1. Books Articles
Print Electronic Print Electronic
Print is still in use,
but many items – articles & books –
are now available electronically.

2. Old Card Catalog: Online Public
Access Catalog
Find a Book (OPAC)
KEYWORD = searches the
Title title, author’s
name, subject headings, &
Author Last Name table of contents ( if
Subject Heading included in the catalog
record!)
The catalog does not
In A – Z order search within the text
of the book.

3. Periodical Databases
= articles in Journals, Magazines, Newspapers
Keyword = search anywhere in the article
title, journal title, subject headings, abstract /
summary, or author’s name.
Ability to search anywhere within the text of the
articles, (but this is limited to only those articles
available in the full text in the first place.)
Although many articles are offered in the full
text, some articles will only have the abstract
available, (i.e. “indexed and abstracted.”)

4. Periodicals: Levels of Scholarship
Refereed • The author is a ‘scholar’ in the discipline.
• The article has been reviewed by other scholars prior to
Peer Reviewed publication.
Academic / • Not ALL scholarly journals are refereed, but many are.
Scholarly • Databases may use all four terms interchangeably.
Magazines
• Although considered reliable, popular publications are
Newspapers not scholarly.
• Examples: Time, Newsweek, Economist, Boston Globe.
Trade Publications

5. Books: Searching Print vs. Electronic Collections
Print Electronic
Find in OPAC Find in OPAC OR Search E-Book
Collections
Use call number to locate May search within
and browse the stacks. the content of book(s).
Useful to search
within multiple titles
in Reference book collections.
Ex.: Gale Virtual Reference; Sage eReference.

6. Searching for Articles
Need to find Professor has instructed you
articles to find a particular article
on your topic? from a specific journal.
Use a periodical database 1st: Do we own or have access to
which covers that journal???
the subject area. 2nd: Then search for article within
the database that contains the
publication.

7. How Do I Find… ?
… BOOKS on “xyz” topic?
… a BRIEF OVERVIEW on “xyz” topic?
Keyword search in the OPAC.
Reference Collection:
Choose a promising title, note the call
E-book collections, or print
number, & follow any good subject
encyclopedias.
headings.
OPAC, E-Books,
Periodical Databases
… ARTICLES on “xyz” topic? (scholarly or … an article FROM A PARTICULAR
otherwise.) JOURNAL, ex.: ‘The Journal of …’
Keyword search in a database covering FIRST: Search for the Name/Title of the
the subject area (business, literature…) Journal in the OPAC or the e-Journal
Locator.

8. Wikipedia and Google
Wikipedia Google Google Scholar
• Authority of • Burden of • Indexes (and may
scholarship verifying the link to the full text
cannot be scholarship of of) academically
verified. sources falls to oriented material.
• Most professors the reader. • Has no filter for
do not want • URL domain Refereed or Peer
students to rely names: Reviewed.
on Wikipedia. • .edu • No one, outside of
• .org Google ,has a list
• .gov of which materials
are indexed here.
• .com

9. Works-Cited, Bibliography, References.
A list of the Citations
sources that enable the
the writer reader to find
used to the original Standardized formats, or
research a Citations acknowledge the source styles of citation (MLA, APA)
topic. work and ideas of others. identify the works and their
material. format: books (print;
Citations verify the accuracy online), articles (print;
of your own scholarship. online), websites, other
audio-visual media.
Failure to properly cite your
Citation practices and styles
sources (whether
change over time: footnotes
intentional or not) violates
vs. in-text citations;
the academic honor
adaptation to online
code, and is considered to
formats.
be plagiarism.