Go directly to the following library databases for starting info from reference sources:

Searching for films

Use the library's Films on Demand database to find streaming educational films & journalism in order to learn more about your topic.

Use Holman Library One Search to:

• Search for books, articles, audiovisual, and more in Holman Library
• Get an overview of information on a subject
• Track down citations

Use filters on the left to limit by specific source type, date range, and more.

Search Holman Library Databases by Subject to find articles within a specific discipline. 

Want to find news and opinion only from the alternative, ethnic and independent press? Try the following two database collections: 

Check out these resources to find a range of perspectives on a topic:

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. 

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.

Other places you can search...

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

To request an item, use information you find in the tools above to fill out the Student Interlibrary Loan form. If you need help filling out this form, call the library reference desk at (253) 931-6480.

InterLibrary Loan requests are free to current GRC students, faculty and staff.

 Google Advanced Search

  Find websites that are more relevant to your needs by using the advanced search features in Google

Example scenario:

You are researching how stem cells from human embryos might help cure neurological diseases, especially Parkinson's disease

As outlined in the example search in the image below, you can use the following advanced search limiters are used and why:

• Limiter: this exact word or phrase
  • this will wrap whatever words you place into the box in quotation marks  - that will limit the results to websites with this exact phrase
• Limiter: any of these words
  •  By putting in "neural disease" OR "Parkinson's disease" - your search will show you websites that refer to either neural disease OR specifically to Parkinson's disease (a type of neural disease). This broadens your search
• Limiter: none of these words
  • ​Use this limiter by putting in a term or phrase that you do not want to see on any of the websites. The example word of cloning will not show up in your results about stem cells.
• Limiter: site or domain
  • And since you hope to find good, authoritative websites that have content that have been thoroughly researched, limit your results to government (.gov) websites

(click on image to enlarge)

Evaluate your sources

Make sure the sources you use are of good enough quality for your research.  

• If you use poor quality sources, your research paper or presentation could contain errors, overly-biased information or out-of-date facts 

• Using credible sources makes you a more credible source

• Knowing how to evaluate sources applies to the "real world," not just academics. For instance, we need to be able to find accurate medical information, be informed about the issues we vote on during election time, present reliable information to coworkers in a meeting...etc.