ENGL 1302 @ NLC Library 

HANDOUTS

• Library Essentials - MS Word  
• Using Online Databases -
• Developing a Search Strategy -
• Literary Criticism -
• Citing Sources - 

ACTIVITIES: Narrow your topic

Want books? Use:

ALAMO LIBRARY ONLINE CATALOG 

Print

• Columbia Guide to Irish-American history

 E-books

• Ireland and the British Empire
• A History of Settlement in Ireland
• Fianna Fail and Irish Labour: 1926 to the present
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Irish History and Culture

• Religion and Peacebuilding

•  

 Want articles? Use:

ELECTRONIC DATABASES

• Encyclopedia Britannica Online: Academic Edition (good for background information)

• Academic Search Complete (articles on all topics) 

• History Resource Center
• Literary Reference Center
• Literature Resource Center

INTERNET SITES

• U.S. Department of State Background Notes - Ireland
• Ireland, Selected Internet Resources from the Library of Congress 
• Frank McCourt Profile - Academy of Achievement * contains interview with the author

SEARCH STRATEGIES

•  Boolean - AND, OR, NOT (Connect search words with AND to narrow your topic, OR to broaden your topic)
• Look your search words up in the Subject Guide or Thesaurus.  Then do a subject field search.
• Field searching - Subject, Author, Title
• Quotation marks for exact phrase
• Truncation - root + variants (*) 
• Database Limiters: date, publication type, type, peer-reviewed, etc.

OPTIONS FOR FULL-TEXT - Where is the actual article???

•  PDF or HTML in database
• A to Z Online Journal Locator
• IDB & ILL

NEED HELP? Contact Us!

Call: (210) 486-5388

Email: nlc-reference@alamo.edu

Library Instructor(s):   Laura Tull, Julie Nichols