be scared to ask us for help!!! That’s our purpose!

Amanda Lemon