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Expository Writing: Guide To Library Resources and Services: I. Mini-Tour of Library
Expository Writing: Guide To Library Resources and Services: I. Mini-Tour of Library
I. Mini-Tour of Library
First floor:
• Circulation desk and reserves (near the entrance): get your library card, check out
books and check out articles/books your professor places on reserve.
• Reference room and Reference Foyer (side of building): contains encyclopedias,
handbooks, dictionaries that provide context to your research topic. Always
staffed by a reference librarian.
• Computers: 14 PCs throughout the library. The two PCs in front of the reference
desk have Microsoft Office installed. Print to Pharos stations located in the lower
level, the first and second floors.
• Index Area (back of the building): Find book reviews and indexes of articles
published. Scanner available.
• Study Carells: Towards the back of the first floor; quiet study areas located
throughout library.
• Archives and Special Collections (near the Mars Rover): Houses historical
documents and artifacts of the college.
• Photocopier: 2 copiers located on each side of the library; one copier in
Periodicals area.
• Bathrooms: women’s room 1st floor, men’s room lower mezzanine.
Lower Mezzanine Levels:
• Book stacks level 1 (floor underneath the “Pit”); bound journal articles; Archives
Room; vending machine
• Book stack level 2
• Book stack level 3
Upper Mezzanine:
• Periodicals Area: magazines, newspapers, microfilm, microfiche
• Curriculum Library: library materials for education students
• Smart market: coffee, tea and snacks
For example, to find reference books on computers, cyberspace and the Internet, look at
the list and determine where your topic would fit in. You can find reference books on
those topics in the Q - QA section.
IV. Searching for a book in the catalog from the Minuteman Library Network
http://library.minlib.net/search~S15
To conduct a subject or keyword search, enter a phrase in the search box and select
“subject” or “keyword” and “Framingham State College” in the drop down menus. To
search for books in other libraries, select “All locations” instead of Framingham State
College.
For example, here’s a subject search to find books on the Internet. By doing a subject
search, it can help you narrow your topic.
Once you find a book, write down the call number to help you find the book in the
library.
All full-time and part-time Framingham State College students can borrow books from
the Whittemore Library, as well as other libraries within the Minuteman Library
Network. Day and evening students must register with the library to activate the student
ID barcode or student ID number. Borrowing privileges will expire when the student and
are no longer affiliated with the college.
I recommend that you do not limit your search only to Framingham State College. You
can always request a book from another library within Minuteman Library Network.
Usually books requested from the network are received within the week. You can also
order books from the Virtual Catalog, and the WorldCat database. These requests take
more time to process.
Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).
Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services
(If an article is available online in a FirstSearch database, it will prompt you for a full text
password. The password is fsc.)
When you get some results, select articles by “adding them to a folder”.
Open the folder icon at the top of the page once you have selected the articles. In the
folder view, select the articles that you would like to print, email, export, or save.
To find out how an article is cited, select the title of the article and select this icon. Notice
also how the article is classified with other subject terms that you can use.
If the journal is available online, the page results will list the research databases that
contain the article full text. You then need to search for the article in that particular
database.
If an article is not available full-text, you can check the red binder to see if the library
carries it in print. For questions on our print journals, please contact Deb Hogan,
periodicals supervisor, at dhogan@framingham.edu.
When creating a search in Google Scholar, you do not need to link terms by “and” for
example: computer “identity theft” Amazon
Try to keep the search simple. Limit your search to .edu or .gov sites. Play around with
key words to get the best hits.
When you are ready to cite your resources for your paper, a great resource is the Duke
University Libraries – Citing Resources page: http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/.
You have access to the pdf of APA’s Style Guide to Electronic References. Instructions on
how to view the guide are here: http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/instruction/apa.htm