This research guide provides information on using library resources to facilitate your research assignments. If you have any questions, please contact library@annamaria.edu.
As you’re researching, you’ll encounter a variety of different source types that all may be useful for your project. Here are a few source types and some ways in which they can be helpful:
Scholarly Article – These are research articles written by experts who work in and study a specific field. The articles have also undergone peer-review, which means that other experts read the article and suggest changes that should be made before it was published. These articles usually look at a topic in-depth, feature original research, and may include an argument for a specific interpretation, course of action, or treatment.
Encyclopedia Entry – Encyclopedia entries are a great place to start for a lot of topics! These sources provide basic factual information on a topic and introduce you to key concepts and other relevant information.
Newspaper Article – Newspaper articles are great sources for current events, as they provide up-to-date information on a topic. For older topics, newspapers can provide insight into what was going on and what people were discussing when an event occurred.
Books – Books are a great way to get in-depth information on a topic, as they are usually long and well researched. Rather than reading the whole book, it’s often more effective to focus on a chapter or two that is specifically relevant to your research topic.
Website – Websites can be great places to find information about organizations or groups. Just make sure you choose reliable sites and consider the source of information (see the “Web Sources” tab above for more info).
Zotero is a free citation manager that you can use to keep track of and organize the sources you find while researching. It can also save the full-text of sources that you find in the library's databases, identify publication information, and create automatic citations for all of your sources at once.
For more information, check out the Zotero website, and our video tutorial on Creating Citations with Zotero.
To access our catalog and databases remotely, you'll need to log in with your library credentials. Enter your library account number, which should be on the back of your student ID, if you were issued one (look for a barcode labeled Mondor-Eagen Library and a 14-digit number beginning with "204640..."). Your library number may also be in your WebAMC account.
Your password will likely be your last name in all capital letters. If your last name is fewer than four letters, add letters from your first name.
For example:
Taylor Smith = SMITH
Justin Ore = JORE
Sarah Ng = SANG
If you have a hyphenated name, or have multiple names, use whichever comes last.
For example:
Colin Harris-Murray = MURRAY
Caroline Rivera Gomez = GOMEZ
If you have any difficulty logging in or using our online resources, email library@annamaria.edu.