CSU Libraries > How Do I > Research > Basic Library Research

Basic Library Research

Get an Overview of Your Topic

Use a general or specialized encyclopedia or some other type of reference book to get an overview and/or background information on your topic. The general encyclopedias are in the Reference "A" section. There are also subject encyclopedias that are shelved in the specific subject areas of the Reference Collection. For instance art books are shelved in the "N" section. Art encyclopedias will be found at the beginning of the Reference "N" section.

Good reference sources for general topics, such as gun control, abortion, etc. are:

• Taking Sides - Ref. H 35.1 .T35
• CQ Researcher - Ref. H 35.1 .C77x

A library staff member at the Reference Desk will help you use these sets of books and others, to get you started in your research.

Find Books

Use GIL, the Libraries' catalog to locate books on your topic.

There are 3 ways to search GIL:

• Quick Search (works like Google)
• Keyword Search (choose the field in which the keyword appears)
• Exact Search (when you know the author or title)

The Quick Search is the easiest. Type in words, using "and" to connect: Example: nafta and mexico.

The system will find all of the records in the catalog that contain the words you typed in. Examine the "hits." When you find a record that seems to be on target, click on the most relevant subject heading in that record. This will take you to all the other items in the catalog on that subject. Once you find a book that you want to look at, scroll to the bottom of the record and examine the holdings information. This will tell you what library collection the book is in. The main collections include:

• Circulating Collection
• Reference Collection
• Government Documents Collection
• GALILEO netLibrary Electronic Book Collection
• Music Library

Books in the CSU Libraries are arranged using the Library of Congress Classification System, in which letters of the alphabet are assigned to different areas of knowledge.

For more detailed information on searching GIL see the GIL Guides.

Find Books, Part 2

If your GIL search does not find any matching books, you will be given a prompt to "Click here to execute this search in the GIL Universal Catalog." By clicking on this link, you will be able to search a combined catalog of all 35 University System of Georgia schools. You may request that any book in the catalog be sent to CSU for you. Simply click on the "GIL Express Request" button at the top of the screen while you are in the record for the book you want. Fill in the blanks, and the book will sent to the library for you. Ask a library staff member for details and assistance.

You may also search the Universal Catalog directly at https://gil.usg.edu.

Find Journal Articles

Use GALILEO to locate journal articles. Locate your citations by using:

1. Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) Popular and scholarly journals (many online)
2. Research Library (ProQuest) Popular and scholarly journals (many online)
3. Lexis Nexis Academic Newspaper articles (all online)

NOTE: Searches in the first two databases (Academic Search Premier and Research Library) require the use of "and" when combining terms.
Examples: kerry and swift boat
bush and national guard

Searches in LexisNexis do not require use of "and."

Many articles in Academic Search Premier and Research Library are available online. For those that are not, search GIL to determine if the Library owns the journal and the issue cited. (See Do a Title Search in GIL.) In some cases you will have a link to GIL; in others you will not.

If you do not find the journal you need listed in GIL, you might consider using the Libraries' Interlibrary Loan Service.

Find Relevant Websites

Use a search engine to locate good information about your topic. Try Google or Yahoo.

• Enclose phrases in quotation marks
• "weapons of mass destruction"
• "swing vote"
• "Jesse Jackson"
• Once you locate a site, know what you are looking at!
• Is this an authoritative site?
• What is the URL suffix?
• .com -- commercial
• .edu or .ac -- educational
• .org -- organization
• .gov -- government
• .net -- networking
• .mil -- military
• Who is the author?
• Is the author qualified?
• Be critical of the source!

For more information see evaluating web sites.

For help in citing web sources, consult the citation style information page.

Miscellaneous Tips

• Start all your information searches at the Libraries' web site.
• You must have a password to access GALILEO remotely. Obtain the GALILEO password by accessing your account on GIL. See the instructions for getting the GALILEO password.
• To obtain books and journal articles NOT owned by the CSU Library, you may utilize Interlibrary Loan.
• IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE AT ANYTIME, CONSULT A STAFF MEMBER AT THE REFERENCE DESK -- in person, by phone (706-562-1492 or 706-562-1493) or via the online question form.

Author CBM -- October 2004
HTML Conversion EHK -- January 2005