This document provides an overview of research resources and processes available through the Heterick Memorial Library at Ohio Northern University. It introduces library staff contacts and hours. It then outlines the seven steps of the research process, including developing a topic, finding background information, using catalogs and databases to find books, media, and articles, evaluating sources, and citing sources. Specific databases, catalogs, and tools for each step are described.

1. TREX 1001
INTRO TO CREATIVITY
Kelly Kobiela, Systems Librarian
Heterick Memorial Library

2. WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY
 Kelly Kobiela, k-kobiela@onu.edu
 Jenny Donley, j-donley.1@onu.edu
 Traci Moritz, t-moritz@onu.edu
 Kathleen Baril, k-baril@onu.edu
 Reference Email, reference@onu.edu
 Librarians on duty:
 Monday – Thursday
 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
 Friday
 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

3. UH…I’M NOT GOING TO REMEMBER ALL OF
THIS…

4. UH…I’M NOT GOING TO REMEMBER ALL OF
THIS…

5. HOW TO DO RESEARCH:
SEVEN STEPS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS
 Step 1: Identify and develop your topic
 Step 2: Find background information
 Step 3: Use catalogs to find books and media
 Step 4: Find internet resources (if appropriate for
the assignment)
 Step 5: Use databases to find periodical articles
 Step 6: Evaluate what you find
 Step 7: Cite what you find
Amended with permission by the Librarians at the Olin and Uris Libraries of
Cornell University

6. STEP 2:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
 Library Reference
Databases

7. STEP 4:
INTERNET RESOURCES
 Google
 Google Scholar
 Wikipedia
 Helpful for identifying additional keywords and
subjects for your concept map
 Does the information located satisfy the research
need?
 Is the information factual and unbiased?
 Refer to Critically Analyzing Web Sources/CRAAP
Test

8. STEP 6: CRITICALLY ANALYZING WEB SOURCES
CRAAP TEST
 Currency
 Timeliness of the information
 Relevance/Coverage
 Depth and importance of the information
 Authority
 Source of the information
 Accuracy
 Reliability of the information
 Purpose/Objectivity
 Possible bias present in the information

9. STEP 3:
USE CATALOGS TO FIND BOOKS AND MEDIA
 POLAR Catalog – Search for physical and electronic items
(ebooks and ejournals) that are available from Heterick
Memorial Library and Taggart Law Library

10. FIND A BOOK – POLAR: KEYWORD SEARCH
 Looks in several locations
 Subject
 Article title
 Abstracts
 Table of contents
 Does not require an exact match
 Generates comparatively large number of hits
 Good if you are not familiar with terminology
 Good for a beginning search

11. FIND A BOOK – POLAR: SUBJECT SEARCH
 Looks at the subject headings in the records
 Requires an exact match
 Provides a results list with related headings to use
for broader and narrower searches
 Generates comparatively smaller number of hits
 Good if you are familiar with terminology
 Good for a next step after a keyword search

12. POLAR – RESULTS
ebook
Heterick Library
Law Library

13. FIND A BOOK – OHIOLINK
 Materials owned by 92 other libraries in Ohio:
colleges, universities, public libraries
 Can submit request for an item to be delivered to
Heterick Memorial Library
 Most requests arrive in 2-3 working days
 No charge to request items (unless they become
overdue)
 Maximum of 25 requests at a time
 Items can usually be renewed

14. FIND A BOOK – OHIOLINK
 From POLAR results list:
 Button will recreate the POLAR search in OhioLINK
 From an item record:
 Button will go directly to the same item
 Use if the copy in POLAR is checked out
 Direct link to the OhioLINK catalog:
 http://olc1.ohiolink.edu/search

15. STEP 5:
FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES
 What is the basic definition of a library database?
 A library database is an electronic (online) catalog or index
 Library databases contain information about published items
 Library databases are searchable
 The library subscribes to many databases so the ONU community has
access to these resources. When you’re searching a database, you
are not searching “the web.”
 What types of items are indexed by library databases?
 Articles in Journals/Magazines/Newspapers
 Reference Information (i.e. entries from Encyclopedias, Dictionaries,
etc.)
 Books & other documents
Source: http://web.calstatela.edu/library/whatisadatabase.htm

16. WEB RESEARCH VS. LIBRARY DATABASES
Internet
 Material from numerous
sources, individuals,
government, etc.
 Search engines must work
with material prepared
without regard for specific
software
 Quality of material varies
 Generally do not access for-profit
information
 Content often anonymous
and undated
Databases
 Usually created by a single
publisher
 Content pre-arranged for
easy searching
 Quality-controlled by editorial
staff
 Most are available only to
subscribers
 Sources are usually identified
and dated
 Databases often focus on a
specific subject or discipline,
but some cover several areas

17. FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES

18. FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES
 General Databases
 Academic Search
Complete
 Business Source
Complete
 JSTOR
 Lexis-Nexis
 MasterFILE Premier
 MEDLINE with Full
Text
 Databases by Subject

19. STEP 6:
ARTICLES – POPULAR VS. SCHOLARLY
 Popular = Magazine
 Scholarly = Journal
 Magazines tend to have glossy pages, lots of
pictures, and can be read and understood by the
general public
 Scholarly journals are usually peer-reviewed and
tend to be aimed at professionals in the field
 Make sure to use the types of sources that are
appropriate for the assignment: a research paper
may use only peer-reviewed sources, but an
overview paper may use a combination

20. ARTICLES – FULL TEXT

21. FIND IT @ ONU
 Find It @ ONU takes you from a database where
you don’t have full text access to a database where
you do have full text access

22. STEP 7:
CITING YOUR SOURCES

23. MANAGE INFORMATION - REFWORKS

24. EXPORT TO REFWORKS
 Most databases
will have
“export”
 If there isn’t an
export, check for
“download”