Online Programs - Cincinnati: 4. Access - Finding Books, Videos, and Articles

Part 1. ESSENTIAL SKILL - USING THE LC CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM  (20 min. or less)

      Why?  To locate needed books or "browse shelves" inside the library; to browse by LC number in the online Catalog

1.   To locate books and videos in Watson Library (and most other academic libraries), you will use the Library of Congress Classification System,  the "LC" system.  It is alphabet based.  School and public libraries most often use the Dewey Decimal System, which is number based.

A. What is the LC Classification System?  Click here: LC Classification   - find your current major area

B. Click to learn the basics of the LC shelving system:  

http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit03/libraries03_04.phtml

 [Lincoln Memorial University, Carnegie Vincent Library]

2.  Next, self-check on LC system skills - try this self-quiz: 

Try this different self-quiz of your knowledge of the LC system.  http://www.library.kent.edu/page/13762    [Drag and Drop quiz from Kent State University Libraries, immediate feedback].

Anytime you have questions about LC , please stop by to see a Watson Librarian or email us at library@wilmington.edu

Part 2.  ESSENTIAL SKILL - NAVIGATING THE OPAL CATALOG - Easy as ABC   (16 min. total)

A.  (3 min.) Where's Watson/OPAL Catalog on the Internet:  [http://cat.opal-libraries.org   is just one way]

B.  (7 min.) Using one of the three ways to find the OPAL catalog on the Internet, open the Watson/OPAL Catalog and review the content of this FAQ link   http://cat.opal-libraries.org/screens/help.html  and the other tabs for information about using the OPAL catalog.   Much of the navigation information applies also to OhioLINK because the same software is used in OPAL, OhioLINK Main, and SearchOHIO web-based catalogs.

      For Keyword search, click on Keyword, and then, read over the Search Examples.

      For Title search, click on Title, and then, read over the Search Examples.

      For Author search, click on Author, and then, read over the Search Examples.

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OK, SO HOW DO I REQUEST AN ITEM FROM ANOTHER LIBRARY?

To REQUEST an item in OhioLINK, use one of the green "Request" buttons. In OPAL, use the GRAY request button. Once you find an item in the Catalog that you want, click REQUEST, then choose Wilmington College as your institution. Enter your name and barcode number.  YOUR BARCODE NUMBER IS 000 + your student ID number (example -- if your ID is 123456, your barcode is 0001234546 - must be 9 digits total). The Pickup Institution will default to Wilmington College, but can be changed to an OhioLINK library near you; select the institution you want the book to be delivered to from the drop-down menu. It will take about up to 14 days to bring in an item from another OhioLINK library to the institution you have selected as a pickup location.   

Watson Library offers online help for accessing many different eBook platforms.  Click here for assistance.

Master This Skill and Save Time, Achieve Great Results!

LEARN TO MAKE GOOD USE OF A DATABASE THAT INDEXES AND ABSTRACTS JOURNAL AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES:

(6 min.) View this tutorial about the  searching databases:

• Library Orientation-Database Research: Library Instruction Module: Databases - YouTube   [Watson Library-Wilmington College]

This demo on YouTube gives you an overview of database navigation that you can use with any of the databases.  The principles of navigation apply to all of our information databases which index and abstract articles.

WHERE CAN I FIND  "BUSINESS SOURCE COMPLETE,"  "ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE," "MASTERFILE PREMIER"  DATABASES AND OTHERS?

For "expert" searching, work with the Subject terms that come up in your search results.   Here's an example of the difference between the number of articles retrieved in Keyword and Subject searching in Academic Search Complete, beginning with SPORTS as a keyword. More is not better.  Notice that as your search terms become more specific, your results list gets smaller, more focused, and more workable.