Skyline College Library

Research Assistant

Research Databases Finding Info on the Web Evaluating Sources Citing Sources TO FIND BOOKS: PLS Online Catalog TO FIND MAGAZINE OR  JOURNAL ARTICLES: Gale PowerSearch Academic OneFile Student Resource Center Informe (en español) Links to Magazine Websites TO FIND  NEWSPAPER ARTICLES: Gale Full Text Newspapers Lexis-Nexis Academic SF Chronicle Archives Links to Newspaper Websites TO FIND BOOKS IN OTHER LIBRARIES: InvestiGator (SFSU) LC Subject Headings Libweb TO FIND GOVERNMENT STATISTICS: U.S. Census Stat-USA San Mateo County Stats TO FIND COLLEGE CATALOGS: College Source Online

Follow the suggestions below for help in finding the right information for your class assignments, for research projects or for any personal interest. Click on the highlighted links for more help finding each type of information. NEW! Click here for an automatic research paper planner that helps you in all the steps you will need to do to complete your assignment! BASIC STEPS IN RESEARCHING ANY TOPIC FINDING SPECIFIC TYPES OF INFORMATION FINDING INFORMATION BY SUBJECT AREA HOW TO WRITE A PAPER IN SCIENTIFIC STYLE BASIC STEPS IN RESEARCHING ANY TOPIC If you're beginning a research project, you should follow these basic steps: Select a topic. Click here for help in selecting a topic. Develop a research question. Click here for help in developing a research question. Plan a search strategy. Click here for help in planning a search strategy. After you have accessed information on your topic, you should: Evaluate your sources. Click here for help in evaluating sources. Cite your sources. Click her for help citing your sources. FINDING SPECIFIC TYPES OF INFORMATION Click on the type of information you need: Background Info (Encyclopedias/Reference Books) Broader Info (Books) Current/Specific Info (Magazines/Journals/Newspapers) Information on Literature Biographical Information Primary Sources Information on the World Wide Web * To find background or introductory information on a subject: try general encyclopedias or reference books in your subject area. For general online encyclopedias, click here. For lists of reference books on different subjects, click here. * To find broader or more extensive information on a subject, use books. To find books in Skyline library, CSM or Canada College libraries or any San Mateo County public libraries, use the PLS WebPAC. Click here to use the PLS Online Catalog. Books at Skyline College Library are organized by call numbers based on the Library of Congress (LC) classification system. You can take a tutorial on how LC call numbers are arranged by going to computer Table A in the library and selecting the LC Easy program. If you at Table A in the library now, you can click here to start the LC Easy program. (From the File Download dialog box, select "Run this program from its current location" and then click OK to begin the tutorial.) * To find relatively current and specific information, use: magazines, journals or newspapers (commonly referred to in libraries as periodicals). To find articles in magazines, journals or newspapers: First, select one or more of the periodical databases available through the library or on the World Wide Web. Click here to select a magazine, journal or newspaper database through the library or on the Web. Next, carry out a search in the selected database(s) based on your research question and search strategy. If you need to find research studies from scholarly journals, click here for tips on how to identify these types of articles. If the full-text of articles you find are available from the database(s), download them or print them out. If the full-text of articles you find are not available from the database(s): Check the Skyline Library Periodicals List Search the Melvyl Periodicals database to see what libraries in the Bay Area carry the periodical(s) containing your article(s). * To find information about literature, start with the Gale Literature Resource Center. Click here to use the Gale Literature Resource Center. * To find biographical information about famous people, start with the Wilson Biographies database. Click here to use the Gale Biographies database * To find information on the World Wide Web, use an appropriate Web search tool (such as subject directories, search engines or databases.) Click here for help in choosing the appropriate Web tools and how to use them. FINDING INFORMATION BY SUBJECT AREA Administration of Justice Anthropology/Archaeology Biology Capital Punishment Civil Rights Movement Company Information Early Childhood Education Educational Policy Issues Election Issues Environmental Issues History International Relations Media News Controversies Nutrition Psychology Small Business Management Social Issues State & Federal Government

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last revised: 1-22-04 by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA These materials may be used for educational purposes. All commercial rights are reserved. To contact the author, email: Eric Brenner at brenner@smccd.edu