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The MCC on-line library system is available for your use from any computer,
and you should give it a careful look. Through the on-line system you have
access to some first-hand research publications that aren't available in
hard copy in the library itself. If you use these resources, you'll be able
to find a variety of valuable original publications (in full text). There
is, however, one serious disadvantage: There is only one database for scholarly
psychology material, and it contains a limited number of holdings. Nevertheless,
it's probably more than you'll find elsewhere from the comfort of your own
computer. (If you need to conduct serious scholarly research, you might
decide to drive over to the U of R and use their library.)
First, though, give our library a try and see for yourself what you can
find. Here's how to get started.
1) You can click on the "Library" link from my web pages
(where you see it, such as at the top of this page), or from the MCC home page select the "quick links"
pull down menu and select "libraries."
2) In the middle of the top of the library page you'll see "find
articles" and next to it "access from home." If you're
on campus you won't have to use a password, so just select "find
articles." (You can choose that if you're at home, but you'll have
to take the login step later on.) If you're at home you'll have to
log in to the "EZproxy" system using your username and password
from the MCC E-mail system. Just follow the instructions after you click
on "EZproxy."
3) Once you're in the system, you can select from the databases
available. For psychology (if you're working on a research paper for class,
for example), scroll down to the "social sciences" section (way
at the bottom) and choose the "PsycArticles" database.
That's the best source for full text articles in psychology. Once in it,
follow the links - you'll probably want to use the search function (as opposed to the "browse" option). Your next best bet for psychology is the "Elsevier Science Direct" database, which you'll see listed under the "sciences" section just above PsycArticles. Once inside Elsevier, click the 'search' button for advanced search options.
4) While you search (using keywords, phrases, author names, etc.),
you can examine just the abstract and citation if you want a quick glance
at the summary (abstract), or you can choose the full text (in html - a web
page format, or pdf - which appears like the original publication). If you
want to save the article you're looking at (to actually read and take notes
from it), remember to save it to your computer.
5) In addition to PsycArticles, you might try some of the other
databases, but none will be as useful for your psychology research as PsychArticles (except, perhaps, Elsevier Science Direct, as I mentioned above).
Try the "Eric Full Text" index under the "education"
heading. Another possibility is "JSTOR" under the general
heading. And for news magazine style sources try "Expanded Academic
Index," and "OmniFile Select from Wilson." Another good choice might be "InfoTrac One File" - and in InfoTrac as well as OmniFile, you can select a "peer reviewed" or "refereed journals" button to limit your searches to scholarly sources.
6) Each database has its own design, so pay attention to
the search system that each employs. For the most part, it's the same idea: you
can do basic keyword searches, or more advanced searches where you define
the field to be searched.
Good luck. (If you run into problems using the library, and you're
in my class, get in touch
with me and I'll see if I can help.)
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