To do effective research, become aquainted with the resources and services of the Learning Resources.
Reference Circulation Desk Organization of Materials Current Periodicals Children's Library Information Concourse Collaborative Study Rooms Other LRC Resources
A research project is one of the most important (if not the most important) assignment for anyone---a student, a professional or any individual. For the student especially, the research assignment is an opportunity to develop research skills that can last a lifetime and to learn more about the research topic. But the research must be done correctly!
Hints for Effective Research LRC Homepage
HINTS FOR EFFECTIVE RESEARCH
Start your research early. In fact, start the same day you get your assignment, follow the first two steps listed below! Be sure you understand the requirements of your assignment. Ask your instructor for clarification, if necessary.
Throughout the research process, keep a written record of all your work, including the searches you do, the information you find and the bibliographic information of all potential sources. This will save you time. It eliminates the need to re-trace your steps to fill in incomplete information.
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- Decide on a research topic.
- Plan your research.
- Find books.
- Locate periodical articles.
- World Wide Web.
- Evaluate your sources.
- Provide documentation.
- Write (re-write again & again) your paper.
The LRC Homepage
The Palo Alto College Resources Center Homepage provides many resources essential for research projects.
Some useful resources on the Library Homepage include:
To see the Library homepage, click here, then click the BACK BUTTON.
- Online Catalog
- lists books, periodical titles, and videorecordings in the ACCD libraries. The PAC catalog is the default when you access the catalog on campus. If you access the default is the combine catalog, i.e., Palo Alto College (PAC); San Antonio College (SAC); St. Philips College (SPC); Southwest Campus (SWC); and, Northwest Vista College (NVC). You are free the set the college for the college you wish to search. For instruction on how to search in the catalog, click here and then click the BACK BUTTON.
- Web Subject Index
- The Web Subject Index includes subscription databases and an extensive list of web sites on many subjects. Many faculty have created and/or recommended many of the included sites.
- Web Search Engines
- This link includes useful information about search engines and subject directories.
- Research Tools
- Research Tools provide access to electronic databases. You can find many full text journal, magazine, and newspaper articles in many databases. On campus, the databases may be accessed using the link "Databases By Title" if you know the title of the database you wish to research, or by using the link "Databases By Topic". But off campus, use the link "Off-Campus Database Access."
- Interlibrary Loan
- If a PAC student, faculty, or staff needs a book or periodical article not available at this library, that person may submit a request online using the Interlibrary Loan link. A request may also be placed with a librarian who will submit it to the Interlibrary Loan department of the library.
- LRC/Library Information
- This link provides lots of general information about the library, including the library hours, links to other library catalogs in the San Antonio area (this link is also available directly from the LRC homepage), the floor plans of the library, information about the Information Research Certificate Program, and more.
Instruction on the Online Catalog
Open another Microsoft Explorer Window on your desktop and access the online catalog in that window. The URL for the online catalog is http://library.accd.edu.
Do the following exercises on the catalog.Do an AUTHOR search retrieve books by Peter Drucker:
Select AUTHOR from the catalog menu.
Type the last name first, space, and then 2 or 3 letters of the first name, such as, drucker pe
Press ENTER or click Submit Search
Notice that the complete author's name (and date of birth) appears directly above the titles. (The titles are all in blue and underlined.)
Click on one of the titles.
The complete record for that title appears on the screen.
Note the book's CALL # and its STATUS. (Of course if the record is for an electronic book, rather than a printed book, the information will differ.)Now we will do a TITLE search to find the book The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Either click the START OVER button at the top and select TITLE, or delete the current search at the top of the screen and then click the down arrow next to AUTHOR to select TITLE.
Type hound of the bas (Note that you do not need to type the articles a, an,and the at the beginning of the title and that the title may be shortened, or truncated.)
Press ENTER or click Submit Search.
When the list of titles comes up on the screen, click on any title to bring up the complete record for that title.A SUBJECT Search will result in books about topics, such as, time management.
Either click the START OVER button at the top and select SUBJECT, or delete the current search at the top of the screen and then click the down arrow next to TITLE to select SUBJECT.
Type time management
Press ENTER or click Submit Search.
The screen lists the subjects beginning with the words time management. The numbers to the right of each subject indicates the number of records that have been assigned that subject.
Browse through the subjects.
Click on the subject time management to bring up the titles about dealing with that subject.
Browse through the titles and click on any title to access the complete record including the call number.NOTE: Consult with a librarian or use the book Library of Congress Subject Headings located at the Reference Desk if you need assistance with subject heading searches.
Also, be aware that when you bring up the complete record of a title, any subject headings assigned to that title are listed at the bottom of the record. Clicking on these subjects will retrieve all records with the same subject.
A KEYWORD search for water pollution will retrieve all the records with that search term.
Either click the START OVER button at the top and select KEYWORD, or delete the current search at the top of the screen and then click the down arrow next to SUBJECT to select KEYWORD.Please send comments to: Irma Sanchez
Type water pollution
Press ENTER or click Submit Search.
The screen lists all the titles of records with the term water pollution somewhere within the record.
Click on any title for the complete record.A well-constructed keyword search can be very effective. The system will not recognize mis-spelled words but the words can be truncated (shortened) if the appropriate symbol is used and the terms can be combined. For more information on how this is done, click here and then click the BACK button.
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