The Research Process  Tags: research start process  

Research Guides describe and provide access to the most useful resources availble through Truxal Library for particular fields of study, including the best databases to use.  Use Research Guides to discover and develop research topics within a particular discipline:

• Architecture
• Business
• Careers
• Criminal Justice & Homeland Security
• Culinary Arts & Food Science
• Current Controversies
• Dance
• Education
• Gender Studies
• Health & Wellness
• Legal Resources
• Literary Criticism
• Music
• Philosophy
  
• Psychology
• Sustainability
  
• Visual Arts

Truxal Library also provides guides for researching particular literary works. In the search box at the top of this page, type the author's name (for instance, Mark Twain) or title of the novel, story, or play that you're researching (for instance, Huckleberry Finn) to see if Truxal has created a guide for that work.

Use Library Databases to access:

• articles, abstracts, and citations from periodicals
  (newspapers, magazines, journals, etc.)
• a large selection of current reference books
  (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, etc.)
• a growing collection of other books
  (on a huge range of topics)
• a growing collection of multi-media resources
  (online videos, images, music and other audio, etc.)

Please note: most sources from these databases are NOT considered "internet" or "web" sources, although we access them through the internet.

To access databases from off-campus, you will need to enter the barcode number from the back of your Truxal Library card. You can view materials online, print them, and/or e-mail them.

You may want to start with the Library's General Databases,
ACADEMIC ONEFILE and ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER.

For more information about the differences between journals and magazines, see Journals vs. Magazines.

Remember, you can't use abstracts and citations as if they are the full text of articles. You must acquire the full text to use information in a paper or other presentation or to cite the work at all. For more information about citations and abstracts, see Citing Sources Overview.

Be sure to gather the information you will need to create citations for these sources:

For Books

Full name(s) of author(s) or editor(s):

Full title of the book:

Facts of publication (city, publisher, latest copyright date):

Edition name or number, if there's more than one:

If applicable, name of series, volume number, and total volumes in the series:

Original publication information of a reprinted work:

If using a specific section (introduction, forward, etc.), title and author of that section:

Page number(s), if available online, for information read or noted:

Name of the database where you found the book (or excerpt):

Date you accessed the book:

A doi (digital object identifier), if available:

For Journal, Magazine, And Newspaper Articles

Full name(s) of author(s):

Full title of the article:

Full title of the journal, magazine, or newspaper:

Facts of publication (publication date and, if applicable, volume and issue numbers):

Starting and ending page number(s), if available online, for the article:

Original publication information of any reprinted work:

Page number(s) for information noted:

Name of the database where you found the article:

Date you accessed the article:

A doi (digital object identifier), if available:

If we can further assist you in your search for information, please drop by the reference desk or contact reference staff by phone at 410-777-2456 or by email at refdesk@aacc.edu.