Overview of Library Resources | Search Guide (.doc) | Ask A Librarian

What type of resource do you need to use?

• books, print journals, videos, CDs, & other media

• articles and full text online

• newspaper articles

• indexes & database by subject

• publications (by name)

• reference works

• subject guides

Books, Print journals, Videos, CDs, & other media

• Library catalog (Quick Tip sheet)
  

  how to search for materials by title.
  Subject or keyword search?
  Beyond TCC?
  More about call numbers, Library of Congress classification, and finding books.
  Videos for hearing impaired? Use keyword search "closed captioned"
  Videos for visually impaired? Use keyword search "audio description"

  Use a library catalog to identify books, magazines, journals, and audio-visual materials that are OWNED by the library. Ownership may include direct links to individual titles in electronic format.

Articles or Full Text Online

• full text databases
• indexes and databases information
• online journals by title, subject, or vendor using MetaLinc

  how to search for the article in my citation.
  how to search for an article in General OneFile.

Articles are found in periodicals. A periodical is any publication--magazine, journal, newspaper-- that is issued periodically more than once a year.  Just as some books have indexes to point you to the pages for your topic, indexes and databases identify which periodicals have which articles. Some indexes and databases include abstracts (short summaries) of articles and some include full text (complete) articles.

• General Full Text Databases
• News & Newspapers Databases

  Just as many books have indexes to point you to the page for your topic, indexes and databases, which may include newspaper sources, point you to the newspaper article citing the newspaper, date, page, and sometimes column.  Some resources include abstracts (short summaries) of articles and some include full text (complete) articles. 

• Subject Access

  Specialized (subject) periodicals indexes and databases are used to locate articles on broad topics such as art, general science, humanities, or education. These indexes provide more extensive coverage of their topics than do general indexes and databases.

• Publication name search identifies if materials available in one of TCC's databases or at other local libraries.
• Library catalog identifies whether TCC has a subscription to the individual periodical title in print format or electronic format.
• Where can I find this magazine or journal? guide sheet.

• Reference online 
  
  • Subject encyclopedias (examples) are great places to start your research. In our library catalog do a keyword search for encyclopedia and your subject, i.e. encyclopedia and biography. You can also do a title search for books that begin with "Encyclopedia of ...". Assistance is often needed when using any reference resource so do not hesitate to ask a library staff member for help.
  • Reference books may be found by searching the library catalog and are identified with an "REF" at the beginning of the call number. When you find a call number for your topic search the same call number area in the reference shelves. 

    Reference materials are generally used to provide quick information, provide an overview of a topic, "refer" the patrons to other resources, and must be used in the library. 

• Subject guides

  Created by TCC librarians, each guide provides call number areas to browse for books, specific library resources to use, and some of the best Internet sites on the web. Government, Literature, and Searching the Internet are just a few of our guides.