1. Talk to a Librarian
Librarians specialize in research and are skilled at finding information. If you are looking for a citation to prove a fact, or get nowhere while doing research, asking a librarian is a good idea. There may be a public database or an archive you are not aware of. At the very least, they will be able to guide you towards a good place to start.
2. Get to grips with the Library of Congress (LC) system
The LC system is to books, what the mailing address system is to houses. Knowing that P8000 is Canadian Literature will save you time scanning all the shelves in the library. Get to know the sections that correspond to the topics in your courses. A librarian or Student Assistant can also help you find the right section.
3. Don't just visit your own subject's section
You might become familiar with the section of the library that corresponds with your course subjects. In fact, there are many overlaps in subjects. If, for example, you are writing a paper on Yukon First Nations for Archaeology you may wish to browse the CC section (Archaeology) and E99 (Indians of North America) sections. If you are stuck for a topic or looking for more research material, exploring other sections can be inspirational.
4. Use inter-library loans
You might have found the perfect article for your paper, but the library does not have it. No worries. Click the 'Place an InterLibrary Loan Request' button, and a librarian will request that article (or book) from another academic library. Do your research early though, photocopies of ejournals can be as quick as a day, but a book will be sent through regular post.
5. Use resources other than books
Information comes in many formats other than the book. The most useful resource libraries have after books and ebooks, is access to online journals. If there is something you have found on Google Scholar but cannot access, check the library catalogue. The library also has DVD's, streaming platforms, image archives, and subject guides with more information.
Abstract - a summary or brief description of a book or article.
Boolean searching - the terms AND, OR and NOT that can be used in the advanced search options of many databases to narrow or broaden your search.
Call number - represents where the book is on the library shelf. Because books on the shelves are arranged in order, you will find similar subjects shelved near each other.
Catalogue - the online searchable list of the Library’s resources. This tells you what books, DVDs and journals we have, and where to find them.
Citation - a quotation from, or reference to a book or author, in support of a fact .
Copyright - law which protects an author from the illegal use of their work; e.g. there are legal limits on how much you can photocopy from one book or periodical.
Course reserves - some instructors will keep class reading materials, like textbooks, in the library.
Database - an online collection of information, usually journal articles or other subject information. You can use databases to search for journal articles suitable for your research. Some have the complete full-text articles, but others only give a brief summary.
DOI - stands for Digital Object Identifier. This is used to identify an article or document and link it to the web. It is more reliable and permanent than a URL.
Full-text - the entire online book, journal or article.
Hold - if a book is currently borrowed by somebody else, you can place a hold and it will be saved for you when it is brought back.
Index -an alphabetical list that usually appears at the end of a book, to help you find the pages where a specific subject is mentioned.
Inter-library loan (ILL) - the service where we borrow books or supply journal articles from other libraries if we do not have them in stock at Ayamdigut campus.
ISBN - International Standard Book Number – the unique identifying number of published books.
ISSN - International Standard Serial Number – the unique number that identifies each journal title.
Issue (noun) - a specific part or month of a journal.
Keywords - single words or short phrases that best define the main points of your research topic .
Literature review - a description of the literature available on a topic, often completed before beginning work on a dissertation.
Loan period - the length of time that you can borrow a book for.
Monograph - another name for a book.
Moodle - the platform to access course materials posted by your instructor, upload assignments, check grades and communicate with your instructor and classmates.
Office 365 - your University Outlook email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and OneDrive.
PaperCut - print management software. Every student starts with $40. Ask the Library about checking or adding funds.
Peer review - the process by which a journal article is checked by a panel of experts to ensure it contains genuine scholarly research.
Periodical - also Journal. A publication issued at regular intervals. Magazines and journals are types of periodical.
Plagiarism - the copying, summarizing or paraphrasing of someone else’ ideas, but not acknowledging or referencing them correctly, and so passing them off as your own work.
Record - an individual item in a database.
Reference - details of a book, journal or other material that you have used in your work.
Reference book - one that cannot be borrowed and must be read in the library.
Thesis - a longer piece of original academic work, often written for a higher degree, such as a PhD.
Username - your username to log into Moodle, Office 365, your library account and library computers is firstname.lastname.