ENGL 101 English Composition 1

If we don't have it, borrow it!

Using the Interlibrary Loan Service

InterLibrary Loan: No library has it all! But the InterLibrary Loan (or ILL) is a service offered by Holman Library for borrowing books and articles from other libraries. InterLibrary Loan requests are free to current GRC students, faculty and staff.

For your research, it is important to search many places.

  • First, start with the books and articles available through the Holman Library.

  • Then, If you find books and articles that the Library does NOT have access to, just request them through Interlibrary Loan.

  • Using Interlibrary Loan increases the amount of resources available to you and helps you become a more thorough researcher.

Note:

  • Books and other items that require mailing may take 1-2 weeks.

  • Articles and other digital items may arrive within 2-5 days. Use your email as your contact info and the article will be sent directly to you.

If you need help filling out this form, call the library reference desk at (253) 931-6480.

Other places you can search...

Use the links below to look for books, articles and more beyond our collection:

Find Scholarly Perspectives

Find Scholarship on your Topic

Use the Holman Library One Search or specific article and ebook databases to find scholarly analysis. 

  • Limit to peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles to find scholarly articles. By the way, be sure to still assess if it's a scholarly article. (For example, scholarly journals contain book reviews of scholarly texts. These are not scholarly articles.)

  • To find the most relevant articles, you will need to consider many more. Try multiple keywords and search different databases.

  • Focus primarily on the introduction and discussion and conclusion sections of a scholarly article. That's where the authors lay out where scholarship in the field stands and what the authors claim. 
  • Finding scholarly books is a bit trickier than finding scholarly articles. For books, conduct your own assessment. Does the book go into the topic with great depth and analysis? Does it build on and credit others' ideas and add something new to the discussion?

Search Tips

Finding Scholarly Journal Articles in Library Databases

When searching for articles in library databases, you can limit your search to only scholarly journals. The screenshots of the databases shown below outline where you can limit by source type to find the type of article you need. Remember that academic articles and scholarly articles are the same thing; different databases use the different terms, but you can know that they are the same!

Limiting to academic journals in Ebsco's Academic Search Complete database
  • As shown in the image below, two sets of keywords are typed into the boxes: charter schools AND "Washington D.C."
  • You can use the filters below the search boxes to limit by source type, by year, by language, and more - OR, as shown in the next image, you can use the filters on the following page of results.

(click on image to enlarge)

the advanced search page showing the search boxes at top with the various filters at the bottom

  • This image highlights the banner of filters at the top of the page, along with the places to click to view more about the article or download it.

(click on image to enlarge)

the search results page showing a list of articles, with the filters at the top of the page pointed out. Also highlighted are the subject headings and the button to push to download the article.

Limiting to scholarly journals in ProQuest Combined Databases

Limiting in this database is very similar to other advanced searches in the library's databases. You can click to limit to full-text articles, to peer-reviewed articles, and you can use the built in Boolean tools (AND, OR, NOT) to change your search results and combine your simple keywords.

(Click on image to enlarge)

This image shows a screeshot of the database search page, showing how you can search by topic or keyword in the search boxes provided, and how you can then check a box to limit to full-text and to scholarly journals

Limiting to Full-Text Results

Research databases include citation information and abstracts for articles they don't necessarily have the right to publish in full text. This is useful to you as a researcher!

You may check the filter for Full-Text only results, but if you leave it unchecked, you will learn about highly relevant articles that you can track down elsewhere, whether in another GRC database or in WorldCat.

The image below features some of the search filters you can use at the top of the page, as well as showing the "Access Options" to check for the Full-Text PDF.

  • The first result shows the link to the PDF - which can be immediately downloaded.
  • The second result shows the option to "Check for Full-text at GRC" and will either
    • Take you to the PDF of the article in another GRC database
      OR
    • It will take you to the record for the item (in One Search) where you can click on the "Request through Interlibrary Loan" link (shown in the following image)

(click on image to enlarge)

The screenshot shows two results, one with a linked PDF and the other showing the option to "Check for Full-text at GRC" to see if the library has it

 

As mentioned above, the "Check for Full-text at GRC" option will either connect you to the article in another database, or it will take you to the record where you can request it. Click on the "Request Through InterLibrary Loan" link to borrow the article from another library. Articles are generally available electronically and they will be emailed to you quickly.

(click on image to enlarge)

a screenshot of the record in OneSearch, showing that the article is listed as "not available" and the option to "request through interlibrary loan"

Primo Citation Linker

If you have information about an article and want to see if the library has it, you can also use the Primo Citation Linker to see if the item is stored in one of the library's databases. If the library doesn't have it, there's a good chance it can be requested through Interlibrary Loan. 

Searching by Subject Terms

Use Subject Terms instead of keywords to find the most relevant articles on a topic.

If you can't figure out what keyword will find you articles on your topic, select Subject Terms (in Academic Search Complete) or the Thesaurus (in ProQuest and browse for the Subject Term used by the database. 

  • Example: Instead of the common expression "blended families," Academic Search Complete uses the Subject Term: STEPFAMILIES.

(click on image to enlarge)

subject search showing alternative terms listed in text above image

The Subject Terms list can also help you identify key subtopics, as in the example below. 

(click on image to enlarge)

search pointing out the subject terms option on the top menu

Scholarly vs. Popular

Spot the Differences

Contrast the two articles linked below to see how magazine articles and a scholarly article approach the same topic differently.

(click on image to enlarge)

image of Diversity on TV article

(click on image to enlarge)

article cover

Why Use Scholarship?

Why Use Scholarly Literature? 

Scholarly literature advances our knowledge in a field of study.

Features of scholarly journals and books
  • written by scholars and subject experts
  • written for other scholars and also read by student researchers
  • dedicated to a specific discipline, like sociology, history, women's studies, etc.
  • offer original research or analysis – or may provide a review of existing research
  • articles tend to be lengthy, often 5-15 pages or more,
  • scholarly books and articles engage with issues at a sophisticated and in depth level
  • articles and books almost always include an extensive list of sources at the end (Works Cited, References, Sources, or Bibliography) and comprehensive in-text citations for all claims made in the body of the work
  • published by organizations or associations to advance the body of knowledge

Search Strategies

Search Tips

  1. AND / OR / NOT help you broaden or narrow your search results:

  • AND narrows and focuses your search - you get fewer results

    • "medical care" AND teen* find information on medical care specific to teens

  • TRUNCATION *: Use an asterisk with the root of a search term to find multiple forms of the word.

    • Teen* = teen, teenaged, teenagers

  • OR broadens your search - you get more results

    • (teens OR youth) searches for both words

  • NOT omits results

    • this can be useful for excluding irrelevant results

  1.  Add one search term at a time, so you understand what works and what doesn't.
  2. Keep searches simple using keywords to capture core ideas. Search on ethics AND medical care AND immigrants rather than: Do immigrant communities receive an adequate standard of health care?
  3. Use a variety of search words to find different results