Library Blog

Mobile Apps for Research & Productivity

RU Library is mobile! You can access many of the Library's resources on any device you choose to use.

Be sure to check out the Library’s listing of Mobile Apps for Research and Productivity from multiple vendors for the specific apps that your device(s) support(s).

We are always looking for new tools to make our library resources available to you at any time, anywhere. We've linked you to a few good ones, but feel free to suggest others that you have found useful by emailing us.

If you are visiting our website from your mobile device, head over to http://libguides.roosevelt.edu/mobile to get the mobile experience.

Remember, you can Chat or Text us any time we are open!

Text a Librarian: Add 312-614-0733 to your contacts
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Mobile Apps for Research

Be sure to check out the Library’s listing of Mobile Apps for Research  from multiple vendors.

 

Specifically for EBSCO Apps for iPhone & Android...

 

EBSCOhost, the provider of such popular library journal article discovery products as Academic Search Premier, Education Research Complete, and PsycArticles, now has iPhone and Android apps to improve your searching experience when accessing with a cell phone or tablet.  To set up the app on your device, here are a few tips…

 

Log into any EBSCO product using either an on-campus computer or from home.  On the EBSCO page, scroll down to the footer and click the link for “iPhone and Android apps”.  You will get a pop-up box asking for an email address.  Type in the email address for the account that you have set up to read on your cell phone or tablet.

 

1.      Download the App:  On your cell phone or table, download the free ‘EBSCOhost’ app from either iTunes (Apple) or the Play Store (Android).

2.      Authenticating:  Go into your email and, in the message from EBSCO called “Instructions and authentication”, click on the “authentication key” link in step 2.

 

The EBSCO Support Knowledge Base provides a more in-depth summary of these instructions.

What ELSE can Credo Reference do?

As you may have read in an earlier Ms. Information post HERE, Credo Reference is a great resource for finding background information on your topic.  We like to think of it as a reliable alternative to Wikipedia, because the entries are written by experts in the field.  But did you know that Credo can do a lot more than that, including helping you find images to enhance your research, and also help you narrow down your topic?

You can type in the keyword of your topic in the "Search for" box, or click on the "Image Search" tab to search for images, maps and graphs related to your topic.  Credo Reference also offers the "Concept Map."  With this feature, you can type in your keyword, and it will show you results of entries and pieces of information that are related to your topic.  This can help you start thinking about your topic in new ways.

Credo Reference contains almost 500 reference book, with over 3 million full text entries.  Reference books include encyclopedias, biographies and dictionaries on topics ranging from a history of martial arts to a dictionary of child development, and many topics in between. 

You can access Credo Reference from the Library home page by using the drop down menu under Online Resources A-Z.  Happy searching!

Image courtesy of Credo Reference.  Database accessible to members of the Roosevelt community with a valid student id number.

The Joy of Print: Reference Books

When was the last time you looked at an encyclopedia? Perhaps it was for your sixth grade paper on the respiratory system. If that is the case, do we have a surprise for you! Reference books (and we do mean books that sit on the shelves) are all grown up, and can be valuable resources for your assignments. In fact, many times they are a great place to begin as you ask yourself, "Now what?" The reference books that you will find in the library are (generally) specialty books on a particular subject.

For example:

   

                                                                                                                                              

These encyclopedias can be found in the Reference sections of the RU Libraries.

The books are indexed so that you can look up a particular topic within the subject area.

What can these articles do for you?

• Give you an introduction to the subject
• Provide search terms that you can use in the RU catalog or databases to find more info
• Supply a list of references, which are good leads for other sources

Okay - even though a lot has changed from the reference books of yesterday, and that respiratory system report you slogged through, some things never change. You may only use the books in the library, but no problem - you may find some other surprises in the library. Like, maybe a new friend.

Where Do I Begin My Library Research?

 

You have to do a research paper in Psychology, Marketing, Biology, or any number of subjects. Your professor has said that you have to use a variety of sources – books, journal articles and Web sites. Now what? Where should you begin?

Before you dive in to Google or the RU catalog, we have done some of the legwork for you. Research Guides by Subject and In-depth Research Aids can give you lots of resources to get you started.

Look under “Guides and Tutorials” on the Library home page. Click “How to Use RU’s Online Resources.” Scroll down on the page and you will see “Subject Guides” and “Research Aids.” These guides are organized by subject and list a wide variety of reference books, databases, journals, suggested search terms and Web sites to use in your research. These guides are updated every year; the links are checked for accuracy, the Web sites are reviewed for relevance and new resources are added. The Research Aids provide similar information on specialized topics.

Helpful Hint #1: Sometimes your topic may overlap among two or more subject areas. If that is the case, be sure to check our complete list of subject guide topics for other sources of information.

Helpful Hint #2: Stop in to the library, call or e-mail us. We will be happy to help you find exactly what you’re looking for!

Renee Roth

Reference Librarian

What is a scholarly journal?

     Your professor has told you to use 'scholarly journals' in your research. You might wonder what that means. Does it mean you just need to get it from the library? Or can you any magazine other than something US Weekly or The National Enquirer? The question you need an answer to is
What is a scholarly journal?
     This is one of the most frequent topics we explain to students, so know that you are not alone in wondering about it.  Scholarly journals are also sometimes referred to as Academic Journals and Peer-Reviewed Journals.  They differ from popular journals in many ways and it can be tricky to figure out which is which.
     The primary difference in these types of journals or magazines is the process an article goes through in order to get published (but I'll give you some other clues as well).  In a scholarly journal an expert in a field (like someone with a PhD - or your own professor!) writes an article and sends it off.  Before the journal publishes this article they will send it out to other experts in the field, or the writer's peers for review (get it? peer-reviewed?).  This process can take a lot of time so articles in peer-reviewed journals are not front-page news.  You have just learned one clue as to what makes a scholarly journal; the news is not hot off the presses.  Newspapers and news magazines are hot off the presses, and these are considered popular sources and include publications such as The Chicago Tribune or Time Magazine or Newsweek.
     Of course, newspapers are often reliable sources of certain types of information, so an important thing to remember is that scholarly and popular doesn't neccessarily translate into reliable and questionable.  In order for an article to get published in The Sun-Times, a journalist (as opposed to a field-expert) writes an article and her editor, or editing team checks for errors and then gets it out for people to read as quickly as possible.

What are some clues to distinguish between these types of sources?
The writer:
A Field Expert (scholarly) or a Journalist (popular)?
The timeliness:
Hot off the presses? (popular)
Pictures:
Diagrams, and few pictures?(scholarly) Many pictures related to the stories? (popular)
Format:
Does it look like a newspaper? (Then it probably is)
Does it have glossy pages and is available at Borders and The Grocery Store or the Airport? (It is probably popular)
Is it on dull paper with a very specific-audience name such as American Journal of Botany? (It's probably Scholarly)

      Remember these are just clues, you need to take them all into account and decide for yourself whether a journal is scholarly or not. Oftentimes it will say on the information page on their website, through the database, or in the print copy, so look around!  If you need more help contact the library.

How do I find a book?

Back in the day, people used to use a card catalog to find books. 
Some of our students have grown up looking for books online, but many remember going to the large, wooden card catalog and flipping through the many cards to find the call number for a particular book.  If this is what you remember doing, or if using a library is new to you, regardless of your age, here are some tips on how to find a book in the library.

1.Go the the Library's home page.
2. Click the link that says 'Find Books' (that was easy, right?)
3. Next, choose 'Look for Books at Roosevelt University'
4. On this screen, you can choose to search by author, title, keyword or subject - which is for you to decide.  If you already know which book you're looking for search by author or title, but if you're looking for books on a particular subject, for example The Civil War, then use key words or subject searching.
5. When you find the right book, write down (or print out) the Call Number, which will begin with one or two letters followed by a series of numbers - this is how you find the book on the shelf.

Still confused? Ask a librarian for help or send us an email at refdt [at] roosevelt [dot] edu or schlib [at ]roosevelt [dot] edu