1. You are going to college or university in the fall… How do you use their library for doing research?

2. Where’s the library? The library should be one of the first places you should visit after you get settled into your room. You should get a map with your college orientation kit, so go find the library! Some libraries will offer orientation tours and some have online orientation tutorials. Do one of these visits ! You will be glad you did!

3. The library at your college or university will be much larger than the one in your high school and it will contain lots of resources for you to use. Most sources have been pre- approved for student use.

4. Conestoga College Library The library will be one of your best friends in college or university. You can access it at its physical location or online.

5. Some people find it easier to do research in their own dorm rooms, some people like to go to Internet cafes, some people like to sit in the park, and some people work better IN the library, BUT, wherever you decide to work on an assignment, you can access the Library’s catalogue, databases and journals online from ANYWHERE! The only research resources you need to use IN the library are books. The library can be a pretty good place to work: it’s quiet, some have private study rooms, some have cubicles, AND you have access to the librarians. And if you are polite and appreciative of the librarians, they will love you FOREVER!!!

6. Even though your new library might seem HUGE to you, it is much the same as your high school library. It has all of the same features: fiction, non-fiction, reference, periodicals and the Internet. The only difference will be the classification system, which will be the Library of Congress system. But don’t worry, it works in the same way, with numbers and letters to identify the book you want. You can do this!

7. The Dewey Decimal Classification System (like in the GCHS Library) 341.625 ( call number ) GRO The Library of Congress Classification System (at your college library) BF1556 ( call number ) The Library of Congress Classification System (at your college library) BF1556 ( call number )

8. It would be a good idea… to check out the library policies before you visit because… you are expected to follow the rules.

9. The librarians in the library are there to help you and they are fantastic… but they expect you to be able to find information on your own, too. There will be a ‘Research Help’ tutorial on the library’s webpage. Take the time to watch it!

10. Examples of Online Library Tutorials

11. Your library card is your student ID card - Having this card gives you access to all of the research resources of the library, both online and in the library itself. It also gives you free beer in the campus pub – just kidding!!!

13. Go to the school’s home page and look under the ‘Student Services’ tab for ‘Library’.

14. These are the four main search engine categories in the library. Decide which one or ones are suited to what you are seeking. If you go to the main catalogue, you will find a list of ALL the resources. Type in your topic, be as specific as you can.

15. These are examples of two catalogue search features from different colleges. The formats are different, but they both function in the same way. Type what you are looking for into the search bar, and voila!

16. So here’s what I got when I typed in ‘libraries’ in the Search bar – over 52,000 results. Obviously, I can’t look through 52,000 items, so I am going to use the limiters on the left side of the panel to narrow my search. If you are having trouble finding what you want, you can always ask for live help from the ‘askON’ librarian (the icon in on the right side of the page). But try the limiters first – it’s EASY!

17. This is just to show you how I put a couple of limiters on my search. Look at the lower left corner of the page.

18. This is what I got when I looked just for electronic resources…

19. So now I am looking for specific magazines or journals which are published by colleges or universities. The Harvard Medical Journal is my choice because I am a genius medical student and I know that Harvard sponsors hundreds of student research projects and I am interested in a specific experiment.

20. Next… DATABASES! Are you getting confused yet?

21. The big four databases are EbscoHost, ProQuest, Gale, ERIC Your college or university will have access to one or more of these. Databases host thousands of articles collected from newspapers, magazines, conferences, journals, etc. Most of these articles have been reviewed and approved for use by post-secondary institutions. You look for them in the same way you look for library books: type your subject into the Search space, be as specific as possible and put limiters on what you are looking for.

22. A quick list of database subjects available at this college library…

23. A listing of databases alphabetically by title…

24. So I have gone to the ‘L’ category because I am looking for articles about libraries. My database is ‘LISTA.’

25. This is my gateway to the LISTA database (it’s for library people) and after I open the database, this is what the Search page looks like.

26. Here are the results of my search. Now I have to decide if I want to narrow down my search, because I REALLY don’t have time to look at 5,000 articles which may or may not have what I need…

27. Boolean Search This is how to do a more advanced search (we call it a Boolean Search). Give the search engine more details so it can focus in on what you want. See how I took my ‘Library Orientation’ search and made it more specific by adding in ‘high school.’ Notice how the number of items dropped significantly! Now I can make it even more detailed if I want to or start cruising articles.

28. Left: my search using limiters Right: the article listing I chose

29. My article in PDF display… which I can choose to print, or read and take notes. REMEMBER TO CREDIT YOUR SOURCES!!!!

30. Are you still paying attention???

31. If you have been paying attention, you should know by now that you can do the following tasks from anywhere on or off campus: Search the library’s online catalogue Search for database and journal articles for your research Watch research and library orientation tutorials Search the library’s online catalogue Search for database and journal articles for your research Watch research and library orientation tutorials

32. But to use print materials, you still have to go to the library!

33. So, there you go – a quick intro to college and university libraries.

34. REMEMBER!

35. Credits Conestoga College Library Creative Commons (Pixabay) Fran Koning, GCHS Library Technician