Southern Utah University | http://www.library.suu.edu | Gerald R. Sherratt Library
Before You Begin Your Research!
The most important thing you can do, before you begin conducting research, is to brainstorm for a topic idea. Spend a few minutes thinking about your assignment as well as about what you’d like to write. After you’ve done this, think carefully about the important concepts of your topic and jot them down. These words are your keywords and you’ll use them to locate information about your topic. Spending a few minutes preparing for your research will save you a lot of time (and from a lot of frustration)
Article & Information Databases (Research – Articles and Journals)
There are hundreds of databases available to you. Here are a few that you might find particularly useful for this class:
- Academic Search Ultimate [Includes My EBSCOhost]
- Contains full text and abstracts for magazines and journals in many disciplines. Note: This resource may also be manipulated to search many library databases at the same time via EBSCOhost Choose Databases (see below)
- America History and Life with Full Text[Includes My EBSCOhost]
- Literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada
- CQ Researcher
- Provides coverage of current and controversial issues
- Ethnic NewsWatch[Includes My Research]
- Covers newspapers, magazines, and journals from the ethnic, minority, and native press
- Gender Watch[Includes My Research]
- Devoted to women's and gender issues
- MLA Bibliography[Includes My EBSCOhost]
- The Modern Language Association's index to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore
- Opposing Viewpoints
- A full-text database providing differing points of view on current social issues
- Oxford Reference Online
- Access to reference sources in all disciplines
- ProQuest Newsstand[Includes My Research]
- An extensive collection of major U.S. and international news sources
- PsycINFO[Includes My EBSCOhost]
- Contains citations and summaries of psychology journal articles, books, and more
- More Article & Information Databases
- Hover over the Research button and click Articles and Journals. See Databases by Subject Areas and Article databases by titlefor access to many more article & information resources
Books, Videos, etc. (Research – Catalog)
SUU Library Catalog
The Sherratt Library provide hundreds of thousands of printed resources available to you that can be browsed with a keyword, title, author, or subject search
Library of Congress Classification System
A Encyclopedias
B Philosophy/Psychology/Religion
C Archaeology/Biography
D History: General and Old World
E/F History: America
G Geography/Anthropology/Recreation/Sports
H Social Sciences
J Political Science
K Law
L Education
M Music
N Fine Arts
P Languages and Literature
Q Science
R Medicine
S Agriculture
T Technology
U Military Science
V Naval Science
Z Bibliographies/Library Science
Other Essential Research Tools & Information
- Search Techniques
- Use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) when searching
- Use truncation (*, ?, $) to expand searches
- Use Advanced Search options to limit searches to Full TextorScholarly (Peer Reviewed) or Academic Journals
- Off Campus Access
- Use your SUU login/password to access databases from off campus locations
- EBSCOhost Choose Databases
- Click the Choose Databases link, which is located at the top of any EBSCOhost database page, to search several or all EBSCO products simultaneously
- My EBSCOhost/My Research
- Use this feature to create a virtual bibliography when any EBSCOhost or ProQuest product
- Web Site Evaluation
- Using Web sites for research? See Web Site Evaluation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly <http://proche.org/webevaluation.htm> for tips on evaluating Web sites
- MLA Documentation (Research – Research Guides)
- Some helpful online guides to MLA Style
- eJournal Finder(Research – eJournal Finder)
- Search for journals and magazines available via the Sherratt Library
- NetStorage/F: Drive
- Store and retrieve your documents from any location. Click the NetStorage link located on the Current Students page <http://www.suu.edu/curstu/>
- T-bird Texts (Services – Student Services – T-bird Texts)
- Our collection of course textbooks available for your use!
SUU Sherratt Library
- Walk-in Access
- Monday-Thursday 7:00AM-12:00AM
- Friday 7:00AM-7:00PM
- Saturday 11:00AM-7:00PM
- Sunday 2:00PM-10:00PM
- Reference Assistance(at the Questions? Desk on the 1st Floor of the Library)
- Monday-Thursday 9:30AM-4:30PM
- Friday 9:30AM-3:30PM
- Via telephone at 435/865-8040
- Assistance via texting (435/215-4SUU) and instant messaging (see the Online Chat with a Librarian box on the Library’s home page) is also available during the hours listed above
Don’t hesitate to connect with a Reference Librarian for assistance or contact me if you need further help:
Christopher Clark | Office LB 103 | christopherclark1@suu.edu | (435) 865-7952
