I. Library materials are organized into two broad categories: monographs and periodicals. Monographs are items that are published complete in one part, at one time, e.g., books, videos, CD-ROMS, DVDs, maps, paintings, etc. They may be revised in the future, but each revision or new edition becomes a new monograph once new content is added.
Periodicals are items that are published periodically—daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc., in a serial fashion (volume 30 follows volume 29); these include newspapers, magazines, journals, and some government documents. Your instructors may use the term periodical interchangeably with journal. Serial and periodical may also be used interchangeably, within the library. Whether the material is in print or electronic form, it will fall into one of these two categories.
II. There are two types of research material: primary and secondary
Primary sources represent original, firsthand works-records
of events as first described by the person(s) who wrote/created/sang/spoke
the material, e.g., poems, research studies, diaries, works of art, interviews,
novels, films, autobiographies. In many cases, you will be required to
use primary sources for your research projects.
Secondary sources analyze, review, evaluate, interpret and restate primary sources, e.g., book reviews, biographies, analyses or syntheses of literary works or research studies. Many reference works are secondary sources and many journal articles are reviews of another's primary research.
III. There are two types of periodical literature: scholarly
and non-scholarly.
Scholarly journals:
- look serious and contain mainly text and charts
- contain content written by scholars or researchers in the field
- contain content written for an audience with a background in the field
- always cite their sources and include a bibliography or works cited section
- are published by professional organizations, scholarly presses or universities
- contain content which is frequently peer-reviewed or refereed, i.e., an article is reviewed by a group of the authors' peers, in addition to an editorial board, to see if it is "worthy" or substantive enough to be published in the journal
Non-scholarly periodicals (magazines, trade publications, newspapers):
- look glossy or are formatted like a newspaper; they contain many ads and photos
- contain content frequently written by "staff" or freelancers
- contain variable coverage geared for public consumption
- seldom cite their sources or include a bibliography
- use information that is second- or third-hand
- are published by commercial, for-profit publishers
- contain content that is not peer-reviewed/refereed
IV. Internet resources for scholars. An Internet resource is one obtained by using an Internet search engine like Google or Yahoo. It does not refer to a journal article obtained from an online periodical database such as those to which the library subscribes. In some classes, you will be allowed to use Internet resources for your research—choose wisely! For academic purposes, much of the material found on the Internet is useless. Many sites are designed to entertain (blogs, social network sites) or to persuade/promote/sell you a product or a point of view (.com + some .org and .net sites).
There are Internet sites suitable for academic research:
- statistics/documents published by the government, e.g., www.nih.gov (.gov is always OK)
- corporation or organization web site, e.g., www.gm.com, www.apa.org (can be OK depending on your purpose and the nature of the organization)
- image or illustration, e.g., www.moma.org (OK if a legitimate museum or biographical site)
- open source scholarly directories, e.g., www.doaj.org/, xxx.lanl.gov/ (OK if .org/.gov/.edu and clearly legitimate)
- Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/) can sometimes be helpful, but you won't get full text unless you see the Resources@ENMUGoldenLibrary tag under the citation; however, clicking the link does not always guarantee full text. Google Scholar is merely a search engine restricted to scholarly material that links to scholarly resources available in Golden Library (or some other library). See Handout 5 for evaluative information about choosing an Internet site for research purposes.
- Google Books (http://books.google.com) will allow you to view selected pages, but not entire books. This can be helpful if you need only a small bit of information from the work. There are several other sources of full-text books online in their entirety, e.g., www.gutenberg.org.
V.
Online Periodical Databases and Periodical Indexes
Online Periodical Databases provide electronic access
to periodical literature via citation (location), abstract (location
+ summary), or full-text articles. Databases may be subject specific
or multi-disciplinary and contain scholarly and/or non-scholarly material.
Online databases are produced by publisher-vendors or aggregators, and
access rights are purchased by libraries through annual subscriptions.
Full-text articles that appear in databases may be in HTML or PDF format.
PDF files are exact scanned images of articles that appear in print
journals and magazines. HTML files contain the same textual content
as the print counterpart, but may lack photos, charts and page numbers.
Most databases allow you to print, download, export, or email citations
and articles. Handout 3 provides a list of online databases
that the library purchases.
Periodical indexes are print indexes that provide citations to periodical literature; they may also include abstracts. They are frequently subject specific, e.g., Biological Abstracts, but may contain very general content, e.g., Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Indexes are also purchased from publishers via annual subscriptions. Generally, it is easier and more convenient to use an online database for your research. In instances where a database lacks sufficient coverage on your topic, or you need older data (pre-1985), a print index may be useful. Print indexes can only be accessed and used in the library.
VI. Using Library/Interlibrary Loan (ILL) In cases where an article or book is not full-text online, and you are a distance education student, you may request it via Library/Interlibrary Loan. Students taking classes on campus in Portales should first check to see if we have the print version of the book or article in the library, before requesting it via ILL. Golden Library provides the ILLiad automated ILL system which enables you to place requests and retrieve electronically delivered material 24/7. To use ILLiad:
- go to the library home page and click the Interlibrary Loan link (under Services)
- click the "Log In/Register with ILLiad" link in the left-hand sidebar
- click the "First Time User" button and register (if you have never used the system); online and on-site students make sure you register your status as "distance ed" in order to receive material in the correct location
- all communication about your requests is via your ENMU email account—when you have placed a request, make sure you check your ENMU email account frequently, so you'll know when the material arrives (on average, it takes approx 3-5 days for an article to arrive, 1-2 weeks for a book)
- supply your own ILLiad Username—make it something simple you are already using
- enter your ENMU student ID# as your ILLiad Password
- to place requests, click the "Request Book" link (for all monographs), or the "Request Article" link (for all article photocopy requests) on your main menu; complete the citation information and submit your request
- you will be notified via your ENMU email account that:
- your material has arrived—Portales campus students will pick up print material at the library's circulation desk and distance ed students will receive it in the mail
- your article has arrived electronically—logon to your ILLiad account with the ILLiad username and password you created during ILLiad registration and click the "Electronically Delivered Articles" link to view and print your article. In many cases, you may receive an article electronically via your ENMU email account.
- we were unable to fill your request, with the reason included