Research Guides

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The Online Catalog is your guide to book, periodical and media resources in the library.  On the Library homepage enter the topic you want searched in the 'Catalog Search' box. After typing in your word/phrase-select the tag for your topic; subject, author, title, keyword, or journal title. Simply click on the tag you want to search and the the 'Search' button.

Keyword V Subject Searching Keywords are searched by the database simply by matching the spelling of the word/phrase-NO meaning is attached.  Searching by subject (or author and title) will attach a meaning to the spelling creating a better result list.  If you cannot find any titles after searching by subject, enter your terms in as a keyword search.  This will broaden the search.

Advanced Search provides options to search the Reserve Room and Electronic Journal Titles as well as basic search options of Author, Title, and Subject.

Search Area Libraries  If you need book materials to supplement the TNU collection, click on the Search Area Libraries link on the Library web page.  This virtual online catalog [Athena] provides access to several local area libraries including Trevecca, MTSU, Vanderbilt, Nashville Public Library, and TSU. Retrieved titles can be ordered online for no cost.  They will be couried to Trevecca for pickup.  There is no cost. Also linked here is WorldCat providing searching of 10,000 libraries worldwide.

Ebooks Over 60,000 full text ebooks are integrated into the library holdings and can be searched through the online catalog or directly from the database Web sites.  Students must create a free account to receive checkout privileges and other services.

Result List The search result list appears in the order a record was entered into the catalog.  The holdings line provides call number as well as indicates whether a book has been checked out by using the phrase “No copies available.”  Also included in the library holdings are e-books which are indicated by the phrase [electronic resource] in the title line.

Printing Before printing on campus you need to verify the location of the printer.  Clicking on “File” then opening “Print” does this. The printer location selected is on the top of the print page.  To change location simply click on the gray arrow and select from the choices provided. Copies are charged to your campus account [.08 per page] if you are logged into the TNU network. Otherwise it is .10 per page.

Circulating books  These are checked out at the Main Desk with a maximum of fifteen books and are due back your last class meeting. Your TNU I.D. card serves as your library card. Books cannot be checked out from the Web site.

 Materials can be renewed online! From the library home page click on the “My Account” link on the menu. Follow instructions to view your account. The renew link will appear on the screen.  Books cannot be renewed if they are overdue.  Call 615.248.1214 for assistance.

From the library homepage, enter the name of the journal in the search box near the top.  Change the tag to read “Journal Title” then enter.  If your journal is full text in one of our databases the result will include a link to the database where you can access the full text. The results also provide dates if the journal is available in print and microfilm.  If there were no hits you can complete online an ILL form requesting a journal article. Allow 7 days for receipt of the reprint. 

     If you are searching by subject:

Electronic Resources

From the Electronic Resources link, choose the link "Looking for databases by name" to see an alphabetized list of databases by name.   Choosing the link "Looking for Databases by subject" will display subject areas, click on 'Education" to see a list of databases iin this area.

Accessing subscriber databases off campus requires you to provide your name and the 11 digit barcode number from your student ID. 

Education Database Descriptions

ProQuest® has four “Search Methods.” The first is Basic, a keyword search. Advanced search allows choices for attaching meaning to your words/phrases. A Topic search allows you to browse by subject and a Publication searches journal titles.

The result list displays retrieval options.  You can view or print a record in one of four ways; Citation (bibliographic format), Abstract (bibliographic plus a short summary), or Full Text (bibliographic plus abstract plus complete text) and Page Image. Icons indicate format choices.  To select, simply click on the icon and it will display that format.  Articles can be printed or emailed to your personal Internet account.  If an article is abstract only click on the link to ‘WebBridge.’  This allows you to see if the journal is available somewhere else by searching TNU’s holdings.

InfoTrac® Databases or Tennessee Electronic Library

    The Tennessee Electronic Library is a collection of InfoTrac databases that provide a significant number of full text articles.  Access is through the library Web site “Electronic Resources” page.  The Professional Collection searches education related articles.  The Result List indicates article length and provides format for viewing/printing.  Some articles can be viewed as PDF.   As with ProQuest, articles can be either be emailed or printed.

Searching for ERIC® (Educational Resources Information Center) materials

 There are several ways to search the ERIC collection.

• ERIC PlusText
  provides instant access to thousand of articles in the full-text and full-image formats.  Search ERIC PlusText through ProQuest®.   

• ERIC-Educational Resources Information Center  
  ERIC is sponsored by the US Dept. of Education. You can search the ERIC database and retrieve full text ERIC documents from this site.

• The Search ERIChomepage provides the search ERIC “wizard” to help you build a search query using the ERIC Thesaurus.

Retrieving ERIC materials:

EJ-ERIC Journal:  Begin in ERIC PlusText for seamless full text access.  ProQuest will provide full text of those articles they have within their collection.  If an article is not full text, click on the WebBridge link.  This will search the journal name in the library catalog providing library holdings.  If the title is not listed you can order a copy of the article using the ‘Interlibrary Loan’ link on the home page. There is no fee for this service.  Allow 7-10 days to get article.
 

ED-ERIC Document: There are three ways to retrieve ERIC Documents. 

1. Full text documents from1993 - July 2004 are available from the new ERIC site http://www.eric.ed.gov  There is no fee or passwords needed to access these documents.

2. ERIC PlusText provides full text links to ERIC Documents as well as  those journals indexed within the ProQuest collection.

3. Documents published 1980 to July 2004 are also reproduced on microfiche and are filed by their document number in Waggoner Library, the Microforms room, main floor.  There are coin-operated reader/printers available. Off campus students can order reprints of documents unavailable online by emailing Beth Purtee (bpurtee@trevecca.edu) with the name and document number.

Looking for Internet Web Sites: Education

Waggoner Library Contact Information

Reference Desk - 615.248.1570
Circulation Desk - 615.248.1214
 IRC Desk - 615.248.1205
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