First, you need to decide what type of information you need. You may need background information so that you can familiarize yourself with a new subject. You may need to read about a particular topic to discover what you want to research more in depth. You may need to prove your point by looking up specific information. In each of these scenarios, you need different types of resources.
| Type of Information | Source | Sample Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Background information | Book or encyclopedia | |
| Scholarly information | Peer reviewed article | Proquest Psychology Database |
| Business information | Database | Hoover's |
As you can see, the information you need should dictate where you look, and looking at a resource like a database that is specifically for your needs will save you a lot of time. To view more databases, you can check out Databases by Subject or Databases A-Z.
Yes, you can! Once you have a library card, you can search their databases. The databases will often request either your card number or your username and a password or pin number.
A database is a collection of information often about a particular subject. The library subscribes to many of these databases, which contain research which is normally paid for by the researcher. Because this information is sold, it is information that cannot be obtained from Google or other search engines.
As long as you are a student at MCNY, you can sign into our databases. In addition, you can search most library databases from the comfort of your own home. For the MCNY databases, all you need is the same username and password you use for signing in to your email.
You can! (Unless your professor tells you not to.) Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone (regardless of their knowledge or skill) can edit. Wikipedia is a tool that, when appropriately used, can be very helpful. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and therefore is a source for general information. Because it is a general information source, it is useful if you know very little about a topic, business, or idea, but it is not useful for targeted research. For example, if Villisca, Iowa comes up in your research, it's acceptable to look it up in an encyclopedia like Credo Reference or Wikipedia. However, if you intend to research Villisca, then you will need to use other resources for more in depth knowledge.