Skip to Main Content

MUS 102 - Introduction to Music - Knisely

Getting Started with Library Research

When doing library research, follow the 20 Minute Rule: If you aren't finding any resources and aren't getting anywhere with your research after 20-30 minutes, it's time to ask for help from a librarian.

Terms You'll Comes Across
Term Definition
abstract A summary of the article.
citation (MLA) or reference (APA) A listing of information you'll need to give proper credit for a source.
database Any electronic collection of information – in this case, the library's books, articles, and videos.
full-text The article is available in the database.
periodical Anything that is published periodically, whether it's an academic journal, magazine, or newspaper
popular journal A journal that contains articles written by journalists and targeted toward the general public (think newspapers and magazines).
scholarly journal A journal that contains articles written by researchers and faculty for other researchers in their field.
trade journal A journal published by and for professionals in a certain field of work. The writing is not as long and rigorous as in scholarly journals, but uses more of that field's jargon than a popular journal would.

 

Yes, the databases all look different, but...

  • They will let you limit your results to just full-text, by date, and by type of source.
  • Results can be sorted by either "most recent" or "most relevant."
  • Read the article's abstract. You can't judge an article by it's title, but you can save yourself some time by reading the abstract first. It can help clue you into whether or not an article is actually relevant to your topic. 
  • Use multiple keywords and database limiters to narrow your results.
  • Most databases provide a help page of some kind.

Not all of the articles are full text. Look for...

  • PDF Full-text: An Adobe Acrobat file with the full text of the article just as it originally appeared in the magazine or journal.
  • HTML Full-text: Full text of the article, but with formatting, page numbers, and any pictures, charts, or graphs stripped out.
  • Find It!: When searching in the library's EBSCO databases, sometimes you will see a "Find It!" link under the "Access options" menu. This means that the article is listed in this database, but HACC doesn't have access through this database. If you click the link, it may take you to one of our other library databases that does have the article. It might also take you to a screen where you can request the article from another college or university's library via our Inter-Library Loan service.

Found the perfect article?

  • Email it to yourself.
  • Print it out.
  • Save it to a flash drive, your Google Drive, or download it to your computer.
  • Don't save it to computers in the library or computer labs, or it will be deleted.
  • Save the article citation in MLA or APA format.
    • Copy and paste the citation into Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
    • Change formatting to correct the font and size, with double spacing and a hanging indent.
    • Alphabetize your Works Cited or References page by author, or by the article title if there is no named author.
    • Database-generated citations are not always correct! Always compare these to a citation guide before turning in your assignment.