Where
do I get the passwords for the library's databases?
Passwords are for students, faculty, and staff
of Lake Erie College ONLY. Passwords can be obtained
by calling the library's Circulation Desk at (440)
375-7400. You will need to verify that you are
a student, faculty, or staff of the college in order
to receive the passwords.
What is the difference between ED and
EJ Documents in ERIC?
ED
Documents: Typically research reports, conference
papers, issue papers, or monographs. Many
ED Documents are now available in .pdf format through
ERIC.
If
the ED Document is NOT available, then these
documents MUST BE obtained through InterlibraryLoan;
only select libraries have copies of these throughout
the country.
EJ
Documents: Generally articles, reviews, reports,
etc. that have appeared in a journal publication.
These may be available on InfoTrac Web or in print
in the library. You may also need to use Interlibrary
Loan if the items are not available through
the library.
For
each of the above, use the Periodicals/ERIC Documents
option from the Interlibrary Loan screen.
How do I compile a list of all the
items on my topic located in the library's catalog?
Conduct
your search in the Library
Catalogusing keywords, author, title, subject,
etc.
Click
on the title (in blue) to display the record.
Click
on Save checked items to list at the top
of your search results.
Do
this for each title you wish to save.
Click
on Review List when done.
To
print, click on the main menu bar at the top. Choose
file, then print. You will have
a ready-made list of all your titles with bibliographic
and call number information.
How do I save a search
that I have already done on the web?
To
save time when conducting ongoing research, you can
save a search via a bookmark to re-execute it anytime.
Do
a search using a search engine such as Google
or another search engine found on the library's
Search
Engines web site.
After
the search results appear, save the page as a Bookmark
or Favorite.
Next
time you want to do the search, simply pull up the
Bookmark site and re-execute the search.
Choose
a collection you wish to search (Business and
Company Resource Center, Expanded Academic
ASAP, Biography Resource Center,or
Literature Resource Center).
Click
on Title List next to the name of the database
for the listing of journals included in the database.
What full text newspapers
can I find online?
ProQuest:
Contains the full text of the Wall Street Journal.
NewsBank:
Contains the full text of over 2,100 newspapers from
the US and around the world, including:
For
NewsBank, click on the on campus to NewsBank
link (or click on NewsBank from any of our web
pages).
Click
on the off campus access to NewsBank if you
are off-campus (password is required: call the library
for password information.
For
ProQuest, click on the on campus access
to ProQuest for on campus access (no password
required).
Click
on the off campus access to ProQuest if you
are off-campus (password is required: call the library
for password information).
How do I find both
current and past information on a controversial topic?
Go
to the library
web pageand click on the Facts.com
link, located under Internet Research.No password needed on campus. Off campus,
call the library for password information
In
the white box on the left page frame, type in your
terms, such as "gun control" (Use
double quotations for a phrase).
Click
on "Issues and Controversies" to place a
checkmark in the box.
Select
the desired date range by using the pull
down boxes (for example, Jan. 1, 1991 to May 15,
2001).
Click
on Begin Search.
On
the right frame there will appear a listing of stories;
click on the desired stories to see the full text.
How
do I compare companies to each other?
Use Mergent
Online for in-depth, factual data and to
build reports.
Log
on to Mergent Online via the library's Business
& Economics page.Call the
library for password information.
For
a more precise search, type in the Ticker
symbol for each company you want to compare
(used on the stock exchange).
Select
from 3 options:
Build
a report -- select your companies' names
and what information you want included.
Custom
Peer Group Analysis -- select your companies'
names and which criteria you want compared
to the averages.
Standard
Peer Group Analysis -- select one of
your companies' names to compare against
standard criteria.
Select
the criteria for options 1 & 2 above using
the pull-down menus on those screens.
You
can choose to compare average income, ratio
analysis, return on equity, etc.
EXTRA
HINT: It is helpful to find the primary
NAICS CodeorSIC
Code for comparison purposes for the companies. Go
to one of these codes and type in your industry. You
can then check your companies to make sure you are
comparing the primary business of each one.
Log
on to InfoTrac Web and select Business
& Company Resource Center.
Type
in a company name or the NAICS or SIC
Code (see above) of the industry you wish
to explore. (Make sure to type it in the
appropriate box [either under Company Name
or Ticker Symbol or Industry Code/Description].)
Click
on News/Magazines to see articles relating
to that industry. (If you search for the
NAICS or SIC Code, you can obtain articles for
all companies with that code at once.)
Click
on a single company name for news and information
on one particular company. (At any time, click
on any highlighted tabs for information on histories,
financials, industry overview, rankings, etc.)
Click
on Rankings; then on Click here
to see Companies in NAICS or SIC ####, ranked
by revenue to see companies listed by total
revenue.
What particular years
of a serial publication does the library hold? (i.e.
World Almanac, Europa World Year Book, Statesman's
Yearbook, Book Review Index, etc.)
Look
up the title in the online
catalog. Often, a year will be displayed
next to the title. This year is the BEGINNING
year of this serial. It will also have a
notation next to the location information
that it is a MULTIPLE. See below for an example:
World almanac and book
of facts Title (1800) Available
Location: Lincoln Library: Reference
/ Multiple
Click
on the title link in blue to display the full
record.
On
the right-hand side of the screen under Location
Information, the Call Number and year(s) will
be listed.
Browse
the list for the particular year in which you
are interested.
NOTE: Often the years are not sequential; to find the desired
title, please browse the full list.
How do I get current IRS
forms?
Print
forms are no longer being distributed to the library.
To obtain the current year's forms, go to
the IRS web site
and download whatever forms and instructions you
need, or else go directly to forms. You
can file electronically from this site and pay
your taxes online.
How do I keep a current, searchable
list of all the titles covered on InfoTrac Web?
Advantages: Although you can look at the titles
when you go to the actual database online, downloading
these lists allows you to see if a journal is available,
full-text, refereed, etc,. without having to go online.
It is also very simple to search.
We subscribe to four collections. Current
title counts are (as of November 2007):
Business & Company Resource Center: 4,656
indexed journal titles, with 3,563 full-text. Expanded Academic ASAP: 4,231 indexed journal
titles, with 2,521 full-text. Biography Resource Center: 297 journal titles,
all full-text Literature Resource Center: 314 journal titles,
all full-text (Includes MLA International
Bibliography access)
To download a current list of titles for the above
databases, do the following:
Make
a folder somewhere easily accessible on your computer.
To do this on your Desktop, for example,
simply right-click your mouse on your desktop, select
New, and then select Folder. Name
your folder.
On
the left-hand side of the screen, click on Database
Title Lists.
Choose
the desired title.
Then
choose a format (Excel, Work, HTML, or PDF file)
by clicking on it.
Once
the file has been downloaded to your screen, click
File and Save As to save to the folder
you created.
For
Expanded Academic, you can download the whole
file, full text, or refereed titles separately.
Once
downloaded, these titles are easily searchable anytime
by going to Edit, then Find, and typing
in the word or words of the journal name.
As
titles are being updated regularly, it is a good idea
to check each month and re-download files as needed
to have the most current information.
How do I
find, download, and save images from the Internet?
Downloading
images is very simple: finding the image you want
and determining copyright is more difficult. Here
are some tips for finding, downloading, and determining
copyright:
Finding
Images:
-The simplest way to search for images is using
an image search engine, such as Google
Image Searchor AltaVista
Image Search.
-Type in your search term or terms.
-A thumbnail (small image sample) will appear on
the screen; click on the image for a larger and
more detailed view.
-Keep in mind that you will not get images that
do not have that term in their filename. For example,
if you search for movie, you will get images such
as movie.gif or movie_2.jpeg, but you will not get
citizenkane.gif.
-See Lincoln
Library's Search Engine page for more options.
Downloading/Saving Images via IE (Internet Explorer):
· Find your image. Click on the thumbnail to make
the image larger, if desired.
· Right-click on the image with your mouse.
· Choose Save Picture As.
· Choose a location and a filename. (It is easiest
to begin by saving the picture to my desktop and
giving it a file name that's easy to remember. Sometimes
the given file names are not that descriptive. This
way you can move the image easily later.)
· Remember where you put the image, as you will
need to find it later to use it.
Determining
Copyright:
· Just because an image can be easily downloaded
does not mean that you can necessarily use it at
will. It may be necessary to cite the image used
in research and/or email the owner of the web site
for permission.
· Generally, if you are using the image under the
terms of "fair use," such as in a research paper,
or for educational or nonprofit purposes, you probably
don't have to get permission to use the image. HOWEVER,
it is best to check the site for permission. (Some
sites will give permission to use their images in
certain circumstances.) Some sites restrict use
of their images; in that case, it is best to email
the owner for permission (usually there is a Contact
or Email set up on the page for this purpose).
Always be sure you do not infringe on copyrighted
images, particularly if you are putting them on
a web site.
How do I insert an image from the Internet
into my research paper?
Provided
that you have done all of the above to find your
image, have downloaded it, and checked the copyright;
you can easily insert an image to an old or new
document using the steps below:
Open
the document in which you would like to insert your
downloaded picture (using MS Word).
Click on Insert, then Picture, then
From File.
Find the file where you saved your picture and click
on the saved image.
Click on Insert.
From here you can size the object slightly by clicking
on it and dragging the borders to make it bigger or
smaller. However, if there are words or letters and
you stretch them, they may not look right or be legible.
Modify the image using Paint for major changes.
Please be sure to give appropriate credit to the source
of the image.
How
do I find archival information such as newspaper articles
or journal articles that are not online?
The library has print indexes that cover as far back
as the 1800s. The print indexes are located on shelves
behind the Reference Desk,labeled
Indexes and Abstracts. Some of these indexes cover
broad topics, such as the Reader's Guide to Periodical
Literature (1890-Jan. 1991) and Poole's Guide
to Periodical Literature (various issues 1802-1906).
Others contain subject or discipline specific information,
such as the Wall Street Journal Index (1964-1989),
Art Index (Nov. 1959-1992), or the Education
Index (1929-1994). You use these indexes by looking
up a subject or name and copying down the bibliographic
citation. If the item is unavailable at the library
in print or on microfilm, you can use Interlibrary
Loan to obtain a copy of the article. InfoTrac
Web (1980-current)covers the same type of
information that is included in these print indexes
and includes full text. The earliest citations or
full text you can obtain are from 1980. For
anything older you will need to search the print indexes.
How
do I find health and medical information on the Internet?
Begin
your research with the MeSH
browser. This lists the subject terms used
for certain medical terms, enabling you to find the
medical term, rather than the commonly used term.
For example, the MeSH heading for CANCER is
NEOPLASMS. Knowing the correct term to use
is helpful for narrowing your search to the most relevant
sites, both on databases such as InfoTrac
or PsycInfo,and on the Internet.
PubMed
is another excellent site that will allow you to search
for scholarly materials related specifically to medical
subjects.
Popular
sites:
Web MD:
This very comprehensive site is easy to navigate. Merck
Manual of Medical Information: This site is
used both by physicians and lay people for easy to
understand explanations of medical terms and diseases.
It
is VERY IMPORTANT to note that these sites should
never be used as a substitute for medical advice from
a physician. They are solely to help you become more
informed; not for self-diagnosis or treatment.
Can I e-mail
my questions to the Reference Librarian? How soon
can I expect a response?
Yes, the Reference Librarian accepts
e-mailed questions, as well as questions in-person
or by phone. The easiest way to e-mail the reference
librarian is to:
Go to the library's
home page
· Click on Ask the Librarian.
· A window will pop up to send an e-mail question.
You
can expect a response anytime that the Reference Librarian
is on duty. The Reference Librarian will e-mail a
confirmation of receipt of your question as soon as
she receives it. She may also ask some additional
questions in this e-mail in order to better answer
your question. Although the Reference Librarian CANNOT
do your work for you, she can give you some tips for
better searching, possible book/article titles with
which to begin, tips about Interlibrary Loan, and
useful web sites. Simple requests such as passwords,
guides for using some of our databases, special renewal
requests, and Interlibrary Loan queries are usually
answered within the hour (as long as the Reference
Librarian is on duty.) Other questions generally take
between 2-4 hours, depending on the topic. Please
note that you can get this general information (such
as a password or request to renew books) from the
Circulation Desk during regular library hours by calling
(440) 375-7400.
Under
what circumstances do I use Interlibrary Loan?
You use Interlibrary Loan for any
items that Lincoln Library does not have access to
PHYSICALLY in the library, or for items not
available full-text on InfoTrac,
ProQuest,NewsBank,
or any of our other online databases. However, the
library has many periodicals in microfilm and in its
Bound Periodicals collection that go back as far as
100 years. If the article is older, you may want to
call the library at (440) 375-7400 to see if it has
the older issue in one of these formats. Check the
library catalog
for book titles available in the library.
Interlibrary
Loan is FREE to all students, staff, and faculty of
the college. Forms are available in the library.
Go to Interlibrary
Loan and follow the instructions to request
material. The library will notify you either via phone,
mail, or e-mail when your item has been delivered.
Interlibrary Loan IS NOT
available to the public or alumni. Please check
with your local public library for this service. How can I
find regional newspaper coverage of a specific topic?
NewsBank offers the full text of over 2,100 different
newspapers from around the country, as well as from
the UK and Asia. As some stories are given more importance
in different states or different countries, you can
quickly get the local slant on a topic. NewsBank
also provides special reports that compile newspaper
articles on topics such as Iraq and other
Hot Topics.
The
Basic search allows for simple keyword
searching and the ability to limit your results to
the past year, past six months, or past three months.
The Advanced search provides the ability
to access an article by author, lead paragraph, section,
edition, or headline.
Some
of the papers covered by NewsBank include:
The New York Times, The China Daily, The London
Times, The LA Times, The Boston Globe, The New York
Post, The Washington Post, The Cleveland Plain Dealer,
and The Christian Science Monitor.
How can I find
biographical information?
There are several ways to obtain biographical
information. Generally, no one source contains ALL
biographies; therefore, it may be necessary to consult
both print and online sources for the most accurate
information.
Begin
with the Biography Resource Center, available
via InfoTrac
Web. This site contains 300 different journal
resources and over 120 various print resources, covering
more than 1.4 million biographies.
The
Literature Resource Center, which is also available
via InfoTrac Web, contains over 122,000 author
biographies and over 3,000 author portraits.
Marquis
Who's Who on the Web has over 1.2 million
entries on both well-known and lesser-known people.
The link to this service is found on the main library
web page under Internet
Research.
Additional
online resources (though not necessarily as scholarly)
can be found on our General Reference page
under Biographical
Information.
Numerous
print resources are available in Reference
and throughout the library collection. Some general
reference resources include:
American
National Biography (1999) Ref 920.073 Am352 (24
vols.) Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography (1995)
Ref 920.073 C144 Encyclopedia of World Biography (1999) Ref
920.02 M17 (17 vols.) Who's Who in America Ref 920.073 W62 (2005
is the latest edition, but this set covers several
decades) (This is identical to the Marquis Who's Who
on the Web database.)
There
are many other resources available; check the Library
Catalogfor the name of the person, or check
some of our other great resources in reference by
topic (literature, science, etc.).
How does
the Dewey Decimal System work?
The
Dewey Decimal System of Classification
organizes the Lincoln Library's book, video, DVD,
and CD collections. Items are catalogued and classified
first by topic and then secondly within a topic, and
finally given a unique number. This enables you to
find materials easily anywhere in the collection.
For example, the bookEquine Photographs
and Drawings for Conformation and Anatomy
is assigned call number 636.1 Eq57, which falls
under the heading Applied Sciences/Agriculture.
Additionally, you can browse that section of materials
to find additional materials on the topic.
Use
the Library Catalog
to search for a title, author, or subject. The call
number will be given next to Location on the
screen. Write down the call number (as in the above
example: 636.1 Eq57), and go to the shelves
for that item and similar items.
For
a breakdown of the system and its call number assignments,
see this online Dewey
Decimal chart.
What
are Boolean Operators and how do I use them?
Boolean
operators is a fancy way of saying "using
AND, OR, and NOT" in a search. When you are searching
a topic, you usually have more than one term to search.
For example, if you are searching for laws relating
to the death penalty, you don't just search "death
penalty," but you also do a search for laws or
legislation. By using the Boolean Operators as described
below, you can obtain more meaningful results. AND: Use when you want BOTH terms to appear in
the document
OR: Use when you EITHER term to appear in the document
NOT: Use when you want the first term but NOT the
second term to appear in the document.
Using
InfoTrac (for articles), a search on "death
penalty" alone would yield over 15,800 results.
Performing the search "death penalty"
AND (laws OR legislation) will narrow your results
to 5,800. By adding additional terms and restrictions,
you can reduce your results set to a manageable number
(usually 50 or less.)
Searches
on various Internet search engines will vary; on Google,
for example, you would obtain over 2 million results
by searching "death penalty" alone.
By doing the search "death penalty" +laws
OR legislation, you would narrow your search to
490,000. By revising your search to "death
penalty" +ohio +laws OR legislation, you
further narrow your results to around 42,000. (FYI:
Using the plus sign [+] means that the term MUST appear
in the document, similar to AND.)
As
these illustrations show, correctly using AND, OR,
and NOT can give you more relevant results, both on
the Internet and on databases such as InfoTrac. Using
these wisely will save you time and effort.
How
do I find appropriate terms to use for searching online
(Internet, InfoTrac, etc.?)
There
are several ways to find correct and alternate terms
when trying to search for a subject. One is to read
any articles or books you come across and note any
recurring terms on the subject. You can also go to
Facts.com;
some of the articles they supply contain Key Words
and Points.InfoTrac
also offers Subject search, narrowing your
results to reflect pre-defined subject areas in which
articles are grouped.
Another
way is the use of what is called "controlled
vocabularies" or "thesaurus,"
which many disciplines utilize to help simplify
the research process. They often include broader,
narrower, and related terms within the entry, which
give you even more options to search. They also tell
you if one term is commonly used for another. See
some of the examples of thesaurus/controlled vocabularies
below for further explanation.
Contemporary Thesaurus of Search Terms and Synonyms,
2d ed. (Ref 025.4 J727 C767). This general,
alphabetical index offers many terms for each main
heading. For example, a search for Business Ethics
offers the examples of standards of conduct, moral
values, moral obligations, code of ethics, and
humanism. This is a great place to go for alternate
terms in a more general sense, covering many subject
areas. ERIC Thesaurus: Educational Resources Information
Center Thesaurus; also at call number Ref
025.4 Ed83 T343.) This uses controlled vocabulary
called Descriptors. A search for ADHD
does not return any results; however, if you search
for Attention Deficit, you will find that the
Descriptor used in the ERIC database is Attention
Deficit Disorders (not ADHD or Hyper
Activity Disorder).
Mesh
Browser: Medical Subject Headings.A couple terms that can refer to cancer
include Neoplasms, Oncology, and Carcinogens.
Many scholarly articles will use the medical term,
rather than the common term.
Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (Ref
025.4 T343); produced by the APA and useful in
PsycInfo. For example, this index uses the
terms Toxic Disorders for Poisoning
or Intoxication.
