Video Tutorial on the Scholarly Conversation

This video tutorial created by a Holman Librarian talks about scholarship in all disciplines. It addresses:

• Why scholarly literature exists - the unique purpose it serves
• How a scholarly conversation advances our knowledge over time
• How to find relevant scholarly literature
• Strategies for reading scholarship
• And how to cite it

Article Databases

These databases will help you find scholarly journals that are often not freely accessible on the internet.

Please note:

• Discipline-specific databases may have a mix of scholarly and non-scholarly sources. 
• Databases offer a mix of primary research and scholarly analysis. Use appropriate filters, keywords, and subject terms and then assess your results.

Complete list of journals in Holman Library databases or print by title

Advanced Searching Tips

Choosing to use multiple, simple keywords is a great way to search in the library's databases. In the image below, you can see the following tips highlighted

• Be sure to slowly build a focused search with relevant search terms; make sure your spelling is correct!
• Use AND to narrow and focus. Example: concussion AND children
• Use OR for an alternative term. Example: concussion OR traumatic brain injury
• When you see an article that may be promising, read the abstract to determine the relevance and to help you select articles to read as a part of your research. Look through many additional abstracts to get a sense of the scholarly conversation on your topic!
• You can check the "full-text" option if you need to access articles immediately. However, you can also leave this unchecked to see more article options. That is, you can see results for articles that GRC might have in other databases or articles you can request through interlibrary loan.  

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Understanding How to Use Google Scholar 

Google Scholar can be very useful in finding about articles on a topic. You may not always get free, immediate access to the content it shows you, but Google Scholar can certainly be a great place to get started and see what kinds of content is out there.

Here are some features as highlighted in the image below.

• You can click on the title of an article to read the abstract and information about where the article was published.
• By clicking on the small quotation mark icon that appears under the article, you can see a list of citations, in various citation styles including MLA and APA, for the source. Be sure to check these against a style guide as they may be incorrect or incomplete.
• You can limit by date, or a date range to ensure you're finding the most relevant content - and depending on your topic, that might be important.
• If the article is freely available online, there is often a PDF icon and link off to the left. 
• And, if in your settings, you at GRC as one of your libraries, the results page will even note and link you to articles housed in the GRC library databases. 
• You can request any articles that you learn about here, but are not given full-text access to, through Interlibrary Loan. Use the links for more information about this process or talk to a librarian if you need help!

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Requesting items from other libraries

You can have articles or books sent to you from other libraries by using an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Request.

• Most articles requested by ILL come as a digital copy, and you'll receive the article as an attachment in an email. (Typically 2-3 business days.)
• If the item is difficult to locate or an item that needs to be mailed (like a book), the request can take longer-- usually 1-2 weeks.
• Make sure to give yourself enough time for the item to arrive before your assignment is due.

Filling out the ILL form

1. Go to the Holman Library's Interlibrary Loan page to fill out the form
2. Select the type of item you are requesting. (If you found the item through Google Scholar, it is often a Journal Article)

3. Use the information you find on the article's abstract or citation page to fill out the ILL request form:

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4. 

4. Finish filling out the ILL form and click the Submit Requests button at the bottom. When your item arrives, the library will contact you:

• A digital article will be emailed as an attachment to your Green River email account (youremail@student.greenriver.edu).
• A book or other physical item will be held for you at the Holman Library's Circulation Desk. You will receive an email at Green River email account (youremail@student.greenriver.edu) notifying you it has arrived and is ready for you to pick up.  

Why read scholarly literature?

Scholarly journals advance our knowledge in a field of study.

Some features of scholarly literature:

• May share original research 

• Authored by credentialed experts in the scholarly field

• In-depth analyses of topics

• Abstract that summarizes the article. Read to determine relevance!

• Explanation of methodology and materials, so that study findings are transparent and may be reproduced

• Discussion of study and results

• Literature cited section

• In-text citations or notes

• Use technical, specialized vocabulary

Use the Library One Search tool

Find scholarly books (and peer-reviewed articles) in Holman Library.

Wondering what to type in the search box? Be as specific as possible for better results.

Some examples:

• medicine is a broad search that generates 1224 results.

• "alternative medicine" is a narrower search that generates 56 results.

• acupuncture is even narrower and yields 18 results.

To be certain a book is scholarly:

• Check the author(s)' credentials, the editor, and publisher. 

• Check to see if the research and analysis are meticulously cited. Look for in-text citations and a references list. 

• It's easy to check ebooks! For print, you need to open the book to know for certain.