LIBRARY RESEARCH
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When you have a research project, such as a paper or speech or class presentation, you may have to develop your own topic or you may be given a general one. In either case, the sooner you decide on a topic, the quicker you can focus your research and get to actually writing. A specific topic is easier to research because you won't have to plow through huge piles of general information.
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Step 1: Choosing a Topic
On the Oswalt Library website the following listing of resources can be very helpful to you in selecting a topic. Look under A to Z List of Resources and find |
Also, a listing of current “hot” topics can be found on the opening screen of many databases.
Step 2: Developing a Topic
Search this online
Encyclopedias: 
World
Book Online Reference Center.
World Book Advanced now links you from the subject to articles in EBSCO,
e-Books, websites, and primary sources.
Background Information
Write down as much information on your topic as possible. Focus on what you already know about the topic. The more ideas you can put down, the easier it will be to develop the topic.
Step 3: Finding Your Sources
There are many different types of information
– books, magazines, online resources – just to name a few. You probably will
need a combination so look over the categories below and decide where to focus
your energies.
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Hard Facts |
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Opinions and Current Events |
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In-depth Information For projects that require a deeper knowledge of a topic, books and scholarly journals are generally the best sources. They are longer than the sources listed above, and they are usually written by experts. MAGNOLIA - EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier
Finally You need to check out a couple of books on your topic and read the chapters that have in-depth information on your area of concentration. The online catalog provides access to the holdings of all three libraries in the college district. |
RESOURCES - DATABASES
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A number of online databases are provided to Copiah-Lincoln students through the College, MAGNOLIA, and MELO.
NewsBank Academic Library Collection NewsBank contains research information on important contemporary issues and events related to · Social Science Issues and Events · Science and Health Issues and Events · Arts, Literature, Biographical, and Sports Issues and Events
Because the information is gathered from hundreds of primary sources throughout the United States, NewsBank provides regional perspectives on issues to help the user understand opposing viewpoints and draw their own conclusions.
The news articles are both current and retrospective allowing a user to follow an issue over a period of time and to have background information to help understand today's issues.
NewsBank America’s Newspapers Provides access to the electronic editions of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger and the New York Times. The Times includes the Sunday Magazine as well as the Book Review.
Also check out the New York Times – Full-text. Go to the A to Z Listing and scroll down to the New York Times.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center draws on the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference USA sources to provide a complete one-stop source for information on social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
Documents are grouped by data type into the following tabs: Viewpoints, Reference, Statistics, Magazines & Newspapers, Images, Primary Documents, Web Sites, SRC Search. Clicking on the labeled tabs allows you to choose the type of document you wish to see. The results list will display the title of the document and its source. Reference and Primary Documents will display according to their relevancy rankings (how many times the term appears in the article). Magazines & Newspapers will be arranged in reverse chronological order, with the most recent article at the top of the list. You can view the different data type results by clicking on the labeled tab. If the search does not find any results for a specific data type, the tab will be "grayed out" and will not work.
· Pro and Con Online by Congressional Digest
This premium service offers searchable access to the extensive and growing number of articles contained in Congressional Digest, Supreme Court Debates, and International Debates magazines, currently dating from 1998 through the present.
This database is restricted to Wesson Campus Library use. A password is required and may be obtained at the Circulation Desk of the Oswalt Library.
The CQ Researcher is the choice of researchers seeking original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news. Published in print and online 44 times a year, the single-themed CQ Researcher report offers in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each 12,000-word CQ Researcher report is a unique work, investigated and written by a seasoned journalist. It can be read in its entirety or by section, which include a background and chronology; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources. Available in the CQ Electronic Library (CQEL), The CQ Researcher Online offers access to CQ Researcher reports dating back to 1991. PDF files are available for reports from January 1996; for reports published since January 2001, PDF files are also available in color. |
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· SIRS Researcher
SIRS Researcher is a general reference database that contains thousands of full-text articles exploring social, scientific, health, historic, economic, business, political and global issues. Articles are from domestic and international newspapers, magazines, journals and U.S. government publications.
· Issues and Controversies and Science Issues and Controversies
Welcome to Issues & Controversies, the authoritative online source of up-to-date, in-depth and objective information on the most prominent and hotly debated issues of the day.
Issues & Controversies is a reference database that is also a classroom tool and home learning resource. It combines authoritative factual analysis, covering clear explanations of opposing points of view and numerous special features, so students and other users can quickly grasp the essentials of even the most complex topics.
Issues & Controversies presents and enhances the full back file of Issues & Controversies On File, which has probed more than 600 controversial topics in the news since its debut in September 1995. Chronologies, illustrations, maps, tables, sidebars, bibliographies, and contact information augment the balanced, accurate coverage of current and historical events. In addition, Issues & Controversies offers these special features:
· AccessScience
AccessScience provides the finest collection of science reference materials—online and fully searchable. We offer easy accessibility to the information you need to make research easy—with access to all the articles, fully illustrated, from the latest edition of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, Research Updates from the McGraw-Hill Yearbooks, thousands of illustrations, and the latest Science News® headlines, biographies, and more. This online encyclopedia is tailored to researchers and students looking for the most relevant, readable, and trusted sources of information available. We maintain content of the highest standards, and readers may be assured that our authors are the top experts in the field, including a number of Nobel Prize and Fields Medals winners.
· Today’s Science
The latest developments in science, health and medicine, and technology, written for today's students and updated every month. Richly illustrated, students receive a balanced, thorough understanding of the latest developments in the world of science.
ProQuest is a resource of electronic collections containing millions of articles originally published in magazines, newspapers, and journals. You can search these collections for articles on subject that interest you or that will help with your research or school work. ProQuest provides powerful search methods to help you find the articles you're looking for: After you've run a search, the Search Results page appears, listing all the articles that match the search words you entered. You can use the Results List to review the list of articles matching your search. Then, when you've found an article you want to read, click the title (or appropriate format icon) to view articles that interest you using the Article Display page. As you work, you can save articles that interest you along with searches you want to remember to My Research.
Literature Online, a fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 136 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources.
This online resource is replete with full-text and primary content vital to literature and language study.
· Literature Resource Center
Full-text journal articles, literary criticism, reviews, biographical information, and overviews on over 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.
· Oxford African American Studies Center
The Oxford African American Studies Center combines the authority of carefully edited reference works with sophisticated technology to create the most comprehensive collection of scholarship available online to focus on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture.
· Vault Online Career Library
The Vault Online Career Library is a comprehensive career resource encompassing five key content areas: • Downloadable e-books • Insider company information not available anywhere else • Industry research • Career advice articles • Electronic Watercooler™ message boards, with 2.5+ million posting archives
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MAGNOLIA, Mississippi's statewide consortium, is funded by the Mississippi Legislature. MAGNOLIA provides online databases for publicly funded K-12 schools, public libraries, community college libraries, and university libraries in Mississippi.
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LIST OF MAGNOLIA DATABASES AVAILABLE
New MAGNOLIA Databases 2007-2008
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What is
Credo Reference?
Credo Reference is a giant online reference library that provides you with
access to a selection of reference books from a total of 240. Credo Reference
includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, not to
mention a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to
accountancy and literature to law. Find out about the
titles
in Credo Reference.
Wilson Biographies contains the full text of the biographies from more than 100 print volumes of biographical reference books published by H. W. Wilson and other quality reference publishers. Wilson Biographies contains all of the articles from all volumes of Current Biography, the World Author Series, Nobel Prize Winners, World Artists, World Film Directors, American Reformers, and numerous biographical books on musicians and composers from throughout history. The biographies are searchable by name, profession, title, place of origin, gender, race/ethnicity, date of birth, date of death, and keyword.
The online catalog provides library patrons with access to the collections in each of the three Copiah-Lincoln Community College libraries as well as e-books available through NetLibrary. Patrons have access to nearly 80,000 books, 27,000 electronic books, periodicals, and audio-visual materials through the online catalog.
The Search Screen allows for patrons to select any one campus or all campuses as well as words/phrases, author, title, subject, series when searching for an item.
The Search Results screen will provide the patron with an initial listing of all items found during the search. A brief description of the materials found will appear on the listing. For complete details the patron must select “Details.”
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The Full View From Catalog screen provides the user with the complete information on the materials being searched including the URL or web address for books from NetLibrary.
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The material copy/type/location information is found at the very bottom of the full view and is important in locating the materials in each library. It is important that you have the call number for the book in each library. The same book could have different numbers in each library.
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Full-text searching
