The Online Catalog
The Online Catalog is where to go to look for information that is physically located inside O’Kelly Library: Books, DVDs, Print Journals.
From the WSSU Homepage, look for the “O’Kelly Library” link on the left bottom menu.
One you are at the Library Homepage, the first link under RESEARCH will take you to O’Kelly’s Online Catalog.
Searching the Online Catalog
The screens that opens gives you many options for searching the materials located inside O’Kelly Library. The most common are author, title, or keyword.
If you know the author of the book/s you need, click on that link and search by author—last name first.
If you know the title of the book or DVD, click that link and type in the title.
Keyword searching is most popular. If you are searching for a topic and you don’t know any specific materials yet, choose keyword and enter your topic.
No matter how you search, the results will be listed in the same format. It is important to note 3 things: Location, Call #, and Status. Location tells you what section the object is in (Stacks, Reference, Media). The Call # is the exact location of the object in its section. Status tells you whether the material is in right now, checked out (it will have a due date), or lost.
Book Locators online (3rd link under HELP on library homepage), and at the circulation desk can help with finding books.
The Online Databases
The online databases can be used to search for information O’Kelly Library owns, but is not in a physical format inside the library building, i.e. electronic journal articles.
From the library homepage, you have 2 search options: Databases by Title, or Databases by Subject under RESEARCH.
For general research, or starting research, click on Database by Title and look for Academic Search Premier (this can be used to search for any academic subject).
Search Tips
Keyword searching is most used in databases. It is important to pick out the best words that describe your topic instead of typing in a whole sentence or phrase. Databases do not search the same way Google does and typing sentences in confuses them. Try to write down the sentence you would type into Google. Then pick out the nouns from the sentence. Try not to use verbs (actions), adjective (words that describe), prepositions (at, in, about, …), articles (the, a, an, …), or adverbs (very, about, slowly, …).
Once you have several nouns picked out to use as keywords, try thinking of different nouns that mean the same thing, for example, adolescent, youth, young adult, teenagers. Searching using the different keywords is a good way to find more journal articles.
Making Sense of the Results
The results page can look confusing. The results are listed in citation style (how you would cite it for a paper). If you read the title of an article and think it might be something you want to read, look for the FULL-TEXT icon under the citation. There are 2 different FULL-TEXT types: HTML FULL-TEXT and PDF FULL-TEXT. The HTML is when someone has typed the article into the database. The PDF is the actual journal pages scanned in. You can click on either.
Once you find an article that interests you, you have several options: Print, Email, or Save. It costs 10 cents per page to print an article in the library. If you have access to a computer and printer (free), the best option is to Email the article to yourself. You can also Save a copy to your jump drive or disk.
Remember
You can search the Online Catalog and Databases from any computer, any time. You cannot always come into the library to check-out materials found using the catalog, BUT you can search and save online databases for information at any time. You do not have to be at the library to use them.
If you get confused or overwhelmed, come find us. You can stop by the Reference Desk, Email us (reference@wssu.edu), or call us 336.750.2454. We are available for individual or group research help.
