1. Online through NSU’s NetLibrary or ebrary collection
2. at the NSUBA Library
3. at a different NSU library (Tahlequah or Muskogee)
4. at the Tulsa City County Library, OSU-Tulsa, OU Tulsa or another nearby university library – try WorldCat
5. at another library who participates in Interlibrary Loan (ILL) – you can get it through ILLiad

After you’ve figured out the best way to get the book, write a comment to this post that tells the title of the book and where you’ll be able to get it.

Challenge: The article your professor suggested was an excellent source of information for your paper. You know that a good way to find out more about a topic is to read some of the references listed at the end of a helpful article or book. You highlight five articles on the list and have to figure out how to get at least three of them in next seven days. Remember that ILL can take up to two weeks. Click here to get the list of articles you highlighted.

Write a comment to this post that tells the author of the 3 articles you could get in the next 7 days, along with where each can be found.

Challenge: Your instructor has given you a citation for an article he thinks will add to your research proposal. There is more than one way to find the article, but some are better (and quicker) than others. Use the hints below if you need to by clicking on the link.

Here is the citation:

Kuhlemeier, H. (2007). The impact of computer use at home on students’ Internet skills.

Computers and  education, 49(2), 460-480.

Is this article available online through NSU Libraries? Add a comment to this post that describes how you find out (tell me how you figured it out: list your pathway and search terms, if appropriate), then answer the following questions:

1. Is it available online?
2. If not, is it available in print at NSU?
3. If not, how can you get the article?

Hint #1: Elements of a journal article citation
Hint #2: Difference between a library catalog and a research database
Hint #3: Some useful tools : online journal search, catalog search

Mission:  In an article you were reading, a book was mentioned several times as being the authority on the topic of children’s reading abilities.  The title is Basic Reading Inventory  by Jerry L. Johns.  Use the NSU Library OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog, or simply catalog) to find out if NSU owns the book and where it is held (location and call number).

Submit a comment to this post that tells whether or not NSU owns the book, and if so, give the call number and location.

Challenge: Choose one of the articles on your results list, and use the Quick Guide to APA Style (linked from the bottom of the library class page) to put the citation in the right format.

Type the correctly formatted citation as a comment to this post. Place a <i> (shift-comma, i, shift-period on the keyboard) before words & phrases you want italicized.  Then, to end the italics, place a </i> after the words/phrases you want italicized. (shift-comma, /, i, shift-period)

Most research articles will have a reference list at the end.  Look at the reference list in the article you found and select three that might be helpful to your research.  Then, use one or more tools on the library home page to determine if any of them are available online.

Submit a comment to this post, listing:
1) The tool you used to check
2) The journal title and date of each article & whether or not you could access it online

Challenge: Work with your team to complete the following:

1. Select one of the available topics and determine the keyword(s) you will type in the search box. (Hint:  Write a question you have about your topic and select the important nouns and/or verbs from that.)

2.  Navigate to a database set, choose database(s) to search and perform a search for a full-text, peer-reviewed article on that topic. (Hint:  Start at the library home page and click on what you want to find – articles.)

3. Examine your first page of results and refine your search, if necessary. (Hint: Notice the box on the left side of the results screen – it contains terms you might use to focus or re-direct your search…you can either click right on one or type “and ____” into the search box.)

Keep your results list window open – you will need to get back to it later

4. Click on “No Comments” at the bottom of the blog post and report the following:
State your topic sentence or question.  Database searched, keyword(s) used, did you find a good full-text article? – if no, why not? – Review your process and try to determine what went wrong.  (Hint:  Check your spelling, make sure you used only nouns and verbs separated by and or or, try making your keywords less specific OR if your list was too long and general, try making your keywords more specific.)

Challenge: Navigate to one (or all) of the EBSCO databases recommended for education and psychology. Try to find an article that uses your test instrument in its methodology. (Remember to try the full instrument name as well as the acronym in your search!)

Did you find an article that uses your test instrument (assessment)?  What is the title of the article?  Which database(s) did you use? Answer these questions as a comment to this post.