accessing information
Post on 19-Dec-2014
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Accessing Information Resources at Central Methodist University
A guide for distance learners
What do I need to do to find Quality Information?
o Overview: What is the “Big Picture”o Identify your topic and keywordso Decide what resources you needo Gather your resources, check credibilityo Reject any duds, refine search if needed
Overview: The Big Picture
What kind of paper are you writing?– Case study, compare/contrast, lit review, position
How many resources do you need? What kind of sources can you use?
– Print, web, articles, scholarly, etc.
What is your timeframe for writing the paper?
Identify Topics and Keywords
Write down your topic Identify the main concepts Write down synonyms for your search terms
– Example: You want to write about how juvenile offenders are punished.
Make a List of Main Concepts and Additional Terms To Describe Your Topic
Topic Chart
Concept 1
AND
Concept 2
AND
Concept 3
JuvenilesOR
AdolescentsOR
Teenagers
OffendersOR
Criminals
LawOR
Punishment
Boolean Connectors
The Or Connector Tells The Computer To Retrieve Items With Either Term.
Example: Gets articles with (teenagers or juveniles or adolescents)
The And Connector Tells The Computer To Retrieve Items With Both Terms.
Example: Gets articles with both law and punishment.
What kind of resources do you need?
Books– Check the Quest and Mobius Catalogs
Articles– Check the databases
Web Resources– Use the links available on the library webpage
Finding Books
The library has two catalogs for books on its web page– QUEST: This smaller catalog is for our cluster
and contains items from CMU, UCM, MO Valley, and SFCC
– MOBIUS: This larger catalog contains items from libraries all over the state
Both catalogs are linked off the “Catalogs and Databases” web page.
Library link
CMU webpage
Click here to search
Or use the
Quick Links
Use these to find books
Type your
search terms here
These are the search results
Enter search terms here
Click here to request
an item
Choose your Cluster(we are QUEST)
Enter your name and ID number plus CMU
Choose your pickup cluster & location.You can choose any
MOBIUS library
Click submit. You will get an email when the book has arrived
Finding Articles
Databases are services the library subscribes to, in order to provide access to quality information
They are not the same as web pages or web resources
The biggest general database we have is Academic Search Premier, under EBSCOhost
Scroll dow
n for databases
Click any of these links to
reach a specific
databases
Click on any of these links
to access the database
Choose this option
Choose the database(s) you want to use and hit continue
Enter your search terms
Or choose “advanced
search”
Advanced search lets you choose more terms and
options
You can also limit your search to “full-text” or to
scholarly journals
These are all the results
Narrow to scholarly resources by clicking “Academic Journals
The yellow column contains related subjects. Click to add them to your search
If you click on a result, it will look like this. Some articles are full-text. Click the link to see the whole article
You can also click on these subject terms to find more
results
Stuck? Click here to ask a question
Your can also use the visual search to browse for items
similar to your topic
Finding Web Resources
Go to the Library Webpage Click on “Web Resources”
– The links included are safe to use for research papers
– They are organized by subject area
If you find results using Google, evaluate the web site carefully
Click here for “Web
Resources”
Click any of
the links
Interlibrary Loan
If you find a citation for a book or article and its not in MOBIUS, QUEST, or full-text in the databases, you can request it through our Interlibrary Loan form
Interlibrary Loan searches libraries all over the world to get the materials you need.
Just click on the “Interlibrary Loan” web page
Click here for Interlibrary
Loan
Scroll D
own to the form
Fill in all the blanks as
completely as you can
Hit Submit
In conclusion
Identify your search topic and terms Look in the QUEST and MOBIUS Catalogs
for books Look in the databases for articles Can’t get it? Interlibrary Loan Questions or Problems? Ask Us!
Contact Information
Cynthia Dudenhoffer– cmdudenh@centralmethodist.edu– 660-248-6292
Smiley Library– library@centralmethodist.edu– 660-248-6271
Webpage– http://www.centralmethodist.edu/cmlibrary/index.html
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