How do you usually find information?
Now that you know what kind of information you need and have determined what type of resource you will use to find that information, you need to pick the right finding tool to find it.
IMPORTANT LOGIN INFORMATION:
Library research databases and access to ebooks & articles through the library catalog are restricted to current HIU stduents, staff, and faculty. You must login with your HIU email and password to use them. For more information, see the link below:
How to Find Reference Works
You know you need to find information out of a reference work, but how do you find reference works? Use the library catalog or a specialized library research database.
Watch this video:
Note: Use the "Full Screen" icon in the lower right corner of the video to enlarge the viewing screen.
How to Find Books (Monographs)
You know you need to read books on your topic (either print or electronic books), but how do you find books? Use the library catalog.
Watch this video:
Note: Use the "Full Screen" icon in the lower right corner of the video to enlarge the viewing screen.
How to Find Periodical Articles (including scholarly journal articles)
You know you need to find articles out of periodicals (scholarly journals, popular magazines, newspapers), but how do you find articles? Use a library research database.
Search a library research database if you need ...
Library research databases are of several types:
Where to find our research databases and some examples:
Research database for multiple disciplines from scholarly, trade, and consumer publications
Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, chapters, books, and dissertations; peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. (1800s to the present); includes international material selected from periodicals in dozens of languages.
Research database for Literature & Language.
Watch this video:
The following video tutorial was created for a specific class, but will give you an introduction to using a library research database to find periodical articles. The database used in the tutorial is ProQuest and is a good way to begin your search for articles.
Use the "Full Screen" icon in the lower right corner of the video to enlarge the viewing screen.
How to Find Primary Sources (original material)
You know you need to find primary sources, but how do you find them?
Identify your primary source type
What constitutes a primary source varies by discipline. A scholar in the humanities may use a newspaper photograph or a poem as a primary source while a scientist might use data from an experiment or an artifact from an archaeological dig. Because the definition varies, the tools you use to find these sources will vary.
Some examples:
Since primary sources can be more difficult to locate, consult with a librarian if you need guidance:
How to Find Statistics
You know you need to find statistics. but where should you look?
What do you need to know?
Statistics are found in many different types of publications. You might find them in a book or periodical article. You might find them in a pamphlet or on a web site produced by an organization. Government agencies and departments are one of the largest producers and publishers of statistics, so they have been focused on in this guide.
Government publications are issued by local, state, national, or international governments. Government information includes laws, regulations, statistics, consumer information, and much more. Government information is generally considered to be reliable. Many government publications are available through government websites.
Some places to start:
If you know the title of the government document, use an Internet Search Engine to search for the title of the document.
Since statistics can be more difficult to locate, consult with a librarian if you need guidance: