The main objective of this tutorial is to show the research tools available at Trident Technical College's Library. It is very important that you are familiar with the library and that you can find the library's web site. The URL address is http:/www.tridenttech.edu/library.htm. You may also access the webpage from the Trident Technical College home page (http://www.tridenttech.edu/). You will see the Library link in the black menu bar at the top of the page.
THE CATALOG
Once you are on the Library's home page and you want to search the catalog click on "Search the Catalog" button on the top right of your screen. You will see a screen that looks similar to this. The menu bar (in black) will help navigate you throughout the website.
To search for a book you use the screen above. If you know the title or author of the book you are looking for, type that information in the appropriate box. Suggestion: when doing your initial search, use the words or phrase search. This will do a keyword search for your topic and will be very broad. The catalog will automatically search ALL of Trident's libraries. You may also use the pull down arrow near “library” and change the default “ALL” to a specific library of TTC (Berkeley, Main, Palmer, Online) and only items in the specified library will appear. Therefore you may find more items by allowing the catalog to search ALL libraries. Remember, items at any TTC library can be sent to another campus usually within a day or two (see staff at the Circulation Desk). Once you have chosen your search terms, click on search. You will receive a listing of materials available at the libraries you searched. Once you have selected an item click on the box labeled “Details” by your specific item. This will give you the full record for that specific item.
Click "Details" to see the full record. |
Call number.
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This record lists important information about the item including: call number, title, author and holdings (location) information. Notice the call number in this example: PS2638 .H54 2001. As in many academic libraries, at TTC we use the Library of Congress Classification system to categorize our items. Unlike the Dewey Decimal System you may be familiar with (used in public and high school libraries), our call numbers begin with letters instead of numbers. The call number is what you will use to locate an item.
Pay close attention to the “Holdings” (location) of each book listed in the individual record. Any items listed in the “stacks” will be found on the shelf (at Main campus upstairs) and they may be checked out with a TTC ID card. Remember: we can have items from any of the three campuses sent to the campus of your choice, but you must give us at least 2 days to receive the item. Items listed as “reference” may not be taken out of the LRC/Library. At Main campus reference items are found downstairs. Items listed as AV are videotapes and may be viewed in the LRC; they may not be taken out of the library. Small TVs and VCRs with headphones are available for individual use at our Main campus. Items listed as “VIS” are also videotapes. This is an internal system. The actual videotape is not found in the AV section of the library. To view these videotapes you would (if at Main campus) go upstairs in the area where the VCRs are located. You will notice a white telephone. Pick up the handset and a member of the VIS staff will come on the other end. Tell the person on the other end the VIS number of the video (located in the record) you wish to watch. He/She will then instruct you to a viewing channel on the televisions nearby and start the video. Using the provided headphones you will be able to view the videotape. Any items marked "reserves" will be found behind the circulation desk at the stated campuses. These items may only be used in the library. A TTC ID card is required to use items on reserve.
SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Within the reference section, you will find subject specific encyclopedias. These encyclopedia sources are acceptable for use on research papers. A subject encyclopedia is one that is written by experts in a field on a specific topic. An example of a subject specific encyclopedia is The Encyclopedia of World Religions. This is different than a general encyclopedia like The World Book Encyclopedia (great resource for general information but not for academic assignments).
During your research, you will find books that are checked out, or you may be researching a topic on which we do not have many items in our collection. If this happens you may search the other libraries in the area. The libraries you may search from TTC’s web site are: College of Charleston, Charleston Southern University, Charleston County Public, The Citadel, and MUSC. We can get items from these libraries sent to the TTC campus of your choice because we are a member of CALC (Charleston Area Library Consortium). To search these other libraries go to the “Other Libraries” link from the library webpage.
If you find a book that you would like to check out from a CALC library, go to the Circulation Desk and ask them for an ILL or Inter Library Loan form to fill out. Allow 5-7 days to receive your ILL book. You may also go to one of the CALC libraries and check out the book yourself. In order to do this, you must have an updated TTC ID card. Updated means you must have the current semester’s sticker on the back. These stickers are available where IDs are made on each campus or at the circulation desks of all 3 TTC libraries.
ONLINE DATABASES
TTC subscribes to a number of online databases. A database is a collection of gathered information. Most databases are updated frequently (some daily and some by the hour). All of the databases contain periodical articles. A periodical is information that is published periodically. Examples include newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals, pamphlets . Remember that for some courses, you will need articles found in scholarly journals (i.e. Journal of the Medical Association, RN, Shakespeare's Quarterly). These are different than general magazine articles (i.e. TIME, Newsweek, Ebony.) Always check with your instructor.
Many of these databases are subject specific. For example, Lexis Nexis is primarily a law-related database. JSTOR has scholarly journals on various subjects, Proquest has nursing journals. One database that you will can use for all your classes here at TTC is Infotrac. Infotrac is made up of six different collections filled with information on a wide variety of topics. It is updated daily, and therefore a great source for current as well as historic information. In Infotrac many of the periodical articles are full-text. This means you can read the article on the screen and have the ability to print or email the article to yourself to read or print out later. Remember to print in the LRC is .10 a page, so if you have a long article, you may want to email it to yourself instead of printing it in the LRC.
Once in Infotrac, you have the choice of many collections in which to search. The one you will probably use the most is “Expanded Academic.” This collection covers a wide variety of subject areas and has scholarly information. Most of the other collections are more specific such as: “General Business” or “Legaltrac”, or "Health Reference Academic." Once you have chosen a collection, you may search by Keyword, Subject Guide or Publication. Type in the term you are searching and you will receive a list similar to this one:
Visit the tutorials page for assistance in using various databases.
Remote or Off Campus Access
Most of the databases listed on the LRC’s Online Database page are accessible from any computer with Internet access. For remote (off campus access) to the online databases you MUST have a TTC ID card. On the ID card you will find a 13 digit barcode. This serves as your library ID number. Note: to activate the barcode, you need to check out a book in the LRC or have the card scanned once at the LRC’s circulation desk.
Once you have an activated ID card, you must click the prompt that says "Off Campus Access" first. You will then see a screen similar to the one below. For remote access you will need to enter the 13-digit barcode from the ID (numbers only). Click the Submit Query button and a list of databases will appear.
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