Introduction to Undergraduate Course Research Guides (CRGs)
What are Course Research Guides?
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A librarian and/or faculty created portal to high quality research information.
Helps you find resources you need to write course projects and CRAs but didn’t know
existed.
Contains an online chat feature that allows you to reach out to a librarian for help while
doing your research.
Contact a professor or librarian by e-mail.
Mobile and Smartphone friendly.
Accessing the Course Research Guides.
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On your Web browser go to http://library.globaluniversity.edu or from the Global
University Web site homepage click on the LIBRARY link.
Open the Course Research Guides link under RESEARCH TOOLS.
You will see...
Open the “Undergraduate Course Research Guides” link.
You will see…
To open the CRG for your course, scroll down the center column (2) and click on the Course
Title.
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For example, if you click on BIB1043 The Gospel of John, you will see the homepage of the
CRG...
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Column 1 displays a brief profile of the Professor of Record (PoR) (or a subject specialist) for
the course, including contact information and an e-mail link.
Column 2 includes a welcome message, a link for submitting suggested resources, and a
very short survey about your course satisfaction.
Column 3 provides you with several ways to contact a librarian—live chat (instant
messaging), e-mail, telephone, or even postal mail.
Contacting the PoR (or subject specialist) – Column 1
Contact the PoR for questions related to course assignments, i.e., project and/or CRA/CWA
writing assignments; course content in the IST or CRA textbook; and other general questions
related to the course. (You may also contact the PoR through
[email protected]).
Contacting the Librarian – Column 3
Contact the Librarian for help with finding and accessing Library resources or navigating the
CRG.
Suggest a Resource – Column 2
If you have discovered a quality online academic resource that relates to the course project,
CRA, or CWA you can submit it for review and possible inclusion in the CRG.
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In the Suggest a Resource box, click “Submit”.
Enter your name, e-mail address, title of the online resource, URL of the resource, and a
short description (optional).
Click “Submit”.
Accessing Online Resources for Your Course
The resources for your course are categorized according to types of information resources, for
example: Reference Resources, Databases, Books, eBooks, Journal Articles, Theses &
Dissertations, Web Articles, Websites, Videos, Journals, and Professional Organizations. Your
CRG may or may not include all of these types. These page tabs look similar to this...
What is the distinction between these types of resources?
General Reference—resources consulted for specific information rather than read as a whole.
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These include different types of publications—dictionaries/thesauruses, encyclopedias (both general
and subject), directories (a local telephone book is an example of a directory), handbooks, almanacs,
biographical resources, geographical resources (maps, atlases, etc.), and government documents.
In the field of Biblical studies reference resources include a wide range of Bible study tools—various
Bible versions and types (topical, parallel, Hebrew, Greek, etc.), commentaries, Bible dictionaries,
Bible encyclopedias, Bible atlases, and concordances.
You might consult reference resources when you need a general overview of a topic or a quick
answer to a question.
A good rule of thumb is to use reference resources only as a starting point for your research. Do not
rely solely on these types of resources for your information.
Database—a catalog or index of information organized to provide efficient retrieval.
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Most databases today are in digital (electronic) format, but can be print, such as a paper index.
An Excel spreadsheet is an example of a simple database, but most databases are much more
powerful than a simple spreadsheet in the way you are able to manipulate data.
Library databases are searchable.
When you are searching a database, you are not searching the “Web.” (Although many “free”
databases are part of the Web.)
EBSCO Academic Search Elite and ATLA (American Theological Library Association) Religion, two
databases that the Global University Library subscribes to, are examples of databases.
Books—in-depth and broad examination of a topic.
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More complete information, fuller conclusions.
Deeper analysis.
Broader historical perspective.
Longer lag time between an event and a book’s publication.
100 to several hundred pages.
Published once, but revised editions may come out years later.
eBooks—same as books, only in electronic format.
Journal Articles—very specific topics or narrow fields of research.
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May be in-depth but only on a specific topic.
Information is current but may be incomplete.
Limited coverage without much historical overview or context.
Shorter in length, generally from a few pages to no more than 30 pages.
Published on a regular basis, typically in volumes.
Theses & Dissertations—lengthy papers submitted for an academic degree presenting the
author’s research.
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A thesis is generally a part of a bachelor’s or master’s course.
A dissertation is generally applied to a doctoral degree.
Web Articles—any article found by searching the World Wide Web.
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Most information on the Web does not go through a review process.
Anyone can publish information on the Web whether credible or not.
Web Sites—a set of related Web pages that give information about organizations.
Videos—links to YouTube and other videos.
Selected Journals—links to searchable journals that focus on the subject of your course.
Selected Professional Organizations—links to Web sites of professional organizations that
focus on the subject of your course.
Information about Plagiarism—links to articles about plagiarism. It would be beneficial to you
to read these.
Information Skills—a series of interactive Web pages and other links with instruction about
information literacy (or library skills). It is strongly recommended that you review this page.
Writing Helps—links to the GU Form & Style Guide, project and CRA templates and other
citation helps.
Tutorials—instruction in how to search CREDO Reference, EBSCO Journal Databases, and more.
For more information on the types of sources available to you and how to select the best one for your
research see the tutorial titled types of information sources under the Information Skills page tab.
Exploring Information Pages In-Depth
Click on each upper level page tab, for example, General Reference to open that page. Each
resource type page looks similar to the example shown below.
Each page contains links to pre-selected resources that are project and CRA specific (1), search
box(es) for databases of that type of resource, (2), a list of LCSH search terms and keywords (3),
and a live chat feature (4).
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
When a new source is entered into a database, the topics covered in that source are described
using SUBJECT HEADINGS. Each database has its own language or vocabulary, sometimes called
controlled vocabulary. A very common controlled vocabulary is the Library of Congress Subject
Headings (LCSH).
Using LCSH to search for additional sources will help you find more relevant results. This is
especially true in databases such as EBSCOhost (Journal Articles) and WorldCat.org (Books),
although you can use LCSH in any database—proprietary or Web-based (e.g., Google Books).
• Be sure to choose the SUBJECT terms field from “field selection” box drop-down list.
• Enter the suggested SUBJECT terms exactly as you see them.
• Try combining SUBJECT terms or SUBJECT terms and keywords with a Boolean search, e.g.
BIBLE. John [AND] belief. (You can also search by KEYWORD alone).