Faculty Professional Development Resources: Search the Library's Collection

Searching the catalog for print books & ebooks

Use the library's catalog to search for books in the library's collection.

• Using the filters on the left side of the screen, you can easily limit to print books (housed inside the library) or electronic/ebooks (housed in the library's databases).
  •  See the linked tutorial below for more info on how to carry out your search. 

Video tutorials:

Searching the ebook databases

If you know you want to access just electronic books in the library's collection, consider the ebook databases listed below. 

Useful features include the following:

• 24/7 access with no need to "check out" the ebooks 
• Get an MLA, APA, or Chicago citation 
• Copy and paste directly from the text
• Search for words using the 'Search Within" tool

Video tutorials 

Find background info

The databases featured below are great resources to find general topic overviews, namely articles from subject-specific encyclopedias, reports on controversial or current issues, and short pro/con-like argumentative articles. 

Find newspaper & magazine articles

Consider the periodical databases below to locate popular source articles in the library's collection.

Search tips:

• Search by topic, subject, keyword, or author in the advanced search option. 
• Once you see results, be sure to use the filters on the side menu to limit to publication type (e.g. magazines or newspapers or trade publications) under "Source Type" or "Resource Type" or "Format" (wording varies in each database). 

Looking for more?

There are many more databases in the library's collection. See the link below for the complete list and use the tools on that following page to limit the databases by subject area if needed.

If you're wanting to know if the library has a specific publication, consider searching the title in the periodical search below. There you will see if the library has a subscription to the publication, and if so, for what dates and in which databases. 

Find scholarly journal articles 

Consider the multidisciplinary databases below to find journal articles in the library's collection.

Search tips:

• Search by title, author, subject, or keyword using the advanced search option. 
• Be sure to use the filters on the left to limit to "Journals" or 'Academic Journals" or "Scholarly Journals" (wording varies in each database)
• Select "Peer-reviewed" if necessary (also on the left menu of filters).
• If you'd like to see articles that TCC doesn't subscribe to, but which you can request through InterLibrary Loan (ILL), uncheck the "Full-Text" box on the left. Be sure to save the Permalink and/or copy down the info needed to fill out the ILL request (see links below)

Looking for more?

There are many more databases in the library's collection. See the link below for the complete list and use the tools on that following page to limit the databases by subject area if needed.

Search for journals

If you're wanting to know if the library has a specific publication, consider searching the title in the periodical search below. There you will see if the library has a subscription to the publication, and if so, for what dates and in which databases. 

Find streaming films

Use the databases below to search for educations and feature films and film segments in the library's collection. 

Video tutorials 

Open Education Resources (OER)

Jennifer Snoek-Brown is our OER librarian and has created a robust guide of OER resources, along with all the information needed for using those resources in your instruction. Visit the faculty guide below. 

Using search engines

Below you will find a helpful video that walks you through the process of how to use search engines, like Google, to quickly filter your results and find the information you need.  

Limiting the domain

Government websites (at both the federal and state level) can provide statistics and reliable information about some topics. 

• Limit your search to only government websites by using "site:gov" as part of your search string. Here's is an example of what you would type into a Google search bar:

"national identity" site:gov 
(note that there is no space before or after the colon)

Education websites - some universities have research centers and make their research available online. Here is a sample Google search:

"national identity" site:edu

Find and work with your TCC faculty librarians

TCC faculty librarians:

• teach credit bearing library and research skills courses
• teach "one-shot" research skills classes tailor-made for your assignment criteria
• teach one-on-one with students working on your research assignments at the Research Desk
• create instructional materials designed for your research assignment needs
• teach collaboratively and/or consult with course faculty who wish to assign research based writing assignments

Use the link below to find more info and resources.