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DU Home > Library

How Do I ...?

1. How do I find a book...

2. How do I find an article...

3. How do I know which database to use?

4. How do I cite my sources using a specific citation style?

5. How do I determine if the website I found is reliable and accurate?

6. How do I cite a website in a bibliography?

7. How do I get started with research for paper?

8. How do I get a library card?

9. How do I check out a book?

10. How do I request a book or article through Interlibrary Loan?

11. How do I get help?

1. How do I find a book.

At Dominican University?

Enter the Online Catalog by clicking on the Books link and the clicking on DU Online Catalog.

In the I-Share Catalog (Catalog for 76 academic & research libraries across Illinois)? Enter the I-Share catalog by clicking on the Books link and then clicking on the I-Share Catalog link.

If you are in the DU online catalog you may link directly into I-Share by clicking on the tab marked I-Share in the top navigation.

Perform a Search Known item search

If you know the name of the book you are looking for or know the name of the author you can use the Quick Search and select Title or Author from the Search by box.

For a title search, enter the title of the book without the initial article (a, an, the).
For an author search enter the author's name, last name followed by first name.

Topic Search

If you are searching for a book on a topic it is best to use the keyword, or Any Word Anywhere search.

If you are searching for a phrase try enclosing the phrase is quotation marks: "united states" "nineteenth century" "clinical psychology"
If you are combining multiple concepts together in a topic: e.g. art and the 20th century; or education in Illinois; you may want to use what is called a Boolean Search.
Boolean Searching uses AND and OR as operators to tell the database how to combine your terms.
If you are searching for two concepts you would want to combine the concepts using AND: art and "20th century" education and Illinois and select the Boolean Search from in the search by box.
If you are looking for words that are alike in meaning (synonyms) you want to combine them using OR: teens or teenagers or youths or adolescents or "young adults" America or "United States"

For more help using the catalogs you can download a quickstart guide (pdf) or link to the I-Share Help pages from the catalog.

2. How do I find an article.

From a citation that I have?

If you have an article citation you may use the Journal List link to search for the Journal Title in the Dominican University holdings.
You must have the Journal Title in order to do this. The Journal Title differs from the Article Title. The Journal Title is similar to the title of a book and the article title is similar to the title of a book chapter.
Once in the Journal List, type in the Journal Title and click search. If no holding are found then Dominican University does not subscribe to this journal. A reference librarian can help you locate a copy of this article or you can submit an interlibrary loan photocopy request and have the article sent to you.

If holdings are found they may include both print and electronic holdings (often multiple electronic holdings). Check the date ranges carefully as some recent journal issues may not be available electronically but may be available in the print periodical holdings. If only print holdings are available you will have to come to the library and locate the journal article in our print periodicals collection in the lower level of the library. Periodicals are arranged alphabetically, then by volume.

By topic? If you are trying to locate journal articles by topic the best way to get started is to determine what database to use.

Some databases are general in scope and cover many disciplines, while others are very specific and only focus on one area within a discipline. On the Articles page you can select the Databases by Subject link to see a list of databases appropriate for the discipline.

If you are unsure of the discipline there are several general resources that are a good place to start:

Academic Search Premier
Omnifile Full Text Mega
Opposing Viewpoints Research Center
FirstSearch Databases

If cannot located any articles on your topic you may want to consult a reference librarian for assistance.

3. How do I know which database to use?

Dominican University subscribes to over 120 databases so it can be difficult to know which database to use.  There are several ways to determine what is the best resources for the job.

1.Use the Databases by Subject List - this list breaks down the databases by subject discipline.
2. Subject Guides - this page links you to subject guides put together by librarians for each academic department at Dominican University.
3. Class pages -  this pages links you to web pages that were created by librarians for specific courses at Dominican University, if your class doesn't have a class page listed, another course in your area may.
4. Ask a reference librarian for help - reference librarians are on duty until 10:00 p.m. everyday to answer any questions you may have.

4. How do I cite my sources using a specific citation style?

We have put together a Citation Guides page for just this purpose.  Some instructors require a specific citation style: MLA, APA, or Chigao/Turabian are the most common.  You may also want to use RefWorks for citation formatting, bibliography formatting, and research storage.  Click here for more information onRefWorks.

Click on the Citation Guides link to access a number of online sites for citation help or click on one of the PDF documents below to view style guide handouts created by the library staff. 

MLA Citation Guide (PDF)
APA Citation Guide (PDF)
Chicago/Turabian Citation Guide (PDF)

5. How do I determine if the website I found is reliable and accurate?

There are many wonderful and reputable sources on the Internet but often it can difficult to find them after weeding through all other sites that come up in a Google search.

Some criteria to look for include:

What type of domain does this page come from?

.com? .net? -- these are commercial sites
.org? -- this often indicates a non-profit
.gov? -- only government sites have this domain
.edu? -- only educational institutions have this domain

Is this someone's personal page?
What are the author or authors' credentials?
Is the information current?
When was the page last updated?

Are sources documented with footnotes, a list of references or links?

Do the links work? Do they link to relevant sites on the topic?

Do other reputable sites link to this page (search Google using the link operator: type link:http://www.website.com)

Why was this page created? As a joke or satire? To misinform people? To sell a product? Or to provide useful and important information to a broad range or users?

For more information on determining the validity and reliability of a web site you can: download the Evaluating Websites Handout (PDF) created by Dominican University library staff.

6. How do I cite a website in a bibliography?

If you have determined that the web resource that you want to use is reliable and authoritative you can include it in a bibliography or works cited page.

Use the Citation Guides page to determine the correct citation style.

The information required for web citations include:

Title of the Website
Author (if one is named), or Organization
Date the content was written (if listed)
Date you accessed the source
URL for the web page

Research and Documentation Online by Diana Hacker is also an excellent resource for citing electronic resources.

7. How do I get started with research for paper?

1. Start with a keyword search in a general database:

Academic Search Premier
Omnifile Full Text Mega
Opposing Viewpoints Research Center
FirstSearch Databases

2. Use the Databases by Subject List - this list breaks down the databases by subject discipline.

3. Subject Guides - this page links you to subject guides put together by librarians for each academic department at Dominican University.

4. Class Pages - this pages links you to web pages that were created by librarians for specific courses at Dominican University, if your class doesn't have a class page listed, another course in your area may.

5. Search for books on the subject in the Online Catalog - see Find A Book above.

6. Ask a reference librarian for help - reference librarians are on duty until 10:00 p.m. everyday during the semester to answer any questions you may have.

8. How do I get a library card?

If you are a current Dominican University student you have been automatically given a library borrower ID. This borrower ID is the 14 digit number located on your student ID card. If you are not sure if you have a borrower ID you may call the Circulation Desk at 708.524.6876. Please see our Circulation page for information on checkout privileges, loan periods and ILL.

9. How do I check out a book?

In order to check out a book simply present your ID card with the materials you wish to borrow at the circulation desk. If you do not have your ID card with you, you will need to present a valid form of ID, a driver's license or state ID card. If you are not sure if you have a borrower ID you may call the Circulation Desk at 708.524.6876. Please see our Circulation page for information on checkout privileges, loan periods and ILL.

10. How do I request a book or article through Interlibrary Loan?

Requesting a book through I-Share
Current Dominican University students, faculty, staff and administrators may request materials through Interlibrary Loan.

If you wish to request an item through the I-Share catalog you may do so from anywhere - on or off campus. Please see the Book Request from I-Share page for more information.

Requesting an article
Once you have determined that the library does not have the article that you need, you may submit  an Article Request by filling out the linked ILL form.

In order to determine whether or not the library has the article you require:

Search for the Journal Title using the Journal List - check the dates carefully as the library may have the article you want in our print holdings but not electronically.
If you found the article citation in an electronic database click on the "find full text in other databases" to automatically search the library's holdings.
Often you can link to the full text of the article through another database.
Check to make sure that the citation you are looking for is an article citation and not a book citation.
Some clues that it is an article: volume and issue numbers are listed. If it has a publisher and a city of publication listed, it is a book and you will need to search the online catalog for this item.

Please see the Article Request page for more information.

If you have any questions that were not answered here, please call, IM or email the Reference Desk at 708-524-6875, IM or reference@dom.edu.