7. How to do research:
Find Background Information
8. Research Tools - Catalogs
POLAR: Accessing physical and electronic
items located at HML (Heterick Memorial
Library) as well as LAW (Taggart Law
Library).
OhioLINK: Next step if you can’t find what
you want in the HML or LAW collections.
ILL: Option of last resort for books and
articles.
10. Find a book: POLAR
● Books are arranged on the shelves using Dewey Decimal
Classification Numbers. Think of the these numbers as the
shelf address for a book.
● Books found in POLAR will be part of the reference
collection (1st floor), juvenile collection (2nd floor), the
circulating collection (3rd floor) or e-books available online.
e-book
reference
e-book
circulating
11. Find a book: OhioLINK
● Most of the university and college libraries
in Ohio share their materials through a
consortium catalog called OhioLINK.
There are around 10 million items available
A link from POLAR permits you to submit
requests. Available from the Heterick
homepage
Most requests arrive in 2-3 working days
No charge
Limited to 100 items at a time
MAY RENEW UP TO 4 TIMES!
12. Find a book: POLAR
and OhioLINK
1. Click on the OhioLINK icon
to access the consortium
catalog.
14. FIND A BOOK: OHIOLINK
3. Select Ohio Northern U.
4. Enter your first and last
name and all 11 digits
exactly as they appear on
your ID.
5. Be sure to select
Heterick as your pick up
location and then click
submit.
6. An email will be
sent when the item is
ready for pickup.
15. Internet Tools
Does the information located
satisfy the research need?
Is the information factual and
unbiased?
See additional tips for evaluating
web sources and web pages in the
Writing Seminar Research Guide
16. Internet Tools: CRAAP
Currency
TestTimeliness of the
information
Relevance/Coverage
Depth and importance
Authority
Source of the
Accuracy
Reliability of the
Purpose/Objectivity
Possible bias present in
of the information
information
information
the information
17. Internet Tools: Critically
analyzing web sources
What? is the page/site about
Who? created and maintains this site
Where? Is the information coming from
Why? Is the information presented on the web
When? Was the page created or last updated
How? Accurate or credible is the page
From the University of Wisconsin
Library, worksheet for evaluating web
sites
18. Research Tools:
Periodicals and Articles
A periodical is something that is published at
regular intervals
Magazines and journals are both
periodicals, however…
Magazines are typically a more
“popular” type of periodical
●
Journals are scholarly
or professional peer
reviewed periodicals
20. Research Tools: Electronic
Theses & Dissertations
From the Databases tab, select “O”
from the A-Z Databases by TITLE list,
and then choose “OhioLINK Electronic
Theses and Dissertations Center” from
the list of “O” Databases.
21. Research Tools:
Databases
Tools for locating journal and
newspaper articles
Most are subject-specific, but
some are multi-disciplinary
Many give access to full text
articles
Heterick has 240+ databases
23. Research Tools:
Databases
Helpful databases to jump start your
research:
Academic Search Complete
Business Source Complete
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Education Research Complete
LexisNexis Academic
Search by subject/discipline to find subject
specific databases
But we have an even easier tool now to get
your research started…
25. Research Tools: Discovery
Layer
What is included in SEARCH?
POLAR catalog
OhioLINK catalog
Article-level searching for all EBSCO
databases
Article-level searching for a variety
of other databases:
JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy,
etc.
Title-level searching for most other
databases: IEEE, CIAO, Proquest
Nursing & Allied Health
34. How to do research:
Cite what you find using
standard formats
There are 3 citation styles that are
frequently used at ONU:
● MLA (Modern Language Association)
● APA (American Psychological Association)
● CMS (Chicago Manual of Style)
For this class, you are to use the citation
style used by your major.
