Sarah Schwab - ENGL190 - Section 22 - Fall 2010

Hi everyone! Here are my responses to the questions you submitted after our library research class on October 28. I'll do my best to explain things, but if you still have questions, please email me and/or post a comment below. -- Jamie Schmid (Your ENGL-190 Librarian)

I'm unclear on "how to access all the places to get info."

You can access many great resources via our Freshman Writing Program Research Guide which we used in our library class. You can also access all of the library's resources via the SLU Libraries Web site. You'll want to focus on a few areas - the Finding Books section, the Finding Articles section, and the gold Research tab at the top of the page. If you have any questions about finding a specific resource or type of resource, please email me and let me know.

"What if you can't find a book?"
AND
"Actually going to find the book is the only thing we haven't done so maybe doing that would help."

It can be challenging to navigate a large library. Please let library staff members know if you're having trouble finding anything. We're happy to help! You can also go to the Reference Desk on the 1st floor if you have any questions.

I'd also recommend that you take a look at this site which covers how to read call numbers in an academic library. This Library of Congress classification guide will also show you how the collection is arranged by subject and these subjects are represented by different letters. This Pius Library location guide will provide information about which call numbers are located on which floors.

"The most unclear thing was how to access ALL of the databases. However, it is useful that a few have been picked out (i.e. Academic Search Premier, LexisNexis, etc.) for us to easily access."

A complete list of all of the library's databases can be found on the SLU Libraries Web site database page. It's accessible from the gold Research tab at the top of each page of the SLU Libraries Web site.

I'm unclear on "how to really narrow down our topic to find enough sources."

Actually, if you're having trouble finding enough sources, you may need to broaden your topic and searches. For example, instead of doing a search for "videogames and violence and teenagers", you could simply search for "videogames." You'll also want to remove any limits that you've placed on your search (like date, publication type, etc.) You may also need to try to think of your topic more broadly. For example, instead of looking for articles about Lady Gaga, you could look for articles about our country's obsession with celebrity, the cult of celebrity, etc.

"Do we search generally in order to find our specific thesis?"

Please see my response to the question above. Yes, sometimes you do need to search more generally or broadly to find information on your topic.

I'm unclear on "finding articles that are not in Pius Library but in storage."

You can request request individual articles via a link in the catalog record that says "SLU Patrons Request Digital Article via ILLiad Document Delivery Service." You can also request journal volumes from the Locust Street Library Facility via the library catalog by clicking on the REQUEST button. See this screen capture for the locations of these options in the library catalog.

"I'm still a little confused about how to find articles in Pius Library/scholarly journals."

Multidisciplinary databases like Academic Search Premier can be helpful when looking for articles on almost any topic. You can limit your search results in this database to scholarly journal articles by clicking on the Academic Journals link on the left side of your results page. Another option is to search a subject specific database. To select one, think about what academic discipline would be interested in your research topic. Once you've identified a discipline, you can then find a database that indexes the literature of that discipline. I've included a list of some recommended databases by subject on the Freshman Writing Program Research Guide (under the Articles tab). You can look at all of our library databases by subject on this page. Finally, if you need a recommendation for a database to search, please email me and let me know. I'm happy to help.

"Some of the databases are confusing in that when you click on an article, it's difficult to get past the information page and actually open it."

Many databases will include a link to a pdf and/or html full text for most articles. If the pdf or html full text is not readily available, you can use the FIND IT @ SLU button to see if an article is available in another database or in print in the library. If it's available online, you can click on the "article" link that's listed under Step 1. Every database has a different interface though, so it can take practice to navigate them and find the full text articles that you need.

I hope this blog post helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I'm happy to help you! -- Jamie