English 1A-Nancy Harray
Scholarly Sources: Academic Search Premier
Stephanie Tetter
Electronic Resources & Instruction Librarian
These Slides are available online!
http://www.mpcfaculty.net/stephanie_tetter
Click on Classes/Instruction
Look for
ENGL 1A Harray
Library Hours:
 Monday – Thursday
 Friday
 Sunday
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
(not on holiday weekends)
Library Cards: why do you need them?
•To log into computers at the library
•To check out books and materials from
the library
•To access databases from
any computer off campus
Let’s look at doing research
for an academic paper…
How do you Find Information
in the Library & Technology Center?
•
What types of information do you need?
• If you need Background information:

Use Books (print & electronic)
• If you need Brief information or definitions:

Use Reference sources (print & electronic)
• If you need Current information, use:
Periodicals
 World Wide Web

• When you write a Research Paper, you will use
all of these resources.
Focus When Doing Searching:
 Brainstorm a list of keywords for your topic:
• Example Topic: Medical Marijuana
Think of BROAD and NARROW keywords:
NARROW
BROAD
 marijuana AND “medicinal
 Marijuana
purposes”
 Insanity
“Therapeutic use” . . .
 Use Alternate words for the same general topic:
 marijuana OR cannabis OR pot
Medical OR medicinal OR “therapeutic use”
OR “Proposition 215” OR NORML…
Afghanistan AND Mujahedin AND “Soviet Union”
Sunni OR Shi’ite AND Afghanistan
Pashtun OR Hazara AND Afghanistan
Once you have some keywords, and
you’re ready to find information…
where do you begin?
Ask your friends?
Ask your instructor?
Watch TV and hope
“60 Minutes” or
“Dateline” will cover
your topic?
Google it? Search a
database?
Most people go
right to the
Internet/Web
Let’s Look at Some Websites:
Dihydrogen Monoxide
RYT Hospital-DeWayne Medical Center
Martin Luther King
As a Researcher, You Need to
Critically Evaluate
All Websites !!
What about wikipedia??
From the blog
Use it with caution, not as your
sole source, and THINK about
what you read!
So, what about wikipedia??
????????????????
 If you can’t just rely on the web, how can
you use the Internet for research and know
that what you are looking at is reliable /
true / authoritative??
 MPC pays a license fee for REFERENCE
DATABASES, including some that are
excellent for an assignment such as topics
appropriate for a research paper.
 Let’s look briefly at these!
Let’s look at doing online research
Using the REFERENCE SERVICE
“EBSCOHost”
 EBSCOHost at MPC is a collection of 22
different databases including full-text
databases and popular databases from
leading information providers.
 The databases include Academic Search
Premier, in addition to MasterFILE Premier,
which you may have used at a public school
or public library.
How do we
access the
databases?
If you are off campus you will be asked to enter
a valid library card number
“General” – a good place to begin!
Enter search terms
Without limiters: 704
With limiters: 14
How Do You Know If it’s “SCHOLARLY?”
Good Databases:
•
•
•
•
•
CQ Researcher
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Issues & Controversies
Newsbank (for local information)
Let’s look at examples!
Let’s Do
an Exercise!
What About Finding a Book ?
Under “Books & More” click on
“Online Catalog”
Select “Local Catalog”
Search by keyword, author, title…
• MPC has many thousands of books available online
• The collections include up-to-date material on
general subjects and technical topics (we would not
be able to afford to keep these current in print
format)
• You can access the books using the Web from
anywhere
• It’s free!
A search for “Afghanistan” gives us
this…one might be useful!
You may need to
create a free
account
If MPC doesn’t have anything,
you can search other libraries
by going to
“Links to Other Libraries”
For example…
This book is at
MIIS, and we can
request it for you
by “ILL” or
Interlibrary Loan
Let’s do another exercise!
• Navigate to the
library catalog.
• Search for a
book.
• Create an ebook login if
you wish.
• Search other
libraries if you
wish.
If you have any questions
please ask a librarian!!
Thank You!