FYS- The Meaning of Life- Wells (2015): Locating Information

Databases

The databases are a good place to begin if you already have your topic selected. To access them, look under the "Resources" tab near the bottom left of the library webpage. The first link under "Resources" is "Databases." Once on the databases page, you can browse databases alphabetically or by subject. Alternatively, you can use the Quick Links to link directly to some of our most universally useful and popular databases. For information on which databases are most relevant to your subject, check out our specially tailored Subject Guides. In each of them, you will find a list of the databases the librarians have highlighted as most useful for your class.

• Some great databases for the humanities include: Academic Search Complete (this is what we used in class), JSTOR, and Humanities International Complete. 
• In Academic Search Complete, remember to choose your databases. You can do this with the link located on top of the first search box. This will help ensure that you get the most relevant search results possible. 
• Refer to the tips/tricks outlined under "The Basics" tab in this guide.

Summon

Summon is like Google! It's meant to search everything that the library has access to in full-text. The great thing about it is that it's a one-stop-shop. The not-so-great thing about it is that your results tend to be less relevant than they might be in a database. Use Summon if you're just starting out, you don't mind digging through a lot of results, and you are open to sources in a lot of different formats.

• Make sure to narrow your search using the limiters on the left side of the screen.
• If you are looking for a specific item, put quotes around the title or author's name.

CONSORT

CONSORT is our library catalog. We share a catalog with the other 5 colleges of Ohio. If you need books fast, this is a good place to look. It's a particularly good place to start if you know the title of the book that you need. 

• If you see "WOO" in your search results, that means the item is at our library. Note whether it's available or already checked out. If it's at one of the other 5 colleges, it can take up to 3 days to get here. 
• If you can't find it in CONSORT, that doesn't mean we can't get it! Try OhioLINK and ILLiad next.
• CONSORT is not a good place to look if you're searching for articles.

OhioLINK

OhioLINK searches almost all of the colleges in Ohio. If we don't have it in our own catalog, chances are you can find it here. If you can't find it here, try ILLiad! OhioLINK materials can take a bit longer to arrive than resources housed at the other 5 colleges. 

ILLiad

ILLiad is our interlibrary loan system. This allows us to access materials all over the world. If you can't find it anywhere else, this is where you go. We all created an account in class. Please allow at least two weeks to receive your materials from ILLiad.