• Where do I get the passwords for the library's databases?
  
  
• How do I make a list of all the items on my topic that I find in the library's catalog?
  
  
• How do I find both current and past information on a controversial topic?
  
  
• How do I compare companies to each other?

• How do I find older newspaper or journal articles that are not online?
  

• Can I e-mail my questions to the reference librarian? How soon can I expect a response?
  
  
• Under what circumstances do I use Interlibrary Loan?
  
  
• How can I find regional newspaper coverage of a specific topic?
  
  
• How can I find biographical information?
  
  
• How does the Dewey Decimal System work?

• What are Boolean Operators and how do I use them?

Passwords are for students, faculty, and staff of Lake Erie College ONLY. Passwords may be obtained by calling the library's Circulation Desk at (440) 375-7400.

• Conduct your search in the Library Catalog using 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. 

• Go to the Quick Facts section of the library's Doing Research web page and click on the Facts.com link (off-campus patrons may call the library 440-375-7400 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.

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 Code or SIC 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. 

Use Business and Company Resource Center on InfoTrac for quick facts, as well as related newspaper and magazine articles. 

• 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

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's Academic OneFile (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 articles this service provides go back to 1980. For anything older you will need to search the print indexes.

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.

You use Interlibrary Loan for any items that are not in Lincoln Library's book collection, or for items not available in full-text on InfoTrac, NewsBank or any of the library's other online databases.

Interlibrary Loan is FREE to all current 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 via 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.

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.

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 (InfoTrac) This site contains 300 different journal resources and over 120 various print resources, covering more than 1.4 million biographies.

The Literature Resource Center (also on InfoTrac) 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.

Numerous print resources for biographical research 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 (now replaced by Marquis Who's Who on the Web but this set is good for historical research)

Be sure to also check the Library Catalog for book-length biographies and historical works that might include the person you are researching.

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 book Equine 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.

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.