Library Catalog

The electronic library catalog, called Illinet Online, isn't just for books. Access the catalog to find e-books, reference books, journals, video tapes and music recordings. If you still can't find what you are looking for, Elmhurst College participates with 55 other college and university libraries in the state. Interlibrary loan will get a resource here in 7-10 days.

Using Illinet Online

• An Any Word, Anywhere search offers a good way to start looking for books by topic in Illinet Online. Use the main words describing your topic. Use quotes to search multi-word term like "human resources management" or "Alzheimer's disease".
  
  
• A more precise way of searching is to use controlled vocabulary or an Browse Subject search. Illinet Online's controlled vocabulary is known as Library of Congress Subject Headings (or LC subject headings). Unlike keywords, you can't simply make these up: you have to find out what the exact terms are and enter them in Illinet as a subject heading search. Some examples of established subject headings are:

                            Management -- Psychological aspects
                            Psychology -- Clinical
                            Shakespeare, William -- 1564-1616 -- All's well that ends well

• Use a Guided Keyword Search to combine two subject terms or concepts into one search.
  

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Finding Articles

The Library has many article databases available for student use. Databases are warehouses of information whether it be full-text articles or citations and abstracts.

General Interest Journal Article Databases
Academic Search Elite*
Selected full text of journals in the social sciences, humanities, general science, multicultural studies, and others.

WilsonSelectPlus*
Covers the social sciences, humanities, business, general science, as well as current issues. All full text.

Subject Specific Journal Article Databases

Business
ABI/Inform*
Business and management topics, U.S. and international publications. Selected full text.

Business Source Elite*
Selected full text of journals in business, management, economics, finance, banking, accounting, and related areas

Psychology
ProQuest Psychology Journals*
Nearly 300 academic journals in psychology and related fields, all in full text.

PsycARTICLES*
Includes the full text of 38 American Psychological Association (APA) journals as well as 4 from allied organizations. Coverage goes back to 1988.

Distinguishing Scholarly/Professional Journals from Other Periodicals

Inter-Library Loan ~ You can request a copy of an article provided that it is unavailable at the library.

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Searching the Internet

Choosing a Search Engine

Not all search engines are created equal. Each is designed differently, functions differently, searches different parts of the Internet and gives different search results. How do you chose which one to use?

First of all, maybe you might like to learn how search engines work:

Search Engines What they Are, How They Work, and Practical Suggestions for Getting the Most Out of Them

Then maybe you might like to learn about the differences among search engines:
Search Engine Watch - Describes some of the top search engines.

Next, you will choose one or more search engines or meta search engines to use for your search:

Internet Tools and Sites - brought to you by the librarians at Elmhurst College.

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Search Engine Strategies
Not all search engines function the same. Reading the "help" or "tips" screens will help you understand how a search engine functions and how to create the most effective searches. Does your search engine allow the use of :

* Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT (world war one OR ww1 AND memoirs)
* Quotation marks " " to keep words in a phrase in order ("world war one")
* Special symbols like +, *, ! or - for truncation, proximity, adjacent words or plurals

So now that you understand how to put words together in the search engine, what words should you use?

*Try using language of the discipline or subject you are researching.
*Use terms that are narrow and precise - this helps eliminate "garbage results".
*Try to avoid terms with multiple meanings - the search engine doesn't know which meaning you want.
*Synonyms are your best friends. If one term doesn't work, try another word with a similar meaning.
*Spelling counts.

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Evaluating Resources

If you want to earn an A on that paper, you can't just quote Joe Schmo. How do you know if you can trust your resources? Who wrote them? Are they experts? Are you using the best type of resources for your research topic?

Evaluating Print Resources - From the library experts at Cornell University.
Evaluating Internet Resources - Also from Cornell University.

Popular vs. Scholarly ~ What the heck is the difference?

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Citing Resources

Make sure you are giving credit where credit is due. Also make sure you understand what type of resource you are citing.

Citing Sources ~ from the Duke University Libraries. Concise information on how to cite common sources in APA, MLA, and Turabian styles ~ recommended for citing articles from databases.

Using Modern Language Association (APA) Format ~ from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL).

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2001. Elmhurst College Library Reference R808.06615P976 2001 c.1 . Ask for this at the Reference and Information Services Desk in the library. Ask for this at the Reference and Information Services Desk in the library.

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Page created on 02 October, 2003 and last updated on 07 October, 2003
by Jennifer Paliatka, Assistant Librarian at Elmhurst College