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Part II English Department Support

The following is meant to be used as support material related to two library instruction sessions conducted by a library instructor and an instructor from a BHCC department. 

Finding Books and Periodical Resources 
for a Basic Research Project

Reviewing the flow of information

Do you have a library card? You will need one to check out books from the BHCC library. Your student ID is your library card. It must have a 14 digit barcode on the back. You will also need to know where items are located in the library. Check here to see the physical layout of the BHCC library.

When you come to the library there are some basic things you need to know so that you are putting our research tools to work effectively for you. Many of you may already be familiar with the research methods and techniques that you will be using, but now you will be using them to help you accomplish a specific research goal. Your assignment is to find five sources on a topic of your own choosing, which you will then useto write a research paper. At least one of these sources must be a book, and the others can be any combination of books andjournal articles. To find these sources, you will need to use the BHCC Library online catalog as well as two onlineperiodical databases, EBSCOhost and InfoTrac Web.

Before procceeding further, there are two World Wide Web addresses which you can use to gain access to the resources described here. The first is http://www.noblenet.org, which is the home page of the NOBLElibrary consortium, of which BHCC is a member. From here you can get to the online catalog from any PC with an internet connection and a Web browser. The second is the homepage of the BHCC library, at http://www.noblenet.org/bhccwhere you can see our list of online database subscriptions, gain access to the databases themselves, as well as find other informationabout the library.

Using the Online Catalog

The online catalog is the most efficient way to find a book in the BHCC library. Take some time to master the NOBLE WebCatalog so when you need to stop in and borrow a book your task will be easier . The Web catalog version http://innopac.noblenet.org/ is accessible from anywhere via the Internet using any World Wide Web browser . 

Take a look at theBHCC Library online catalog. There are six searchable fields. To start, use the Words search, unless you already know the author's name (Author), or the title of the book (Title) of a specific book. Before you enter your search, read the screen. There are always useful tips that will save you search time. To see an example of how to do a search in the catalog, you can go to the Web page entitled How to use the online catalog

Using Online Databases to locate Journal Articles

The Library currently subscribes to over 200 different periodicals and over 40 online databases, many of which provide information about periodical articles on virtually any subject you can name. To help you sort through this vast amount of information and find what you need, we will be focusing on two broad-based periodical databases here, EBSCOhost and InfoTrac Web. For a full list of all the databases, take a look at our databases page. 

  • EBSCOhost -- A useful option of EBSCOhost is the feature where you can select more than one database to search in at the same time on your topic.

    • Go to the following web address:

    EbscoHost offers immediate access to a variety of full text databases which cover over 1,500 journals in searchable full text, abstracts and indexing for nearly 3,800 journals, and current citations for over 11,000 titles. With indicative abstracts that have an average length of 60 words, and completely searchable full text, EBSCOhost provides researchers with the information they need quickly and easily. 

    If you are on campus, click on campus link and you should be immediately connected to the database. If you are off campus you will need to enter your 14-digit barcode number (you can find it on the back of your College ID card) and your last name as password, after which you will be connected. To begin a search in EBSCO, start by placing a checkmark next to the database(s) that appear to be the most relevant to your search. The default is set to search only theAcademic Search Elite index. It provides full text for over 1,250 periodicals covering the social sciences, humanities, and general science. After selecting a database, click on the ENTER button. You will then move to the main search screen. Click in the rectangular entry box, type a keyword, and click on the SUBMIT button to begin your search.

    INFOTRAC WEB

    What is it?

    Infotrac Web is a gateway, which provides access to seven full-text databases on subjects ranging from literature and literary criticism to business and technology research.

    How do I get there?

    Go to the following web address:

    What do I do to begin?

    Select one of the seven databases available and click on the start searching link for that database. Click in the rectangular entry box, enter your search term(s) and click on the Search button to begin your search.

    NOTE: Infotrac Web is available from on and off campus.

    This information source is available from on and off campus.

  • Lexis/Nexis -- Lexis-Nexis provides newspaper articles and information from other news media from the U.S. and other countries. When in Lexis-Nexis select the "NEWS" database. Articles from The New York Times and locally from The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald are available from Lexis-Nexis.

    • Go to the following web address:

     

    Citing Information From Electronic Sources

    After you have completed your research paper, your final step will be to compile a list of the sourcesyou used in writing your paper. The format you will use is known as APA format, since it was first developed by members of the American Psychological Association. To assist you in compiling your list of sources,consult the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th edition Ref. BF 76.7 .P83 1994.This volume is very detailed and covers citation formats for the different electronic resources you will be using.For a good brief treatment of the same material available on the World Wide Web, check out the Bare Bones Guide to APA Style Citations from Augustana College.

    What do you remember in terms of citing information using the MLA format?

    For another method of information citation take a look at the Bare Bones Guide on citing resources using the American Psychological Association (APA) format Bare Bones Guide



    Quotations

    If you want to have the power to convince one of the truth, rightness, or reality of what is done or stated, you can draw on the potential of quotations. The effective use of quotations improves the power of your arguments and makes your essays more interesting. First of all, you need to know:

    Who said it?

    When was it said?

    In what context was it said?

    How do you plan to use it?

    The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better. -- John Dewey

    Plan to stop by the Reference Section of the BHCC Library and take a look at the range of books that focus on quotation. You will find a lot to work with on the shelves where the call numbers begin with REF PN 6080. There are different types of Quotation reference tools. You will find general Quotations in books, plays and poems such as Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. You also can find Political Quotations, and The Quotable Woman. The arrangement of most these reference tools is alphabetical by the names of authors, their surnames mostly, but sometimes their titles. In general the best-known names or usually in the form most used will be given. Under each author, quotations are arranged by the alphabetical order of the titles of the works from which they come.
    If you plan to work from electronic resources only, then be prepared to work a little harder. You must evaluate your source before using it! Consider how accurate its content is, who posted the content, how credible the content seems, the purpose of the information on the web.

    The followings are some sites for quotation resources:

    THE QUOTATIONS HOME PAGE OVER 18,000 ENTRIES CHOSEN.IT IS THE OLDEST QUOTATIONS SITE CREATED ON THE WEB,ESTABLISHED IN 1994.
    http://www.quotationspage.com/

    QUOTATION RESOURCES,LINKS AND RESEARCH SERVICE
    http://www.quotations.com/w_qo_res.htm

    CYBER NATION QUOTATION CENTER
    http://www.cybernation.com/victory/quotations/directory.html

    Compare the book John Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th edition, to the online site:  http://www.bartleby.com/
     

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    Last reviewed April 1, 2004
    Last updated February 05, 2007