Site last updated on May 6, 2008 by Hannah Lee <hklee@uiuc.edu>.
User Guide for Library Resources
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) library system has a staggering amount of resources--both in print, media, and electronic form. It can feel a bit overwhelming at times to find exactly what you need. It's no wonder, considering that the University of Illinois has the third largest academic library in the United States, after Harvard and Yale. To make the process a little more manageable, and to make sure that you find the sources that you need, this page provides a compilation of links to guides and tutorials on using the library's online catalog and online research resources, among others. If you hover and click your mouse over the cyan colored words, they will link you to these resources.
Important Links
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Library Hours and Policies
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Library Hours for Summer Session II 2008 |
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You will be given full access to the library databases and stacks during your time at the Summer Institute if you are enrolled for course credit. After this period however, you may be more restricted in your use depending on what kind of library identification card you have. You can read more about this in the Circulation Policies web page. |
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Online Catalog and Online Research Resources (Databases) Tutorials
"LEARN the Basics" is a great place to start to learn more about finding books, videos and games, using the library, finding articles, starting your research, and getting help. Each tutorial has a helpful section for "must have links," a video tutorial located at the bottom of each page, as well as a link that connects you to a librarian for live assistance through instant message, email, phone, and other means.
"LEARN on Demand" provides a series of videos that can help you learn to use many of the library's services. There are video tutorials on using the online catalog, finding journal articles and titles, requesting materials through Interlibrary loan, as well as tutorials on databases such as ERIC and Lexis-Nexis.
"How Do I Find...?" is an easy to use guide that shows users how to find materials arranged by source type, including books, articles and journals, reserves, other materials, and items in particular locations.
The "Online Research Resources Tutorial" provides step-by step instructions, including videos and screen shots, to help use the library's online resources.
"Using the Online Research Resources (ORR) Page" might be a good option for people who prefer more text-based instruction without graphics.
"Tips for Using the Online Catalog" provides a series of printable .pdf files that go over how to use the online catalog, manage your library account, effectively use Boolean, keyword, and subject searching, as well as use interlibrary loan.
Freely Available Databases
Once the Summer Institute is over, and you are no longer enrolled as a student, you will not be able to access the library's Online Research Resources from home. There are several databases, however, that are free and open to the public:
- One such database is the free online version of ERIC, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES). There are over 1.2 million bibliographic records of journals and other resources related to education within this database, including links to full text articles when available.
- Another free federally funded database is Child Care and Early Education: Research Connections. There are over 12,000 in depth and up-to-date resources related to child care and early education, some with full text.
Other Resources
The Library Guide to RefWorks, which is a personal citation management and formatting software, has information about how to sign up, access your account, and get started with RefWorks. The software allows you to directly export records from most databases, as well as manage, track, and organize the information.
The Education and Social Science Library web site has compiled a collection of helpful links to education related databases, reference guides for educators in Illinois, special collections in education, and electronic journals and resources.
The Guide to Research in Children's and Young Adult Literature includes information on accessing children's and young adult literature, reference sources, finding information on authors and illustrators, book reviews, and articles. According to the guide, "the School Collection is one of the most comprehensive collections of children's literature in the nation, second only to the Library of Congress."
"Services for Visitors" provides information on using the library, gives answers to frequently asked questions, gives information on circulation policies, provides a list of selected online databases and other resources that are available to the public, and gives information about parking and other campus information.
The "Guide to Computing Accounts" gives information about setting up your University of Illinois netID and password to access library resources when you are off campus while attending the Summer Institute.
The Guide to Style and Writing Guides includes titles and call numbers to style guides and other resources in subject specific areas.
You can also take tours of the library. You can take a virtual tour of the main library, download an audio podcast of a library tour, find out more information about checking out self guided audio tours, or learn about when you can take a live tour through the library.
As you can see, there are an abundance of resources available to you. Take advantage of this by stopping by the libraries, visiting the library web site, searching for articles in databases, and using what you find to inform your teaching and writing practices.
Welcome to the Summer Institute.