What types of sources are you likely to find when you search? The answer depends on which resources you use to conduct your searches - databases will get you articles, the library catalog will get you books, the Web will get you websites, etc, You can find links to these resources in the find background info, find articles, and find books and ebooks tabs in this guide's navigation menu. What types of sources are best for your research project? You can compare characteristics of different sources on the Types of sources tab under Evaluating information in the navigation menu.
Use the WSU Library's Online Catalog to locate books, journals, and other materials:
Use the WSU Library's Online Catalog to locate books, journals, and other materials:
You can use the dropdown menu to the right of the search bar to specify which aspect of a book you would like to search for -- title, author, etc. Also, you can use the dropdown menu immediately below the search bar to specify what type of material you would like to search for -- DVD, government document, textbook, music score, etc.
Keyword anywhere: the first option in the dropdown menu to the right of the search bar. Enter a string of keywords in any order. This is the broadest type of search you can do in the online catalog:
Keyword anywhere (and, or, not): another option in the dropdown menu to the right of the search bar.
Connect your search terms with the word and for more precise searching -- you are telling the catalog to find everything relating to concept A and concept B. The same logic applies for the words or and not, except that you will be searching for A or B, or alternately A not B.
Enclosing phrases within quotation marks ("substance abuse") makes the computer look for those words right next to each other. Using the truncation symbol ( ? ) makes the computer search for variations in word endings. For example, adolescen? looks for adolescent, adolescents, and adolescence.
Title: the second option on the dropdown menu to the right of the search bar. Search for the exact title of the book:
Journal title: the third option on the dropdown menu to the right of the search bar. Search for the exact title of the journal:
To be clear, you are searching for the title of a journal, not the title of an article published in a journal. You can search for articles using the library's databases -- see the Find articles tab to the left.
Author: the fourth option on the dropdown menu to the right of the search bar. Search for author's last name first, followed by first name or first initial:
Just like print books, the library catalog (or SmartSearch, if you identified a book through SmartSearch) can help you access ebooks. In the search results, ebooks will have a [electronic resource] tag.
When you click on the catalog record for an ebook, it will have no call number (because it has no physical shelf location). Instead, it will have a hyperlink that says, "click here for electronic book." Simply click the link, and you can read (and print from, if you like) the ebook on your computer screen.
The library catalog (or SmartSearch, if you identified a book through SmartSearch) can also help you access print books. Books in the library are organized via the Library of Congress Classification system. In the search results, books will have a call number derived from this classification system -- in the example below, P94.6 .L845 2012:
Here is an explanation of how to read a call number: Graphic from California State University, Chico
Call Number locations in the Ablah Library:
For more information:
Developed by J. Lindsay O-Neill, California State University, Fullerton
