RESEARCH TOOLS

Before Beginning Research:

• You should ask yourself several questions. Have I read the assignment and do I understand it? If you have any questions about what the professor is looking for in the assignment, this question should be addressed first. Check to see whether the assignment asks you to use certain sources or to conduct a particular kind of research.
   
• If you need to find a topic and begin background research, the library web site, http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr, offers online tutorials to assist you in beginning the process. Under the "Need Help! Look Here" heading on the right side of the web page, click on "Online Tutorials" and look at the section titled, "Research Skills Tutorial." (http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/tutlist.htm).
   
• Wesleyan’s library system also provides a useful online tutorial about the best ways to search an online database. See http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/tut/rst4.htm

No More Notecards:

• As you are researching your topic, you must keep track of the material you have used. EndNote is designed to help you organize your notes and sources. Most computers on campus have EndNote loaded; however, it will be most useful to have the program on your own computer. Wesleyan students and faculty can obtain a free copy of EndNote from the ITS Software page. The Library website provides an EndNote tutorial:  http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/tut/endnote/index.html

Live Help:

• Throughout the library web pages you can find a feature that says "Reference Now!" and a blue icon that says "Live Help!" This tool allows you to have a live online chat with a reference librarian at Wesleyan. This is like using any instant messenger service, except that the librarian can also display relevant web pages on your browser. This is an invaluable tool for English and chemistry majors alike.
   

Personal Research Session:

• You can click on "Personal Research Session" on the main page, or go to http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/assist.htm to schedule a meeting with a research librarian who can help you research. This is a popular way that students start looking for sources.

CTW Online Catalogue

The CTW Online Catalogue helps you search materials in the Wesleyan, Trinity College and Connecticut College library systems. This is probably a good starting point for your research. To access the catalogue, click on "Library Catalogs" on the main library web page (http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr). This tool will help you find books, videos, audio sources, and other materials in the libraries you choose to search, using the "Select Libraries" pull down menu. In a simple search, you can search by author, title, subject, series, or periodical title. You can also do a complex search (described under the Microfilm section) for certain types of materials, if you know the exact type of source you need. For a clear, brief explanation of how to use the online catalogue, click on the dark blue "Help" button on the top of the page. Once the Help screen opens, you can choose "List of Buttons" under the category "Navigating."

Subject Research Guides:

On the library web page, you can also choose "Subject Research Guides" under the category "Electronic Resources" (http://www.wesleyan.edu:9092/libr/php/subjects/). This tool allows you to view a brief guide based on the department of your research interests. Choose the relevant discipline and the pertinent indexes, reference materials, Internet sources, and book collections are listed.
 

Electronic Reference Tools:

In addition to using the CTW catalogue to search for reference tools, you can click "Reference Tools" under "Electronic Resources" (http://www.wesleyan.edu:9092/libr/php/reference/reference.php3). The page lists helpful links to online encyclopedias, databases, biographical resources, journals, maps, etc.
 

Indexes and Databases:

• On the Wesleyan Library web site, www.wesleyan.edu/libr, you can click "Indexes And Databases" under the "Electronic Resources" category.
   
• You can scan the initial list, which might seem overwhelming. The New York Times Online is a new, useful database that allows you to search and read articles from the New York Times from 1851 until the "most recent four years."
   
• Indexes or databases with a button labeled "SFX" next to the title are especially helpful. The SFX tool helps you find cited sources and allows you to determine if the article is available through Wesleyan, the CTW catalog, or Interlibrary Loan. (Interlibrary Loan is discussed in detail at the following web site: http://illiad.olin.wesleyan.edu/illiad/firsttime.html) SFX will provide you with the full-text form of the article when available; click directly on the SFX icon for a more detailed explanation. If you see an interesting source in a bibliography or list of citations, you can search for it online or in the CTW catalogue by clicking "Journal Locator & E-Journals" on the Library web site. At the top of this page, you can click on the SFX Citation Linker and search for the article, journal, or book using the information in the citation.
   
• Databases with an "OCLC" icon are especially helpful for research in the Social Sciences. OCLC is a nonprofit organization that is "the leading global library cooperative." OCLC databases can limit your search to articles accessible through Wesleyan. OCLC includes databases on public policy/social issues (PAIS), scholarly journals (ECO), biographical material (BiographyInd), "journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change" (AltPressIndex) and more.
   
• Databases that are FULL TEXT (usually indicated by a button or icon next to the title) include the text of the articles that result from your search. Databases/indexes that are not "full text" include citations and abstracts only. "Full text" next to a database does not mean that every article from the database will be full-text.
   
• For research in the Social Sciences, you can limit this long list on indexes and databases by clicking on "Social Sciences" at the top of the indexes/databases web page. This will list popular Social Science databases. You can limit the list by discipline, such as African American Studies or Women’s Studies, in the pull-down box that says "My Research is in."
   

LEXIS-NEXIS:

• Lexis-Nexis can perform a quick or "guided" search of over 13,500 sources. The "guided" option allows you to search for specific international or national newspapers and magazines. You can also choose to search University News, Newswires, Medical News, Business News and Legal News.
  
  
• "General News" searches a vast array of magazines, journals, newspapers, newsletters, and policy papers.
  
  
• Lexis-Nexis allows you to limit the date of publication in your search (beginning in the early 1970s), search a specific source, and view full-text publications.
  
  
• Under "Search for Other Information" on the main web site page, you can choose to search Congressional information and Statistical information as well.

General Research Databases:

These are some of the most useful databases for searching sources across many disciplines. There are links to each of these on the indexes and databases web page.

Factiva is general database that searches the Wall Street Journal and "6,000 newswires, newspapers, magazines, and trade journals." This service also allows you to search for pictures and web sites.

WilsonWeb covers journal articles from a huge number of academic journals over the last several decades in general science, applied science, social science, art and humanities. One can conduct several kinds of strategic searches including searching with a question.

ArticleFirst also searches a broad spectrum of journals. First Search, the search engine you will enter if you click on the ArticleFirst link on the Indexes and Databases page, actually provides access to many different databases that can be searched concurrently.

Expanded Academic ASAP covers all subject areas, including both academic journals and general interest magazines. This database includes more commonly read journals, so if you can’t get full text articles from this database you should check the library’s holdings (CTW catalogue).
 

AP Multimedia Archive:

This tool, listed on the indexes and databases page, allows you to search the Associated Press’ archives by searching under "when," "where," and "what." (http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/aparchive.html). Read the quick guidelines to ensure you use the images in the correct manner.

Microfilm/Microfiche:

The microfilm/microfiche room is located in the basement of Olin library behind large red doors. This room includes reels or slides that allow you to view and print actual documents, newspaper editions, articles, and other sources. For example, you can find the following:

• MICROFILM: Papers of the NAACP, The New York Times,The Hartford Courant, Newsweek, Ebony, Congressional Records (1950s-60s), Southern Civil Rights Litigation Records, The Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, Wesleyan Theses (PhD), Business Week, The Christian Recorder, The Jewish People from Holocaust to Nationhood: Archives of the CBF JR: 1933-1960, The Chicago Defender, American Women’s Diaries (Western), African Studies Review, and numerous Middletown newspapers from the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries.
   
• MICROFICHE: An extensive collection of Early American Imprints: 1639-1819, US Congress: The Debates and Proceedings, and Congressional Committee Publications.
   
• Someone working in the library can explain how to use the machines and will help you find materials. To get a call number and search other microfilm/microfiche sources, go to the CTW Library Catalogue on www.wesleyan.edu/libr. On the right side of the screen, click "Complex Search" and pull down "itemtype," under "Search Limits." Choose microfilm or microfiche and use the "search the library catalog" to search by subject, title, periodical title, etc. This feature is also helpful to limit your search to specific sources; for example, if you are researching music you can limit the search to CDs or cassettes. If you want only government documents or current periodicals, you can also limit your search appropriately.

Special Collections and Archives:

• Are you looking for a rare book? Did you find something about your topic in the CTW catalogue that is listed as "WU-SP-COLL?" Are you trying to find historical information or archives about Wesleyan or Middletown? Are you looking for a thesis that wasn’t in microform (which only has PhD theses)? Special Collections and Archives has these materials, including all Wesleyan theses.
   
• Special Collections has a web site that can be accessed through the main Library web site by clicking on "Collections" under the category "Collections and Library," and then clicking on "Special Collections & Archives" (http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/schome.htm). This site includes information about their collection and the guidelines for conducting research. The Special Collections librarians are especially helpful.

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