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Many types of resources are available from the library, such as books, periodicals (newspapers, magazines, and journals), dissertations, and videos (DVDs or streaming). Additionally, databases are library tools that store and provide access to variety of information and content. Databases usually have a search interface and functionality to facilitate finding the resources you need. NOTE: When doing assignments for classes, make sure of any requirements faculty provide concerning the use of library resources in terms of the types of resources they want you to use. For example, one assignment may be limited to peer reviewed journal articles, while another may allow journals, magazines, and books. For a short (6:19) overview of finding books, journals, and databases see this video.
Content in books provides significant background and thorough coverage of a topic or topics. Examples are handbooks, biographies, textbooks, or novels. Books are generally more lengthy than periodical articles, and the content books contain is usually somewhat older than content in recent journals. Usually books are single volume, but sometimes they are multi-volume (example: encyclopedias). For more info on reasons to utilize books, see this library guide. For a demonstration on searching for books in WestSearch, which is the library's discovery system/catalog, watch this short video (5:23). If you prefer, take a look at this step-by-step tutorial. And to search our collection of all Ebsco eBooks (over 100K) see this Section 4 of that tutorial.
Periodical articles usually have a narrow focus on a specific topic and are generally much shorter in length than books. Content in current periodicals is usually newer than content in books, so if you need current or newer information periodicals are likely the place to find it. Journals, magazines, and newspapers are three different types of periodicals, which, as the name implies, are published periodically (daily, as in the case of many newspapers; weekly, such as magazines like Time and People; monthly, as is the case with many journals, though some journals are published weekly, and some are published 4 or 6 times per year). For more detail about types of periodicals watch this short video (3 minutes) from the Johnson & Wales University.
A journal is a type of periodical. Journal articles are a form of scholarly communication. Researchers use journals to share their work with others interested in the field. When your professors do research, they plan and execute it carefully, then they write up the results and insightful conclusions in a manner that is accepted, and expected, by others in their field. It is often published as a peer-reviewed journal article. Although peer-review is often thought of as being associated with sciences, peer-reviewed journals exist in all subjects: history, social studies, education, health & medicine, art, music, literature, and more. To learn more about peer review see this website from BioMed Central, or watch a short video (3 minutes) about peer-review.
If you need to find journal articles, one way would be to search through individual journals. WCSU has access to several thousand journals, and it is not usually practical to search on a journal-by-journal basis. A more effective process would be to search in one of the library’s databases, where you would be searching through several hundred to several thousand journals at the same time, instead of just one. Searching in databases will be addressed below.
However, if you simply want to browse through a journal, magazine, or paper, you can use Journal Finder, which you can find on the library homepage as seen below, to check if we have a license to it. Watch this short video (3:26) using the Journal of Teacher Education as an example.
Academic databases are collections of resources, typically periodicals and articles, but also other types of resources such as dissertations, book reviews, records of artwork and other creative activity, business reports and data, videos, and more. Some databases contain the full-text of a book or article, but some might contain only information about the item, and one has to look elsewhere for the actual text. Databases contain a user interface and search functionality to assist in finding the best content possible for a research interest. This video (14:19) introduces and demonstrates searching in a general subject, periodical database called Academic Search Premier, which contains nearly 18,000 periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers).
One can take a look at all databases the library offers in alphabetical order (A-Z) or categorized by subject.
1. DVDs can be found by searching in WestCollections, as was the case for books. Just make sure to change Material Type to Audio Visual.
2. Streaming videos can be located in a database called Films on Demand as well as the WCSU home for video called Media Space. Media Space videos may be academic in nature or perhaps solely for entertainment.
