Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

I. Mini-Tour of Library
First floor:
• Circulation desk and reserves (near the entrance): get your library card, check out
books and check out articles/books your professor places on reserve.
• Reference room and Reference Foyer (side of building): contains encyclopedias,
handbooks, dictionaries that provide context to your research topic. Always
staffed by a reference librarian.
• Computers: 14 PCs throughout the library. The two PCs in front of the reference
desk have Microsoft Office installed. Print to Pharos stations located in the lower
level, the first and second floors.
• Index Area (back of the building): Find book reviews and indexes of articles
published. Scanner available.
• Study Carrels: Towards the back of the first floor; quiet study areas located
throughout library.
• Archives and Special Collections (near the Mars Rover): Houses historical
documents and artifacts of the college.
• Photocopier: 2 copiers located on each side of the library; one copier in
Periodicals area.
• Bathrooms: women’s room 1st floor, men’s room lower mezzanine.
Lower Mezzanine Levels:
• Book stacks level 1 (floor underneath the “Pit”); bound journal articles; Archives
Room; vending machine
• Book stack level 2
• Book stack level 3
Upper Mezzanine:
• Periodicals Area: magazines, newspapers, microfilm, microfiche
• Curriculum Library: library materials for education students
• Smart market: coffee, tea and snacks

II. Searching for a book in the reference room

The Reference Room’s books are organized by subject categories. To determine the
category where a reference book would be classified under, look at the list posted on the
door of room 118 labeled “Library of Congress Classification Schedules.”

For example, to find reference books on television, look at the list and determine where
your topic would fit in. You can find reference books on television in the PN section.

A good reference book that may help you in your research:

• Encyclopedia of Television REF PN 1992.18 E53 1997

III. To access the library’s resources if you are off campus:

Go to the library home page http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary and directly to the

library databases (like InfoTrac’s General Onefile). Enter your Blackboard username and
password.

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).

 Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

IV. Searching for a book in the catalog from the Minuteman Library Network
http://library.minlib.net/search~S15

To conduct a subject or keyword search, enter a phrase in the search box and select
“subject” or “keyword” and “Framingham State College” in the drop down menus. To
search for books in other libraries, select “All locations” instead of Framingham State
College.

For example, here’s a subject search to find books on television. By doing a subject
search, it can help you narrow your topic.

Once you find a book, write down the call number to help you find the book in the
library.

All full-time and part-time Framingham State College students can borrow books from
the Whittemore Library, as well as other libraries within the Minuteman Library
Network. Day and evening students must register with the library to activate the student
ID barcode or student ID number. Borrowing privileges will expire when the student and
are no longer affiliated with the college.

I recommend that you do not limit your search only to Framingham State College. You
can always request a book from another library within Minuteman Library Network.
Usually books requested from the network are received within the week. You can also
order books from the Virtual Catalog, and the WorldCat database. These requests take
more time to process.

V. Library Cards and Interlibrary Loan

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).

 Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

Once you register your library card, you are able to request books and articles through
interlibrary loan (ILL). You can request a book or article through interlibrary loan at
http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/illform.htm.Your request might take more than two
weeks to fulfill. Please contact Neil Conrad at 508.626.4690 for questions on ILL.

VI. Searching for Articles:

For a listing of all of our research databases, go to the “A to Z List of Databases” link on
the library webpage. If you are off campus, you must authenticate by entering your
network account.
http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/finding/articles.htm

You will find relevant articles in the following library databases:

• EBSCO’s Communication and Mass Media Complete
• InfoTrac’s General Onefile
• CQ Researcher (reports)
• LexisNexis (news)

(If an article is available online in a FirstSearch database, it will prompt you for a full text
password. The password is fsc.)

VII.Searching in EBSCO’s Communication and Mass Media Complete

When you get some results, select articles by “adding them to a folder”.

Open the folder icon at the top of the page once you have selected the articles. In the
folder view, select the articles that you would like to print, email, export, or save.

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).

 Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

To find out how an article is cited, select the title of the article and select this icon. Notice
also how the article is classified with other subject terms that you can use.

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).

 Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

EBSCO formats the article in a number of citation styles:

VIII.Searching for Full-Text Articles if You Have the Citation

If you come across a bibliography that contains citations and would like to view any of
the articles online, enter the name of the journal in the Full Text Journal Finder.
(http://pj8tr3fm5l.search.serialssolutions.com/)

If the journal is available online, the page results will list the research databases that
contain the article full text. You then need to search for the article in that particular
database.

If an article is not available full-text, you can check the red binder to see if the library
carries it in print. For questions on our print journals, please contact Deb Hogan,
periodicals supervisor, at dhogan@framingham.edu.

IX. Searching for scholarly articles in Google Scholar

Select the link A to Z List of Databases on the library homepage and then the Google
Scholar link. Once on the Google Scholar page, go to Scholar Preferences and make sure
that Framingham State College is listed as a preferred library.

Also select RefWorks as a preferred Bibliographic Manager:

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).
 Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

When creating a search in GoogleScholar, you do not need to link terms by “and” for
example: television violence wrestling

Further instructions here: http://whittemorelibrary.wordpress.com/2008/02/16/try-google-

scholar/

X. Searching on the Google for Information

Try to keep the search simple. Limit your search to .edu or .gov sites. Play around with
key words to get the best hits.

Questions to ask when you are evaluating Internet resources:

• Who is the author or producer of the content?
• Is the information on the webpage current?
• What is the purpose of the website? Who is the audience?

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).

 Expository Writing: Guide to Library Resources and Services

• Is the information accurate? Is the information taken from another source?

• Is the webpage easy to navigate? Do all the links work?

Resources for finding television shows/video clips:

• http://www.tvland.com/
• http://www.youtube.com/
• http://www.tv.com/video/
• http://www.hulu.com/

XI. Other suggestions:

When you are ready to cite your resources for your paper, a great resource is the Duke
University Libraries – Citing Resources page: http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/.

Questions? Email (reference@framingham.edu) or call us at (508.626.4655).