For assistance, contact: E. Carol Dales
cdales@csudh.edu or (310) 243-2088

 

Go to: Books | Journal Articles | Electronic Books |Thesaurus | Find a Specific Article | | Interlibrary Loan | Internet | Citing articles | Summary of searching |JSTOR Tips |

 

 

Begin your research with the resources below or, if you are an experienced     researcher,  on the CSUDH Library home page (http://library.csudh.edu/) If you plan to borrow books from the CSUDH LIbrary, take a close look at the     regulations on the Circulation /Borrowing Books page.      Note that to borrow books you will need both:        your CSUDH picture ID with proof of current registration        and        one other photo ID (such as drivers licence). Return to top

Books   Use the Library's ToroFind catalog to search for books by author, title or subject. Ebrary is a growing collection of electronic books on a variety of topics geared to     academic libraries and college students. Use the link to access this database.     Note: Ebrary books are not yet listed in the ToroFind Catalog, so you must use     electronic databases to locate them.  If you are unable to locate a book in the CSUDH catalog or ebooks, try these links: Link+ allows you to search for and request a book using a union catalog of over 45 participating libraries in California and Nevada. If a book is found and available, this is the fastest method of having a book sent to the CSUDH Library for pick-up (three to five working days). ToroFind has an "All CSU's Catalog" button for books available in the 23 libraries of the California State University. Search for the book and click on this button. Highlight a library name and click on the "Request This Item" button (not as fast as LINK+; usually takes a week or more) Interlibrary Loan a book using an online request form. You fill out and submit the form, and the Interlibrary Loan Department will search for the book. Since we may have to request books from libraries in other states, this is often the slowest method of obtaining a book from another library. Southern California Libraries (includes links to academic, public and special libraries) Library of Congress Online Catalog LIBWEB (includes links to libraries in over 125 countries)     Did you know that CSUDH students may also visit and borrow books from     all other CSU libraries? Return to top

Journal Articles  To find journal articles when you don't already have a specific citation or reference     to an article, try one of the article indexes (you'll also hear us call them     periodical indexes or databases).  Two things you need to use CSUDH databases off campus:  1. You must already be registered as a CSUDH Library user. This should happen     automatically when you register for classes, but please let us know if you think     you may not yet be registered as a Library user. 2. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader software (v. 7.0 or later) installed.       Many articles are available only in .pdf (portable document format) format,       and you absolutely must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to read and/or print them.       Get Adobe Acrobat Reader free at       http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html   Click on a link below to access the database of your choice or, see     all available CSUDH Library databases use our complete list of     Journal Article Indexes .  If you need help logging in to CSUDH databases, click here .  For a review of how to use the databases to find journal articles,     click here.  To limit your results to peer reviewed articles, look for the words     "scholarly" and/or "peer reviewed" and place a check in the box     beside these words.  To find out whether a specific journal observes the peer review process,     check its title in Ulrich's Periodical Directory Online. Academic Search Premier: multi-disciplinary database with full text for more than 4,650 publications, many of which are peer-reviewed journals; often used as a starting point since it covers a wide range of subject areas. Historical Abstracts provides a complete bibliographic reference to the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Humanities Full Text indexes scholarly journals in the humanities and covers a wide range of humanities topics;provides full-text articles for selected journal titles. JSTOR contains full text for long back runs of scholarly journals in fields of history, archaeology, architecture, art, classical studies and more. MLA International Bibliography indexes articles related to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore; some full text articles, but most records for articles will have a button to use to check whether other databases or CSUDH print and microfilm resources contin the full text. Project Muse provides full-text of scholarly journal articles in the humanities and arts (avoid clicking the "Include articles from JSTOR back issues" box until you have contacted a librarian). Return to top

Electronic Books Check the Electronic Books page for links to ebrary (scholarly books) as well as netLibrary (more scholarly books), Gale reference books and more! e.g: try a search of the subject "Cities and towns ancient" in ebrary to find several books on the topic. Return to top

Thesaurus ( locates correct subject headings to use in your search)              Locate a Thesaurus button or link on the screen (it may be called "Subject Headings" or "Subject Index", depending on the database you are using.) Type a word or phrase for which you would like to identify a subject heading into the appropriate box. Sometimes you can click on the suggested search term to see a note that defines the term as it is used in the database, as well as a list of narrower, broader and related terms. Either copy down useful subject headings or cut and paste them into the search screen where you are working. Note: JSTOR does not have a thesaurus, subject guide or comparable tools; Project Muse articles have subject headings but no tool to access Return to top

Finding a Specific Journal Title If you already have a reference or citation to a specific journal article (e.g.: from an assigned reading list in your class syllabus, or from a list of references at the end of a book chapter or article), find out if the Library subscribes to the journal you need or owns the back issue you need by using the CSUDH Journals List. This list includes both print and online journals (the CSUDH Library subscribes to over 25,000 journals online). For more detailed help finding a known article, visit the Find a Specific Article tutorial. Return to top

 

Interlibrary Loan      If the CSUDH Library does NOT own in any form a specific journal, magazine    or book that you need:       - use the online ILL form at http://library.csudh.edu/ill.htm  to submit an electronic request.                A print or electronic copy of that book or article will be obtained from another                library, but may take as long as 7 to 14 days or more to arrive.               OR    - go to the Library Online Catalogs and Information page at            http://library.csudh.edu/cyberlib/libraries.htm to look for holdings at other academic           libraries you can visit in person (such as other CSU libraries).            Return to top

The Internet Google is still an outstanding search engine, but unless you know what you're doing, it will lead you to a bewildering hodgepodge of web pages on most topics you search. Three tips: Try Google's Advanced Search page to refine your search. Try limiting to domain .edu to get more scholarly results. When doing projects and research papers, remember to evaluate the quality and reliability of information on any web pages you use . For evaluation criteria, try Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages (Cornell University Library) and Evaluating Information on the Web (Pasadena City College Library). Google Scholar lets you search some scholarly literature, including many peer reviewed articles,  but you may not be able to freely access the full text of the article. To locate scholarly literature, the Library databases listed above are a better option. Reliable Websites to help you get started : Internet Ancient History Sourcebook Perseus Digital Library Primary Sources (UC Berkeley Library) Voice of the Shuttle History Websites World Wide Web Sites Relating to the Ancient Mediterranean Return to top

Citing Your Sources When writing a paper or completing a project for a class, you will be asked to provide a bibliography of the materials that you used. Check a print or online citation guide in advance so you'll know what information about each information source to record before you begin your research. The CSUDH Library Citation Guide shows you how to cite books, articles, and web resources in a variety of citation formats, including MLA. MLA Formatting and Style Guide, created and maintained by Purdue University, is a complete and authoritative guide to MLA format. Have you ever had to ask yourself "Where on earth did I find this??" It is much more difficult (sometimes impossible!) to retrace your steps than to use note cards or software as you are working to keep track of sources of information you use. Return to top

Summary of Searching (applies to most databases) Enter your search terms. Focus your search by choosing a Field Code from the All Fields drop-list on each line you use.  e.g.: to search for the subject "rape", enter it in the Find field, and select SU-Subject. Enter additional search terms in the optional search fields. Use the * (truncation symbol) and the? (wild card) symbol as required. Connect multiple search terms with connector words (AND, OR, NOT) to create a very broad or a very narrow search. Tip: Put all OR search terms that belong together       (e.g. urban OR city or OR town OR village) into the same Find box on one line.                 Select other appropriate search limiters and "broadeners" (usually provided with check boxes just below boxes where you enter your search terms). Return to top

 

Tips for searching in JSTOR : - use Advanced Search (not Basic or Expert Search). - if you want only journal articles, click beside "Journal Articles" (below "Narrow your   search to...") to eliminate reviews and opinion pieces. - unless you want to search journals from all disciplines, remember to select from   These Discipline(s) and / or Journal(s) to Search before you click Search . - default search is full text; JSTOR has no subject headings or thesaurus,   but you can limit to Abstract, Title, Caption or Author to refine your results   Warning: most articles don't have abstracts, so use this limit with care! - Truncation: search for the singular and plural forms of a word by placing &   (the ampersand on your keyboard, made by typing Shift 7) at the end of the   singular form of the word. - Proximity Operators: find terms within a specific number of words of each other   using double quotes around the two words followed immediately by tilde ( ~ ) as   a proximity operator and a numeral.   For example, to search for an item with the words Alexandria and ancient within ten   words of each other: e.g.: "Alexandria ancient "~10 .   Use this tip to achieve more precise results when searching the full text of   long articles. - Relevance of Terms: increase the importance of any term in your search by using   the caret symbol ( ^ made by typing Shift 6) followed by a number ("the boost factor").   e.g: the query: women^10 men gives instances of the word women in a document   ten times more weight than the word men (this tip is also helpful when searching   the full text of long articles). - all articles are in .pdf format and require that a recent version of Adobe Acrobat   Reader be installed on your computer   (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) - use the Print /Save icons on top toolbar of Adobe Acrobat Reader, closest to the   article full text (using Browser File /Save /Print menu commands produces flawed   copies) - Citing JSTOR articles: the citation is on the cover page of every article you print;   follow MLA guidelines . - Click TIPS in the red toolbar across the top of the JSTOR screen for more   useful hints. Back to Top

Last updated 10/03/07 by

E. Carol Dales
Library Distance Learning Instruction & Services Coordinator
California State University, Dominguez Hills
(310) 243-2088