Locating Information Resources

ENG 110
Mortola Library – Pace University
Fall 2010
Session Objectives
Help find resources for your research project:

1. Find books in the Pace library catalog and

ConnectNY
2. Find articles on your topic in library
databases.
3. Optimize your searching on Google.
Search Tip: Boolean Logic
 Most electronic search tools allow you to combine
concepts using the Boolean operators AND and OR
 Use AND to combine concepts
 Water conservation AND drought
 Use OR to search for a single concept using
synonyms or related terms
 Drought AND (water conservation OR water
shortage)
Finding Relevant Reference Sources
 Gale Virtual Reference Library (database)
 Search the Pace Library Catalog…
 …by keyword for “[subject area] and encyclopedias”
 …by keyword for “[subject area]” with location
limited to “Mortola Reference”
 If you are unsure of the subject area that your
topic falls under, try a general source like
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Finding Books Using the Pace
Library Catalog
 Use the library catalog to find out what we
have and where to find it.
 To find materials on a given topic, perform a
keyword search.
 To find books about a person, perform a
subject search for “last name, first name.”
 i.e., Morrison, Toni
 Also check in ConnectNY
Books on “the issues”
 The library buys series of books showing both sides
to an issue
 At Issue
 Opposing Viewpoints
 Taking Sides
 Reference Shelf
 Search the Catalog by keyword in combination with
one of the above titles
 “poverty and Opposing Viewpoints”
Finding Articles Using Pace
Library Databases
 Databases provide access to articles (citations,
abstracts and/or full text) published in
periodicals.
 Use a database that is appropriate to the
subject area you are researching.
 Databases are subscription products available
on campus or from home with your MyPace
Portal username and password.
Databases to consider
 Academic Search Premier (includes peer-reviewed)
 Research Library (includes peer-reviewed)

 Literature Resource Center (authors and writers)

 CQ Researcher (key issues, pro & con)

 Lexis Nexis (news sources)

 New York Times Archive (news source)
Optimizing Google Searches
 Searching by utilizing Google domain searching
 Use Advanced Search to search by domain
 .org
 .edu
 .gov

 Searching news using Google News

 Use Advanced News Search to refine your search
 By news source
 By location
Citing Your Sources
 When you build upon the ideas of others,
you always need to give appropriate
credit for those ideas.
 Failure to do so is considered
plagiarism!
MLA Citation Style
 MLA (Modern Language Association) style is
generally used in the humanities.
 See the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers (on reserve at the Mortola
Library Reference Desk) for more
information, or visit the guide to Citing
Resources on the Library home page.
Questions?
Mortola Library Reference Desk:
(914) 773-3505

Library Home Page:

http://library.pace.edu

Douglas Heimbigner
dheimbigner@pace.edu
http://librarypace.blogspot.com/