Guides & Tutorials

 

 

Frequently requested library information:

Style Manuals and Citation Guides

Style Manuals and Citation Guides

These links will provide users with guidelines to both the basic printed and electronic forms of citation for the APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian and other styles. Printed copies of the APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and other style manuals are also available in the Ready Reference Section of the Library.

Automatic Citation Builders

APA Style

MLA Style

Legal Style

Chicago Style

Turabian Style

Citing Social Media

Copyright and Academic Integrity

This page contains selected links to sites which explain and discuss the various aspects of Copyright Law and intellectual property concerns. If you do not find what you want or what you need, please contact the King Library Information Services desk.

 

Generative AI

Navigating the Library's Resources

 

Finding Print Resources in the Library

  • The Reta King Library uses a modified Dewey Decimal system for shelving books. (See the Map below!)
  • How Libraries use Classification systems to shelve books  Clark College Libraries defines the two main classification systems used in libraries.
  • Most non-fiction books in the King Library can be found on the Upper floor of the Library building. They are arranged in Dewey Decimal order beginning with 000.00 and going around the outside of the Upper Level perimeter to 999.999. 
  • From the top of the stairs, or as you exit the elevator, the beginning of the Dewey numbers follows after the Fiction sections to your left. 
  • The Children's books section begins along the north side of the Upper Level. These include the following sections: 
    • Easy Readers (E) - Pre-K - Fiction, Non-fiction, and Biographies
    • Elementary Readers (ER) - K-3 grades - Fiction, Non-fiction, and Biographies
    • Juvenile Reading (J) - 4-8th grades - Fiction, Non-fiction, and Biographies
    • Young Adult Reading (YA) - 9th grade through early adult - Fiction, Non-fiction, and Biographies
  • Adult Fiction (FIC) can be found along the North to West corner walls. 
  • After the Fiction sections, the Non-Fiction adult scholarly section begins with the 000-099 Dewey Decimal numbers. 
  • The College Law Collection (LAW) is located in the West-South corner of the building. 
  • Across from the Law Collection is the Teaching and Learning Collection (TLC), supporting the work of the Teaching & Learning Professional Education Center. 
  • The College's Curriculum Collection (CURR), for Education students and K-12 teachers follows the 300s mid-way through the South side of the Library building. 
  • The Biographies (BIOG) section is located in the East-North Corner, amidst the 900s. 

If you have any trouble locating what you need, ask a student at the circulation desk, or talk to a librarian, or Ask A Librarian.

A directional map to the collections on the top floor of the library

Accessing Library Resources Off-Campus

The CSC Library subscribes to a variety of article and book databases to facilitate campus research. When students, faculty, and staff are on campus and using the local area network (LAN), they need only to go to the Library Learning Common's website -- http://www.csc.edu/library/ -- to gain access to these resources.

To access an eBook owned by the CSC Library, go to Search Library Catalog, on the library's main webpage. When the library catalog opens, click on Featured Lists in the upper right. Then select "CSC eBooks we own".

However, when students, faculty, and staff are off campus, they are no longer on the LAN. This means that an additional step is required to gain access. Because databases are limited to students, faculty, and staff, it is necessary to enter CSC credentials to access these resources from off-campus

As part of the application process, Information Technology (IT) sends a set of two usernames and passwords to new students. These usernames and passwords provide access to various campus resources, including:

MyCSC / NUID
Username looks like – 99999999 (8 digit ID)
Used for – Course enrollment, Accessing grades & transcripts, Billing/payment status
Campus
Username looks like – john.student OR jostud
Used for – EagleMail, CSC Online/Sakai, library databases,  device registration, on campus computers login

When you try to access library resources (ebooks, article databases, etc.) from off campus, you will see a login prompt (example below). To access the library resources, enter your campus username and password.

Creating your own persistent link to an online subscription through Chadron State College:

Once you have followed the process below to access a database the library does recommend creating a sign-in using your campus email and your own password (doesn't need to be your campus email password) when this option is available from the database.

This will establish persistent, direct access to the eBook, article database, or online newspapers through our campus subscription. When sign on is available, using your campus email to access a periodical should connect you directly to the Chadron State College subscription.  If you have any questions, email library@csc.edu for assistance. 

Screenshot of log in

If you’re not sure of your password or if you have other technology issues, contact the IT Help Desk. The IT Help Desk is open Monday-Thursday 7:30am-7:30pm and Friday 7:30am-4:30pm and Sunday 1:00pm - 5pm. They can be reached:

  • In person– The IT Help Desk is located on the main floor of the Library Learning Commons
  • Phone – 308-432-6311
  • Email - helpdesk@csc.edu

When contacting IT about password issues, you will need to provide your name and permanent home address before IT can reset your password.

If you have any questions about research or how to find academic resources, contact the Library:

  • In person – The Library Circulation and Reference Desks are located on the main floor of the Library Learning Commons
  • Phone – 308-432-6271
  • Email – library@csc.edu
  • Reach out directly to your subject liaison librarian.
Finding and Developing Research Topics

Remember, the basis of any good research project is the DATA.  Keep track of the sources you find by copying them or their citations to a piece of paper or a Microsoft Word document.  Make sure you leave yourself a note as to where you found the resource you are using - was it a database?  Web published resources may change between the time you begin your research and when you are done with it. Hang on to those web addresses. This will get you on your way to your works cited page or your references page in your research paper. 

Keep good data on the resources you use in your progress toward completing the assignment! And if you get confused along the way, be sure to talk to your professor, a librarian, or a writing tutor to help you through.  

Useful short videos on finding and developing your research topic:

The Literature Review

The Research Process: 

Try using generative AI to find and narrow your topic

Remember: Using AI in any part of your assignment requires permission from your professor. It also requires that you document the use/source of the information for copyright purposes, when appropriate. See CSC Academic Honesty policy, Student Handbook, and your course syllabus. 

These generative AI tools have free access. However, what is free today, may not be free tomorrow. Some have subscription available. Most importantly, remember to carefully review the information you are using to ensure it comes from a peer-reviewed source. Follow copyright, plagiarism and academic integrity rules and policies when using these tools.  

Is your AI tool legitimate? 

What is a scholarly - academic - peer reviewed article?

Scholarly Articles and Databases

Accessing scholarly research

Using peer-reviewed, academically published work in your research paper ensures that the results of your work are authentic and from valid research performed in your field of study.  Things to consider when selecting peer-reviewed research for your project: 

  1. When was the information published? Usually, the more recent the published date, the more up-to-date the research is. But that is not always the case - you may want to use older results for comparison or other purposes. 
  2. Who was the author? If the scholarly author was a pioneer of the field, has published numerous articles, or has some renown related to the topic, you may want to seek out other resources by the same scholar.  Research Rabbit  may be a useful AI tool for identifying the prominent scholars in the subject - but remember you must have your professor's permission to use this AI tool first! 
  3. What is original research?  Original research articles are written by the scholar or the scientist who has performed or conducted the research themselves.  It is a first person narrative, such as a diary or professional correspondence. It is a difference like that between an autobiography - where I tell you my personal history, versus an biography - where someone writes my history based on my reported history from the news or other sources I did not share. 
  4. Secondary research looks at multiple studies and is not considered original research, per se. 

Using the Library Search box: 

The Library's search engine is called a Discovery Tool.  By using this tool bar you can search for the title of a journal article, or you can search a general subject keyword. You can also search the Library Catalog for books related to your subject that are available in print form. And if you are off-campus, you can request these print items be shipped to you through interlibrary loan.  

If your assignment requires you to use a specific journal for information you can select Search Journal Titles from below the Search Box. This will take you to a Journal title search within the Discovery tool and to links to the various issues of the journal title that you are searching. 

Search Individual Databases will take you to a search of an individual database such as Wiley Online Library, Westlaw, or Science Direct you may want to access it through the Databases by Title. If you want to search within a broad topic or field, select Databases by Subject. 

Keeping track of your resources or findings: 

It is important to keep track of the resources you find as you work through the process of surveying current research.  There are numerous  resources that will store your papers or your links for you, including the Discovery Tool.  One simple way to track your resources is to select the citation tool which in our Discovery tool looks like a quotation mark in the upper right corner of the screen, choose the Style of citation, copy it to your clipboard and add it to a document in Microsoft Word, which later may become your References document.  

Jia, L., Yang, X., & Jiang, Y. (2022). The Pet Exposure Effect: Exploring the Differential Impact of Dogs Versus Cats on Consumer            Mindsets. Journal of Marketing, 86(5), 42–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429221078036 

The database source for this research article from 2022 is the Business Source Premier. You may want to keep track of where you found the article in a specific database. 

Always keep notes on what you find in searching the catalog and/or databases so your resources are easier to find later. The "doi" number  and link shown above is a "digital object identifier" which can be used to locate this article in the database, or possibly on the open web, if it is open access. The database this result came from is Business Source Premier. 

Tracking your findings and documenting source material will illustrate the scholarly and academic or peer-reviewed resources, almost at a glance that you will use in your research. 

Searching only peer-reviewed: 

When the assignment requires that you confirm the choice of resources is "peer-reviewed" there are multiple ways to ensure this in your search.  First of all there is a box allowing you to filter for "Academic (Peer-reviewed) Journals only at the top of the webpage below the search term (keyword or title) entered as the term.  By selecting this box you can limit the results to only peer-reviewed journal articles.

Filters available in Ebsco Discovery Search 

Note that the results without selecting peer-reviewed are far too numerous to review. When attempting to narrow your search to relevant scholarly works to use in your project, use filters and narrowed search terms suggested through your initial search methods. This may also help you to narrow down your research topic.  

More search tools: 

If you begin with a few keywords and are not finding the results you may like, the Research Tools may help find resources or narrow your topic. Research tools can be found on the left side of the screen and guides you through a subject or topic search to narrow your research concept based on the evidence available. Try using the Concept Map for additional suggestions. 

 

 

 

 

 

Government Documents, Publications, and Resources

These links connect to various government web sites which provide citizen access to the myriad departments and agencies of the U.S. government and various state government activities.  If you do not find what you want or need, please contact the King Library Information Services Desk for assistance.

Searching Electronic Resources

 

Not finding the article or book you want? Don't pay for it - send us an interlibrary loan request and we can request it from another college - FREE! 

  • ILL - Interlibrary Loan webpage
Using the Web to Find Relevant Sources

Campus Services

Additional Resources