Tutorials and Handouts

Research Help Appointments

Need help with your research? A reference librarian is like a tutor for finding and citing information. Schedule an appointment to get uninterrupted individual time with a librarian.

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½

Searching & source help

Learn to use the library

  • : This 5:25 video provides an overview of the library website and highlights some of the Library’s most popular resources and services.
  • This 2:17 video shows how to use Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library’s search to find books and other items at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library.
  • This 4:04 video shows how to request a book or other item from another library or another campus through Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library.
  • This 1:53 video shows how to find items on reserve for your course through Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library.
  • This 4:19 video describes what library databases are, why you might want to use one, and how to choose the right ones for your project. It also shows you how to use the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library Articles and Databases page to find databases to use for your project.
  • : This 5:47 video demonstrates how to find articles using the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library article search on the front page of the Library website.

Research process

  • : In this 5:12 video, you’ll learn how to turn something you find interesting into a researchable question for a college research project.
  • This 4:19 video describes what library databases are, why you might want to use one, and how to choose the right ones for your project. It also shows you how to use the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library Articles and Databases page to find databases to use for your project.
  • : This 7:32 video will help you find and cite quality sources using Google Scholar and to connect Google Scholar to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library so you can access full-text articles available through Ä¢¹½´«Ã½.

Evaluating sources

  • : In this 7:39 video, three Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ students talk about how they consider, evaluate and use sources for their own research assignments.
  • : Library databases are great places to find published articles, but the results pages can be confusing. This 5:12 video will give you some tips to help you find useful results.
  • : This 5:28 video discusses three questions you should ask in of any source you find in your research.
  • : On the web, it can be difficult to tell what type of source you’re looking at and whether or not it’s something that would provide quality evidence for your assignment. This 4:30 video will help you look more critically at your own search results.
  • : This 3:39 video describes how poor journalistic practices can perpetuate misinformation and highlights the importance of skepticism and verifying information by finding the original source.

Citation help

Database help

  • How to use Alt-Press Watch, Ethnic NewsWatch, & GenderWatch (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to use the following three databases: Alt-Press Watch (full-text articles from alternative and independent presses); Ethnic NewsWatch (articles from ethnic and minority presses); and GenderWatch (focus in the impact of gender in many subject areas).
  • How to search Credo Reference (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to use Credo Reference, which provides online versions of 800 published reference works, including general and specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias. It is a great place to begin your research, get some facts about your topic, then jump to another Library database to find published journal or magazine articles.
  • How to use EBSCOhost (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to find published newspaper, magazine and scholarly journal articles on a range of topics in EBSCOhost databases.
  • How to search Gale eBooks (formerly GVRL) (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to use Gale eBooks (formerly GVRL), which helps you get the background information you need to do a well-informed research project. It offers students, researchers, and professionals a wide variety of full-text interdisciplinary content on virtually any subject area to tackle their assignments, papers, projects, and presentations.
  • How to use Google Scholar (Webpage): This tutorial explains how: to set preferences to get full-text access while using Google Scholar; save articles to your Google account; obtain full-text articles through the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ library through Google Scholar; and what to do if you are unable to get full text of an article through Google Scholar.
  • How to search JSTOR (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to use JSTOR, a large collection of scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles strongest in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
  • How to use Opposing Viewpoints (Gale in Context) (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to use Opposing Viewpoints, which provides opinion essays on current issues, news and magazine articles, court case overviews, and more.
  • : This 5:47 video demonstrates how to find articles using the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library article search on the front page of the Library website.
  • This 4:30 video will teach you how to use PsycINFO, the premier database for scholarly psychology articles.
  • How to use PsycINFO (Webpage): This tutorial explains how to use the PsycINFO database, which has peer-reviewed articles from scholarly journals, book chapters, and dissertations in psychology, behavioral science and mental health.
  • How to use Science Direct (Webpage): This PDF tutorial explains how to use Science Direct, which provides full text articles for peer-reviewed life sciences, Health Science, physical sciences, and engineering journals with citation information for thousands more.

En Español

  • : Aprenda a usar el buscador de la Biblioteca del Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ para encontrar libros y otros materiales en la Biblioteca del Ä¢¹½´«Ã½. English version: “How to search for books at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library”.
  • : Las bases de datos de la biblioteca son excelentes lugares para encontrar artículos publicados, pero las páginas de resultados pueden ser confusas, por lo que este video le ayudarán a encontrar resultados útiles. English version: “Reading a Search Results Page from a Library Database”
  • Este video muestra cómo solicitar un libro u otro material de otra biblioteca u otro campus a través de la biblioteca de Ä¢¹½´«Ã½. English version: “How to request a book from another library through Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library”
  • En este video aprenderá a convertir algo que le interese en una pregunta investigable para un proyecto de investigación universitaria. English version: “Turning an Interest into a Researchable Question”
  • : Aprenda a encontrar materiales en reserva para su curso a través de la Biblioteca del Ä¢¹½´«Ã½. English version: “How to find Course Reserves through Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library”
  • : Tres preguntas que debe hacer sobre cualquier fuente que encuentre en su investigación. English version: “Evaluating Sources to Find Quality Research”
  • : Esta es una introducción a los servicios que la Biblioteca Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ puede proporcionar a través de su sitio web. English version: “Introduction to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library website”
  • : Cómo encontrar artículos utilizando la búsqueda de artículos de la Biblioteca Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ en la página principal del sitio web de la Biblioteca. English version: “Finding articles through the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Library”
  • : Este video describe qué son las bases de datos de la biblioteca, por qué podría querer usarlas y cómo elegir las adecuadas para su proyecto. También le muestra cómo utilizar la Página de Artículos y Bases de Datos de la Biblioteca del Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ para encontrar bases de datos para su proyecto. English version: “What are library databases?”