Tips for better catalog searches

• Remember that the catalogs are NOT Google. Do not type a question and copy/paste your entire thesis statement into the search box.
• You are searching for books, names of journals, names of databases, and titles of other media. You cannot search for full-text journal articles in the catalog.
• Focus on Keywords, Author Names (last name, first name), subject headings, and Book Titles. Use item records to find subject headings and link to other materials.
• Give yourself time if you need a physical book. The libraries are closed, and you must request all items for pick-up. This will take at least one business day if not longer.
• You cannot request ebooks via MOBIUS. If you find an ebook that would fit our collections, email Lauren Todd for possible purchase.

Tips for Better Databases Search Results

• Choose your databases carefully. There isn't a great tool to search across the databases, so you need to select the best database for your subject and topic. Use the A to Z list, or consider the databases and descriptions listed below.
• Start with popular sources to understand the subject and also gather keywords and researcher names.
• Focus on keywords. Try variations, use Boolean operators. If completely lost, start in Academic Search Complete, which offers keyword suggestions. Also, consider the keywords from the class Google Sheet.
• Author Search. Consider Scopus and its Author Search to find curated profiles, citation information, and links to journal articles.
• Use interlibrary loan. The Libraries can email you full-text articles of journal outside of our subscriptions or digitize articles from our physical Collections. (COVID Note: Give yourself extra time.)

Scholarship as a Conversation

Scholarship is like a conversation where ideas are created, debated, and weighed against one another over time. Information users and creators come together to discuss meaning, with the effective researcher adding his or her voice to the conversation.

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities:

• recognize they are often entering into an ongoing scholarly conversation and not a finished conversation;
• seek out conversations taking place in their research area;
• see themselves as contributors to scholarship rather than only consumers of it;
• recognize that scholarly conversations take place in various venues;
• suspend judgment on the value of a particular piece of scholarship until the larger context for the scholarly conversation is better understood; 
• understand the responsibility that comes with entering the conversation through participatory channels;
• value user-generated content and evaluate contributions made by others;
• recognize that systems privilege authorities and that not having a fluency in the language and process of a discipline disempowers their ability to participate and engage.

From the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy