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Introduction / Objectives
Citations
Reading Citations
Library Catalogs
Library Organization: Sections
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Review Quiz

 

Finding

Library Catalogs

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When you don't find a needed source on the Internet, a citation can be used to find the source somewhere else, typically in a library. The source for discovering what a library owns and where they keep it is a catalog.

The library catalog is a database of everything a library owns; but its records don't include article titles, and rarely include chapter titles. So, don't search for article or chapter titles. Search for book, journal, magazine, or newspaper titles.

Example

"Selling the WTO," Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1999, Wednesday, Home Edition, Page 6, 474 words.

Don't search

"Selling the WTO," the article title. You already know where the article is published; it's in the LA Times, so ...

Search

Los Angeles Times. The rest of the information in the citation will tell you where in the Times to find your article.

Using items from the last exercise, in the quiz on the right, see if you can tell which element you would search in a library catalog.

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Searching the catalog

 

Finding Quiz
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