Find Resources in the Library
Your research librarian has put together several guides for your assignment needs. These guides will be helpful when finding information for your presentation.
We have already reviewed your topics and you can find valid, accurate, and credible sources for a variety of topics in the resources we've listed on this guide.
Remember that your research and presentations will be viewed by instructors and peers who are expecting to see academic resources, and not just information you found using Google which are questionable and often times may lack credibility or factual correctness.
Follow the instructions below:
1) Find Books
Use this page to find print and ebook resources on your topic.
This is where you'll find articles of information for your topic. There are multiple databases you can use, and you should them as they cover varied aspects of your topic. You'll also be able to find information about your profession, art, culture, and gender.
3) Find Reference/Background Information
Use this resource to find general information.
4) Find Images
If you need to have images for your presentation, there are very good resources to help you find ones that visually represent your topic.
Here's where you can schedule your group to meet with a Research Consultant at the Library.
If We Do not Have What You Need ...
We can get just about anything you need as long as someone is willing to lend it to us! What usually will NOT be lent: original manuscripts or rare books. Some items may be difficult to get, such as entire journals or newspapers, reference books, multimedia, software. Once you locate an item, you can request it via Tipasa.
To request an item to be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan, you must log onto the Tipasa. First time users must create an account. To do so, please click on "First Time User" link. Lending, however, is at the discretion of the owning library, so if an item is an original archival item available at only one library, chances are it won't be lent. Don't hesitate to ask for help concerning these items.
The databases listed below can help you locate those hard to find items you need. Once you locate an item, you can request it via ILLiad.
-
Virtual Library of Virginia VIVA is a consortium library that exists to lend materials to its members, and NSU is a member. If you find an item in the catalog, you can request it via ILLiad. Through VIVA, students and faculty at institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth have access to digital and print journals, books, reference sources, and databases that are essential for educational success and research enterprise. Whether you are at a community college or a large public university, a small liberal arts college or an elite private university, the same VIVA is available to you.WorldCat Worldcat is a database of libraries' holdings throughout the U. S. and even includes some European libraries' holdings. You can use it to find out if any libraries have the item that you want. For example, if only one library has an archival item, that item most likely will not be available for lending via ILL. It's also an easy way to see if a local library has an item.You may also search the databases below:A collection of free access e-journals hosted by the Virginia Tech Digital Library. It also contains electronic theses, dissertations, and faculty archives.This is a full-text database representing the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. It includes 1 million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format (mostly 1997-) and 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations from around the world.
Using Primary Sources
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture launched Unknown No Longer in 2011 to make accessible biographical details of enslaved Virginians from unpublished historical records in its collections. The site provided researchers with the ability to discover information on ancestors not found in other sources.
Primary sources are artifacts or documents created during the period of time under study. They provide an original source of information about your topic. Primary sources can include photographs, art, newspapers, diaries, interviews, letters, novels, speeches, government documents, and music.