Learn about the facts, debates, stakeholders, history, stats, and stories on your issue.
That requires research. Tabs on this page take you to different information types to help you find info.
Find the Professional Conversation in Trade/ Professional Publications.
Every field has its professional literature! Find currents news, reports on trends, and research briefs.
Limit to TRADE in library databases to find professional magazines in business and other fields.
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To search only for books and book chapters:
A basic search returns a range of information types. Note the book, reference entry and article on social media in the image below.
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To help you select a book from the results list, click on a title to learn more about a book. Look for the following:
Date published: Is it current enough? For example, books on global warming from the 1990s are not current enough!
Description and/or Contents: This section indicates what a book is about, which helps you determine if the book is relevant. Often you can even see the chapters listed out, which can also tell you more about the book's contents. You can also tell if the book is a collection of essays. Essays may be useful for short writing assignments.
Subjects: Are the Subjects of the book on your topic? These subjects are how the catalog organizes and searches for content. Trying clicking on a relevant one to find other possibly useful titles!
Availability: If the book is in print, is it available? If you are taking an online class, is this an e-book? Look at the information on the record to learn more.
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And when you scroll further down in the record, you'll see more info about the item:
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Tip: If you get a long list of books, try adding an additional keyword to focus your topic.
So you've looked up a book in the library's catalog, but now what? How do you find it?
Here's what you need to know. After searching in the library's catalog, you will see a results page like the one in the image below. Under the title of the book, you'll see more information.
More specifically...
OR
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Each shelf in the library has a set of call numbers so you can take the number you wrote down from the catalog and use it to locate the print book. Stop by the reference desk and get help from a librarian; we're happy to help you find books in the library!
Image Source: "Internet1" by Rock1997 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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!
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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.
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To gather background information that provides context, history and an oversight of issues related to your subject.
To find definitions, concepts and specialized terminology.
To gather key words (or keywords) you can use to search for relevant source material on the subject.
Use reference articles to understand the general view of what is happening with an issue, who is involved, and why there is debate over it.
You can use important words or ideas (see the highlighted words in the example below) as keywords to build more focused or related searches.
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Editorials are a great way to find reasoned opinions on current controversial topics. Use these specialized searches to find full-text editorials in the library's databases and on the Web.
News sources are "non-scholarly," but that does not mean they are bad sources. These are sources that are researched by journalists for the general public, rather than an academic or professional audience.
Strategize finding the information you need by source type. That's why there are so many source tabs on this page.
