Tools & Tutorials for Library Research

J. Eugene Smith Library Resources

Getting Started
Detailed Information About the J. Eugene Smith Library's Resources

Basic Library Research, J. Eugene Smith Library (PDF)

Finding Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Journals & Articles, J. Eugene Smith Library 

Finding Primary and Secondary Sources, J. Eugene Smith Library (PDF)

Using Article Linker, J. Eugene Smith Library (PDF)
A tool for locating the full-text of an article. 

Handouts

Introduction to Research Databases, J. Eugene Smith Library:

• Academic Search Premier
• JSTOR
• Project Muse
  

Topics
Poetry Guide

Class Handouts
Online copies of handouts customized for various classes at Eastern:

• ART 140-240: Mink
• ENG 125: Cavanaugh
• ENG 365 & 323: Brown
  
• ENG 461: Mama
  
• HPE 104: Gustavesen
  
• LAP 130: Stoloff
  
• PSC 210: Krassas
• SOC 100: Simon
• SOC 400: Lynch

Library Database Tutorials

ABI/INFORM

EBSCOhost

Ethnic NewsWatch

Gale

JSTOR

LexisNexis

Project Muse

Proquest

ABI/INFORM (PDFs)

ABI/INFORM Product Overview

ABI/INFORM Product Tour

ABI/INFORM Search Guide

ABI/INFORM Sample Searches

EBSCOhost Tutorials

- Download Flash (free)

   Academic Search Premier @ J. Eugene Smith Library

Introduction to EBSCOhost 2.0 (Flash)  (runtime 6.18 min)  (PowerPoint, 2.2 mb)

Advanced Search with Guided Style (runtime 8.13 min)    (PowerPoint, 2.1 mb)

Advanced Search with Single Find Field; Creating Search and Journal Alerts (3 min)    (PowerPoint, 1.2 mb)

Basic Searching for Academic Libraries (runtime 5.25 min)    (PowerPoint, 446 kb)

How to Create Search and Journal Alerts (runtime 3.52 min)    (PowerPoint, 2.1 mb)

Visual Search (runtime 5.30 min)   (PowerPoint, 2761 kb)

Ethnic NewsWatch

Ethnic NewsWatch Search Guide

Gale: Please be patient. These tutorials take a few minutes to load.

Business & Company Resource Center—Financials Webcast

Health & Wellness Resource Center (With Audio)

Health & Wellness Resource Center—Guided Tour (No Audio)

PowerSearch

JSTOR

JSTOR @ J. Eugene Smith Library

Basic Search Tutorial: Click on the link for Flash or Windows Media (below) to start tutorial or select PDF.

Learn how to use Basic Search, Advanced Search, and how to refine search results. (2 minutes)

Flash |  Windows Media PDF

Browse and Article Locator Tutorial: Click on the link for Flash or Windows Media (below) to start tutorial or select PDF.

Learn how to locate a known article in the archive using the browse or article locator features . (2.5 minutes)

Flash |  Windows Media PDF

My JSTOR
Learn how to manage citations through a MyJSTOR account or select PDF. (3 minutes)

Flash |  Windows Media PDF

Which media version should I select to watch the tutorials?

• Macromedia Flash – recommended for users with a high-speed internet connection
• Windows Media Player – recommended for PC users

JSTOR FAQ Handout

LexisNexis

LexisNexis Academic Tutorial

LexisNexis Selecting Sources Tutorial

LexisNexis Working with Results Tutorial

LexisNexis Caselaw Summaries & Headnotes Tutorial

LexisNexis Easy Search Guide (PDF)

LexisNexis Results Clustering Guide (PDF)

LexisNexis® Statistical User Guide (PDF)

LexisNexis Special Topics

Biographical Research On Authors

Marketing Plans

News Search: Find a Campus Newspaper Article

Searching the World Almanac and Book Of Facts

Trade Shows

Project Muse

Project Muse @ J. Eugene Smith Library

Training & Usage Guides

Proquest

Topic Guide

Basic Search

Advanced Search

Publication Search

Search Tips

Working with Results

Create Your Bibliography to Email, Print, or Download

Research 101

QuickStudy: Library Research Guide

Referencing good information sources can strengthen your speech or research paper. You can access information in books, articles and web sources through library research, but sometimes it's difficult to know where and how to look for the information you need. Quickstudy will help find quality information sources by guiding you through the process of conducting effective library research. QuickStudy comprises eight modules, each of which contains several short lessons (usually a page or more in length). These modules will familiarize you with strategies for approaching research as well as introduce you to some of the computer resources you will use as you research your topic. Quickstudy includes information on:

• the process of choosing a topic
• designing a research strategy
• finding different kinds of sources such as articles, books and internet sites
• evaluating sources
• essential citation information for sources used in a bibliography.

Quickstudy Lesson 1: Strategies for Long Papers

Quickstudy Lesson 2: Strategies for Short Papers and Speeches

Quickstudy Lesson 3: Keeping Records of Your Research

The Seven Steps of the Research Process, Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University

Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need, NoodleTools

The Guide to Grammar and Writing, Dr. Charles Darling, Capital Community College, Hartford, Connecticut.

Guide to Grammar and Style, Jack Lynch, Associate Professor, English, Rutgers University, Newark.

Glossary of Research Terms, Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age, Fourth Edition, Diana Hacker.

Beyond the Walls of Your Library: How to Find Books and More, Western New York Library Resources Council
This tutorial helps you to:

• gain an understanding of how libraries share books and materials.
• use WorldCat, an online tool used to search for and identify available materials.
• learn how Interlibrary Loan allows you to physically borrow materials from other libraries when our library doesn't have what you need.

The tutorial requires Flash 6 or higher and speakers to hear the dialogue.

• Flash Tutorial with Games
• Flash Tutorial without Games
  
  

Avoiding Plagiarism

YouTube Videos

Bruin Success with Less Stress
Pauline Swartz, Information Literacy/Reference Librarian, UCLA College Library: “Designed as an introduction to academic integrity and intellectual property, Bruin Success with Less Stress educates students about their role in the academic community to help them make informed choices. This resource supports the missions of various campus entities (e.g., the Office of the Dean of Students, the Writing Programs, the Office of Information Technology, etc.), and strives to educate students about issues of academic integrity and intellectual property not only in their academic careers, but also in their daily lives.”

How To Avoid Plagiarism
Paul Robeson Library Reference Department,, Rutgers the State University, Camden, New Jersey: "The pedagogical goals of the 'How to Avoid Plagiarism' tutorial are that students will use information in an ethical manner and will recognize the art of citation as part of the scholarly communication process."

Plagiarism: A Guide for ECSU Students and Faculty
Includes Eastern's policy on Academic Misconduct and resources for students and faculty.

Ryerson University has created five short animated films exploring academic integrity issues:

• Unintentional Plagiarism
  In episode one Allison finds herself at a crossroad. It's late at night and she's only scratched the surface of her psychology essay. But being the tenacious student she is, Allison blazes on. She even manages to thwart Jared's spicy Thai-food temptation. But will that be enough for her to triumph over her first-year fatigue? Will she persevere and maintain her academic integrity? Click here to find out (Start episode 1).
  
  
• Buying or Borrowing Course Work
  When Nikki and Sanford spot a sinister postering guy they decide to shadow him and take down his recent handy work. Meanwhile Jared lets his feelings for Allison slip when he expresses his concern over Allison's academic integrity. But when all four of them find themselves face to face Sanford and Nikki's integrity come into question. Click here to play episode 2.
  
  
• Cheating On Tests and Exams
  In episode three Jared learns the value of schedules and time-management. If only he had known - he wouldn't now have to be fighting off little conscience hallucinations. Will Jared play the ring leader? Or will he live out his days drooling uncontrollably? Click here to find out (Start episode 3).
  
  
• Forging/Misrepresentation & Unauthorized Group Work
  On a typical Sunday night the ever-studious Sanford and Nikki find themselves quietly studying for an exam. If only they lived in a more Jared-free house their night might have continued that way. Will Jared convince Sanford to help him based on the fact that he's 'almost a doctor?' Will Nikki's loving sarcasm be enough to pull Jared's head out of the clouds? Click here to find out (Start episode 4).
  
  
• Group Work
  Nikki comes home from school stressed out over her group's idea of how they can lighten their workload by splitting their report-writing duties. Can the others manage to convince Nikki that expressing her feelings to her group will solve her problem? Will Jared ever be able to win a game of Jenga against Allison? Click here to find out (Start episode 5).
  
  

Using Information, The Ohio State University Libraries.

• Who Owns Information?
• Fair Use / Good Use
• Citing Net Sources
• Citing Multimedia
• Tips & Tools for Citations

You Quote It, You Note It from Acadia University's Vaughan Memorial Library:
"The 'Acadia Advantage' at Acadia University program provides all full-time students and faculty with a laptop. In an effort to reach more students in this technology-rich learning environment, Acadia librarians embarked on an online tutorial project to teach core research and information literacy skills. The five tutorials planned are designed to be cross-disciplinary in nature and focus on first and second year students; broad enough for campus-wide instruction and flexible enough to allow for subject-specific modification. This first module was chosen to be developed early in the project to respond to the growing concern of academic integrity on campus. The learning objectives of You Quote It, You Note It! are that students discover:

1. Why it's essential to start research early

2. The difference between paraphrasing and quoting and how to do both properly

3. When to cite, what to cite and how to cite

4. Where to get help.

The software used to create the tutorials is Macromedia FlashMX. The module is available freely on the internet and users need only a browser and to download a flash plug-in from macromedia in order to view it." Check out this fun, interactive tutorial which will help you to avoid the pitfalls of plagiarism while researching and writing your term papers. The tutorial takes about 10 minutes.

Assignment Calculator

Need help getting your assignment on track? You can use the University of Minnesota's Assignment Calculator, a tool designed to help you structure and manage your projects by breaking the research process into discrete steps with deadlines. It also provides links to online resources which can assist you in executing each step. Remember, however, that research is often NOT a linear process; allow extra time for topic redirections, Interlibrary Loan arrivals, false starts, backtracking, technical difficulties, etc. Here's how it works...

• Simply enter the date you plan to begin work on your assignment and the date it's due in the spaces provided.
• Select your general subject area from the handy drop down menu.
• Click "How do I get it Done" and that's it!

The calculator returns a painless twelve-step plan to guide you through the process of getting it all finished and submitted on time, complete with links that expand on certain steps, connect you directly to the most relevant library tools or offer links to helpful assistance.

Email Reminders are limited to University of Minnesota students, faculty and staff. Do print out a copy of your plan or copy and paste it into your organizer. If you need help with your assignment, please come to/call the Reference Desk:

• On-campus: X54699
• Off-campus Toll-free Number: 1-877-587-8693. Ask for the Reference Desk.

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