Librarians select books, journals, and databases that contain authoritative information produced by experts in a certain field. These might be expert researchers, professional experts, or journalists from news sources with a long reputation of credibility or editorial oversight.
Items are organized so you can find all the sources on a topic. For example, when you search for a book in the library catalog you will get a call number. The books shelved near the same call number will cover a similar topic.
use of library resources in research
A primary function of a library is to be an organized storehouse of information. As well as finding very current information, you can also find books that are no longer published and older issues of magazines.
This is a very important step because almost all your subsequent research will involve entering these words into various search engines (e.g. the library catalog to find books, a research database to find a journal article).
Begin your search with printed or online encyclopedias such as Credo Reference or Britannica Online, using the key words and related words that you identified as search terms in Steps 1 and 2. Articles in encyclopedias and similar sources will help you refine your topic. Note any relevant references to books, articles, and other information in the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles. You may want to use them in your research.
Using words that describe your topic (Identified in Steps 1 and 2 above), do a Keyword search to find books relevant to your topic in the library's online catalog. Once you find appropriate materials, note the citation (author, title, etc.), call number, location, and circulation status of the book.
Consult a research database like Academic Search Complete to find articles on your topic. Some search results will include the full text of the article. If the full text is not included, please use Journal Finder to see if the full text is available in the library or in another research database.
Is the article peer-reviewed or from a scholarly journal? A scholarly journal has all of its articles reviewed by panel of experts in the field before the articles are published. Peer-reviewed articles are the "Gold Standard" of academic research. Answering the following questions will help you identify a peer-reviewed article.
The Role of Library in Research is as significant as the role of library in other academic areas. The role of library in research is pivotal, libraries have in-depth resources in the form of books, journals, magazines, articles, and bibliographies. Libraries offer space for students to learn and provide excellent environment for research. Libraries have staff that can help students in locating the information that a researcher might need.
In addition to this, most libraries today have systematic digitized information. Unless they provide digital access to the books etc. they cannot maintain their importance in current information age. In a recent research it was reported that electronic and digital services are the most important service that a library can provide to its students. The digital library is a new trend and has added convenience for the students to search any information. Though there is still need to provide other research related support and services to students in order to be more effective.
The most common way to start your research is to have a tour of your local library or online library database. You need to know about the reference room, the card catalog, the periodicals, and the information desk. In this way, you will be able to understand the organization of the library and the ways in which you can get help from there.
You can do this once you have an overview of your subject, your research topic, and the basic method that you will follow in your research. Though it should also be noted that even before you selected your research topic you need to visit library to know about other researches in your subject area. That helps a lot in refining your research topic and finally getting a final research topic.
The first step to understanding the organization of the library is to reach the front desk and get help. You can also get an outline of the arrangement of library and other important brochures and charts. Most of the libraries have audiovisual aids, printer, copywriters etc that you might need during your research in the library. Librarian is a person who can be of great help to you as you are looking for different books, articles or topics.
The reference room of the library contains books and other reference materiel that can help the researchers get quick reference material. These books provide basic information about a topic, these information can aid in research. Usually libraries have dictionaries and encyclopedias in the reference section. These materials are not usually permitted to be issued or borrowed, while libraries make sure that most number of people can use them in the library.
You will find two types of bibliographies in our library: standard bibliography and current bibliography. Standard bibliography contains lists of all the material relevant to a field during a given period of time. While current bibliographies have more current publications about any subject. Bibliographies can be published separately or inside an encyclopedia, and general reference books.
The serial literature in the library are called as periodicals, periodicals include journals, magazines and newspapers. Periodicals provide fast and current information for any research. Periodicals are thus highly valuable for research. Today most of the periodicals are available online as well as in the libraries. Usually students use these resources while staying in the library, some material can be borrowed after special request to the librarian. Current issues are usually displayed on the racks on the front while old issues are arranged somewhere on the back in shelves or in the stacking area.
Library databases offer a more organized information access system than search engines like Google. Databases offer superior searching capabilities and make it easier to evalute sources. The table below identifies some of the strengths of library databases and search engines.
Looking for a specific journal? Use the FIND A JOURNAL option on the library's home page. Enter the title of the newspaper, magazine, or journal to find out whether the library has access in print or online and the dates of our coverage.
Briggs Library provides access to over 200 databases. General databases cover a broad range of topics. Other library databases limit their coverage to certain topic areas. These are valuable for in-depth and scholarly research. Consult the library's Research Guides to identify recommended databases in your subject area. Below are just a few examples of subject-specific databases.
Notice: Appointments are optional, but encouraged. To help us better serve you, request a research appointment to ensure collection material is accessible during your visit at the Library. The Library of Congress asks all visitors to follow our COVID-19 health screening protocols, which are based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the Office of the Attending Physician of the U.S. Capitol. For additional instructions, see the Researcher Scheduling page.
Concerns about libraries closing do not fall evenly across different segments of Americans. Hispanics, women, parents of minor children and older adults are more likely to say that closing their local public library would have a major impact on their community than others. Compared with the 65% figure for all of those ages 16 and older:
When asked to think about how the closure would affect themselves or their families, the patterns are similar to assessments about community impacts. Hispanics, parents and women are more likely to say that closing their local public library would have a major impact on them or their family, as are low-income households.
In 2015, 46% of all those ages 16 or older had visited a public library or bookmobile in person during the previous 12 months. This is essentially unchanged since 2013, when 48% said this, but does represent a decline from the 53% of Americans who in 2012 had paid an in-person visit to a public library in the prior year. In the current survey, majorities of women, younger Americans, college graduates and lower- to middle-income Americans have visited a library in the past year:
As to frequency of library use, among those who had visited a public library in the past year, 56% had done so once a month or more in 2015, with 14% doing so several times a month and 14% visiting on weekly basis. In September 2013, 57% of library users say they went to the public library once a month or more; the comparable figure for 2012 was somewhat higher at 62%.
Overall, 22% of those ages 16 and older visited a library website or used a library mobile app in the previous 12 months. That is down somewhat from the 25% who had visited public library websites in the previous 12 months in 2012, and is a drop from the 30% who had visited a library website when we asked in September 2013. Some of the change might have resulted from a modification in the wording of our question.1Younger and higher educated people are more likely to use libraries virtually (via a website or an app), with 28% of those between the ages of 16 and 29 having used a public library website in the prior year and 34% of those with a college degree having done this.
Between use of library websites and in-person visits to libraries or bookmobiles, half (49%) of all Americans ages 16 or older have had been library users of some sort in the past 12 months. Additionally, four-out-of-five Americans (83%) say they have used the library at some point whether in the past 12 months or longer ago than that.
People are increasingly aware that they can borrow e-books at their public library. Some 38% say their public library has e-books, compared with 31% who said this in 2012. Those more likely to be aware that their library has e-books are college graduates (52% say they are aware of e-book lending), parents (44%) and those in homes where the annual income is over $75,000 (44%). 2ff7e9595c
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