A Guide to Finding Library Resources
This guide provides information on the many different library resources available to you, some basic tips on how to do research, and contact information if you need assistance from a librarian. Some of this information is specific to the Mabee Library, Washburn University, but many of the ideas and search strategies presented here apply to most academic libraries. NOTE: Washburn students may search many of the resources listed below from any computer with Internet access. To access restricted resources, you will be prompted to enter your name and WU ID number.
How to Get Help
| Reference desk | 
(785)670-1483 |
refemail@washburn.edu
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| Live chat | 
http://www.kananswer.org |
| Post to our blog | 
http://mabeereference.blogspot.com
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| Maps of the library | http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/banner/maps_location.shtml |
Keyword/Boolean Searching
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Keyword searching
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Allows you to search for the appearance of a term, anywhere in an item record in the library catalog or in the full text of a journal article. | ||
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Boolean searching
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Boolean operators allow you to search for more than one term at a time and specify the relationship between the terms. | ||
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Stopwords
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Short words (in, of, at, for, the) which cannot be used as keywords. Use of stopwords in a keyword search, such as women in sports, may yield no search results. | ||
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Boolean operators
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OR
results will contain either term |
NOT
results will not contain the excluded term |
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baseball AND olympics
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sports OR athletics
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snakes NOT rattlesnakes
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Finding Articles
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Scholarly, Peer-reviewed, Refereed Journal |
Popular Magazine |
Scholarly journals are often key resources for academic assignments. The articles in a scholarly, academic journal are reviewed and evaluated by experts in the field prior to publication. This process assures the reader that the content is reliable and timely. Can't tell the difference? Check out this research guide that will help you identify scholarly journals. In some electronic databases, such as Expanded Academic ASAP, you may limit your search to articles in peer-reviewed journals. |
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What's the difference? |
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Finding articles on a particular topic is a three-step process:
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Step 1
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Select an appropriate electronic database from http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/researchTools/elec_dbs.html . Many of our article databases include the full text, in either HTML or PDF format. Research guides are available for many of the electronic databases at http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/researchTools/guides.html . |
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Step 2
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If the full text isn't available, conduct a "periodical title" search of the library catalog to find out if we subscribe to the journal. Sometimes the Library subscribes to both the print and electronic versions of a journal (see the sample). |
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Step 3
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If the journal is not available from the Mabee Library, request a copy through Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery |
- Print journals are located on the 1st floor (lower level) of the library; they are arranged in alphabetical order by journal title (disregarding a, an, and the at the beginning of the title). Call 670-1483 if you need assistance on the 1st floor.
- Back issues of print journals may also be located on microfiche cards or microfilm reels. These are housed in cabinets on the 1st floor (lower level) at the north end. There is no charge to print from microfiche/microfilm. Call 670-1483 if you need assistance with microfiche or microfilm.
- Electronic journals may be accessed by following
the link provided in the library catalog. Note:
Remote users will be required to enter their name and Washburn ID number.
Call 670-1483 if you have problems with remote access to electronic
journals.
Finding Books
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The Library's Web-based online
catalog is called ATLAS. Access it from the Library's home page at http://www.washburn.edu/mabee |
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Access it directly at http://lib.wuacc.edu |
Need more help? Check out this research guide on how to find books in the Mabee Library.
Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery
If the Mabee Library does not own or have access to a particular book or journal, you may request a copy of the article or the book through Interlibrary Loan; this free service normally takes 7-10 days for books and 2-3 days for journal articles.
Internet Searching
| What's the difference between the Library's electronic databases and Internet sites reached by using Yahoo or Google? Check out this research guide for the answer. To find more scholarly content on the Internet, try these Internet search tools: | |
| Google Scholar | Google Scholar, in beta testing, provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. |
| INFOMINE | INFOMINE is a virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level. It contains useful Internet resources such as databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers, and many other types of information. |
| Windows Live Academic Search | Windows Live Academic is now in beta. It currently indexes content related to computer science, physics, electrical engineering, and related subject areas. Academic Search enables you to search for peer reviewed journal articles contained in journal publisher portals and on the web in locations like Citeseer. |
Citing Your Sources
Style manuals provide the necessary information for documentation and style in writing research papers and reports. Check out the research guides on the different styles if you need help citing your sources.
http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/crc/courses/en101/weed.html
April 2006