Finding+Resources

FINDING RESOURCES

**Types of Resources** What resources are available for me to use when I conduct my research?

//Periodicals// are literature that are published at periodically, at regular intervals (i.e. every week, etc). //Newspapers// contain short articles keep you informed of current events in the community and world. //Magazines// contain articles about popular topics for the purpose of information or entertainment to a general audience. In contrast, //academic journals// (a.k.a. scholarly) contain articles that have been written by an expert in a particular field. They are generally used to present an expert's original reserach and/or to evaluate other current research in the field. Academic journals are the generally the most objective periodical.
 * 1. Periodicals: Magazines, Academic Journals, and Newspapers**

A database is generally a digital collection of periodicals and images that are organized in a certain way. Most libraries have access to many different databases for each subject area.
 * 2. Databases**

Books can contain both objective and subjective literature about different subjects. They can be text-based (books) or digitial (ebooks). Text books are organized in the library based on whether they are fiction, non-fiction, or reference materials (encyclopedias). Fiction books are organized alphabetically by the author's last name, non-fiction books are organized numerically, and reference books are generally organized according to subject.
 * 3. Books/Ebooks**

A website consists of one or more webpages that contain text, images, and/or animations. Websites are electronic documents that can be accessed via the Internet at a unique URL address. The URL will usually end with 3 letters to indicate the domain (source of the information). The most common domain names are: .com = __com__merical .gov = g__ov__erment organization .edu = accredited __edu__cational facility college or university .net = __net__work oriented (or commercial) .org = __org__anization
 * 4. Websites**

**Accessing Each Type of Resource** How do I find and use each available resource?

You usually search for periodicals using a database (see below).
 * 1. Periodicals: Magazines, Academic Journals, and Newspapers**

Once you have selected a database, you simply perform a basic search by typing in a keyword, or try an advanced search using specific criteria (such as author's name) to find information about a particular topic.The link to the databases at BHS is below: []
 * 2. Databases**

To locate a book in a library, you must use an online card catalog. This is a database of all of the books in the library, and it allows you to search for a book in a variety of ways, such as using a: keyword, date, title, or author's name. Once a book is located, the card catalog will give you a call number (location of the book in the library; it's address). The call number will provide an abbreviation of the author's name. If it is non-fiction, it will also provide a number to locate the book. If it is fiction, it will say "Fic" and you will need to locate the book alphabetically using the author's last name. Below are links to the online card and available ebooks at BHS: [] []
 * 3. Books/Ebooks**

You can access a website by typing the URL (internet address) into the search bar of a web browser (such as Internet Explorer). This URL specifies to the computer what type of information you are looking for on the Internet. You can also find websites by conducting a search via a search engine like Google.
 * 4. Websites**