GC Library: Research Tutorial: 2. Find Your Sources

Find Your Sources

What Sources Should I Use?

There are many sources to use, such as books, eBooks, articles, media, or websites.

Read your assignment instructions carefully; most assignments specify which sources you can use.

If you are wondering where you will find sources, GC Library has you covered! As a student, you have access to thousands of academic sources which will help you with your research assignment.

Need help deciding which sources to use? View What Sources Should I Use? or Ask-A-Librarian at GC Library.

Find Books & eBooks

Books cover almost any topic, fiction or non-fiction. For research purposes, you will most likely look for books that combine all the information in one topic.

Books are used:

when looking for large amounts of information on a specific topic
to clarify the meaning of a topic
to find historical information
to find summaries of research

There are a variety of ways to search for books at GC Library:

Whitecaps OneSearch

Search Whitecaps OneSearch (below) to find books and eBooks available in the library and online.

Library Catalog

The library catalog is a keyword-based search to find books, textbooks, periodicals, DVDs, CDs, and more available in the GC Library.

Find Articles & Media

Your research assignment will determine which databases to search.

What is a database? A database is a searchable index of many reliable resources. Databases provide access to a wealth of helpful research materials from academic journals, newspapers, magazines, eBooks, audiobooks, media, and more.

There are a variety of article sources within databases. Please view the chart below to understand the article sources.

ARTICLE SOURCE	Scholarly Journals	Newspapers	Trade or Professional Journals	Popular Magazines

PURPOSE	Use for in-depth, original research findings and peer-reviewed research articles.	Use for current events topics or editorials and opinions dealing with current events.	Offers specialized industry or professional articles that tend to be more practical and applied in nature.	For the general interest reader—these articles are used to inform or entertain.

Try These Databases	EBSCO	Newspaper Source Plus	EBSCO Business Source Complete	EBSCO

This chart was adapted from Georgetown College University E nsor Learning Resource Center.

Search the Library Databases

Find Google Resources

Contrary to what you may have been told about using Google, Google can be a good research resource if used effectively.

You can use specific techniques to be an effective Google searcher. Your job is to decide which Google database you should use to find the types of materials you need, as well as to create searches or queries that provide pertinent results.

Google collections useful for scholarly research: Google Scholar and Google Books. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts, and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites.

Google Scholar provides a simple way to find relevant work across the world of scholarly research.
Google Books is one of the world's most comprehensive indexes of full-text books.

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