HOW TO FIND INFORMATION 2012 BY HILDÉ VAN WYK

WHERE DO I FIND INFORMATION FOR MY ASSIGNMENT? In the library - Books, Journals, Newspapers, Encyclopaedias, Maps, etc Online (internet) - Google Google Scholar Electronic Databases

OPAC Online Personal Access Catalogue The OPAC is the catalogue that will tell you where to find information in the library. You can search : according to the subject/topic of your assignment Keywords Author of the book Title of the book Journal title

WHERE DO I FIND THE OPAC? The OPAC can be accessed from the Student Portal Click on the link

Click on the library icon

Click on Library catalogue

You can also access OPAC from off campus eg. home if you have internet at home: Just type in the address bar:

FIRST SCREEN OF OPAC You can now register yourself on OPAC in MY LIBRARY RECORD – you must be registered at the library first before you can register in MY LIBRARY RECORD.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE REGISTERED IN MY LIBRARY RECORD? You can view and renew your library items out on loan You don’t have to bring your books to the library every time you want to renew it, you can renew it yourself on OPAC (once only) – if you are registered in MY LIBRARY RECORD Create a PIN to be able to access most NMMU electronic databases from home You will have access to information eg for an assignment even if the library is closed! Activate your Reading History to recall all library items borrowed by you Request items out on loan You can request 4 library items - -if its out on loan( George campus library) -or if it is at any of the NMMU libraries in Port Elizabeth. It will take approx a week, so don’t wait till the last minute AND its FREE of charge! Once you are registered at the library, ask the librarian to assist you with registering in MY LIBRARY RECORD or attend the next library training class.

HOW TO SEARCH IN OPAC It is easy to navigate throughout OPAC by using the navigation menus.

WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR A BOOK: When you are searching for a book, you can select any of the following from the dropdown menu: Keyword Title Author Subject Remember to always select NMMU George from the dropdown menu if you are looking for books in the George campus library

THE LIBRARY RECORD Select NMMU libraries from the dropdown menu if you are looking for library items in the NMMU libraries in Port Elizabeth Authors Place of Publication Publishers Date of publication.

The location tells you in which library and in which collection eg. Open shelves collection The call number tells you where to find it on the shelf. It’s a Dewey Classification Number. Books are numerically shelved and then according to the first three letters of the Authors’ surname The status indicates whether the book is available or if it is out on loan the due date when it should be back in the library

HOW TO SEARCH FOR JOURNALS Select Journal Title from the dropdown menu Type in the Journal Title which you are looking for

Links to online journals Journals on the shelves

Where do I find information online? Google Google Scholar Electronic databases Why do we like Google?... fast, accurate and easy-to-use service that anyone seeking information can access, whether they’re at a desk in Boston or on a phone in Bangkok

PREFERABLE: Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature: Journal articles Theses Books Abstracts Court opinions From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: From: Academic publishers Professional societies Online repositories Universities Other websites

GOOGLE SCHOLAR ON THE LIBRARY WEBSITE

GOOGLE SCHOLAR LIBRARY LINKS Google works with libraries to determine which journals and papers they have subscribed to electronically, and then links to articles from those sources when they are available. Seamless access to certain electronic databases subscribed by NMMU library. Click on the link and the article will open in the subscribed database, Sciencedirect. This link will open the article

ONLINE DATABASES A database - searchable, electronic collection of either full text documents (including journal articles) or citations and abstracts Citation A reference to a published or unpublished source for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the work of others to the topic of discussion Abstract A statement summarising the important points of a text – e.g a summary of the journal article You can use Online Databases if you are looking for journal articles on a specific subject. The databases that NMMU subscribed to provides academic information.

ONLINE DATABASES ON THE LIBRARY WEBSITE

SELECT THE DATABASE THAT YOU WANT TO USE FROM THE LIST, EG. EBSCOHOST

TYPE IN THE KEYWORDS Select the date range

SEARCH RESULTS You can arrange the results according to Date Descending Date Ascending Source Relevance This is the abstract of the article This is the link to the Full text article

THE ARTICLE Details of the source - journal Print Save Page numbers of the article Remember to record the bibliographic details of the articles that you use for referencing purposes.

SUMMARY Information can be found in the library or online The OPAC (online catalogue) helps you to find the information in the library You click on the library icon in the Student portal to gain access to the OPAC. To access OPAC off campus, you type in: Information online can be found with Google, Google Scholar (preferable – academic articles, some linked to the NMMU databases) and the Electronic Databases. The Electronic Databases are accessible from off campus, but you have to be registered in MY LIBRARY RECORD. The Electronic Databases can be accessed on campus on the link on the library website: Databases on the web. Remember to record the bibliographic details of the articles for your reference list in your assignment. Best wishes for 2012.