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How to Navigate the Library

This guide is a collection of guidelines, videos, and other resources to help you around the library, from searching for a book to which citation style to use.

Evaluating Sources

Evaluate all information, whether from a book, article, or website. 

  • Find out what you can about the author/producer.
    • Google the author or organization’s name (lateral reading).
  • Is it intended for a scholarly or general audience?
  • Is it fact, opinion, or propaganda?
    • Facts are objective.
    • Opinion gives thoughts or ideas of a particular person or group. Opinion pieces are not necessarily unreliable, but the author should recognize there may be other varying opinions. Opinions may be biased. 
    • Propaganda spreads possibly biased information for a specific person, group, or cause. 
  • Cross-check the information with other sources.
  • How timely is the source?
  • Examine the list of references if available.
  • Read the abstract/summary to determine if it’s on your topic.

These guidelines were derived from General Guidelines, Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University.

MLA also provides a checklist for evaluating sources. 

Using Google

Google can be helpful for your research. Here are some ways to make sure you're getting the best you can out of it:

  • Use Google Advanced Search: next to the search box, click on Advanced Search. Use AND, OR, and NOT.
  • Use Google Scholar: go up to the top of the Google page, and click on the link "more." Choose Scholar from the list. Google Scholar will bring you back scholarly journal articles; we have access to the ones with links on the right!
  • Use Google Books: in the same place you clicked for Scholar, try Books. Some books are available online, full-text, in PDF!
  • Use your skepticism: don't forget that Google is primarily a company that exists to make money. Try going to the second and third results pages.
  • Quotation Marks “” : Just like when searching in our databases you can use quotation marks to search of an exact set of words or name
    • “To infinity and beyond!”
  • Dashes - : Instead of the word “not” to remove a word from your search results google uses dashes before the word. Essentially you are subtracting the word from your search
    • Liberty - Justice
  • TILDE ~: You can  use the tilde to include synonyms in your search
    • Breakfast ~Pastry
  • SITE:www.query.com: This allows you to search only with in a specific site or type of site
    • SITE:GOV -Searches through only .gov websites
    • SITE: www.sc4.edu -Searches through only SC4.edu
  • Two Periods : This allows you to look for things within a range
    • Fashion 1940..1945: This gives you results that have the word fashion in it and any date between 1940 and 1945

How to Find Good Online Sources

how to choose a good online source

Image: MacMeekin, Mia. "How to Choose a Good Online Source." An Ethical Island, anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/how-do-you-choose-good-online-sources/. CC BY-ND-NC 1.0

Your Librarian

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Jane Lewandoski
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Phone (810) 989-5640
Text (810) 515-7343
library@sc4.edu
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