Accessing
Chaffey Library resources off-site
Chaffey Library resources
are accessible via the Chaffey Library homepage(www.chaffey.edu/library).
If you want to check if
we own a particular book, click on Catalog
under Research on the Library homepage.
To access our databases,
which will give you access to full-text articles from magazines, journals,
and newspapers as well as access to encyclopedias, eBooks and electronic
reserves, click on AGent
from the hompage.
Another good resource if
you have questions about how to use a particular database is the help
link in the actual database. They can give you some very helpful
tips for searching and using the database in general.
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Logging
in to Agent
Your seven-digit
Chaffey ID number (no initials) goes in the first box and your six-digit
birthdate (two numbers for the month, two for the day, and the
last two numbers of the year) with no slashes, spaces, or anything
else between the numbers goes in the second box.
Are you currently
registered for a class at Chaffey this semester, and are your fees
paid? If not, you will not be able to get access to AGent. Keep
in mind that records are only updated once a day, so you will not
be able to access AGent until the day after you've registered and
paid.
Do you have library fines of over $10.00? If so, your access to AGent may be blocked. Library fines can be paid at the Circulation Desk.
If you are currently
enrolled and you are still unable to login, please stop by the Reference
Desk and a librarian can assist you.
Need some help choosing a topic?
Finding
a Book
Use the Chaffey
Library Catalog to find books: Using
the Chaffey Library Catalog (.pdf)
OR
Search our collection of
over 19,000 electronic books via eBooks-Net Library:
Using eBooks-Net Library (.pdf)
Keep in mind that if you
are looking for a book on your topic, your best bet is still going to
be the traditional print books: our eBook collection
currently contains over 19,000 volumes but we have over 77,000
print volumes available at the Library on the Rancho campus.
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Looking
for a book acccessible online?
Try ebooks-NetLibrary
via our AGent
portal: Using eBooks-Net Library
(.pdf)
OR
try this list of websites
for Short Stories and Other Texts Online.
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Finding
an article
Need a
journal article? Try using Expanded Academic
ASAP or Academic Search Premier,
two databases accessible via our AGent
portal. Both have the ability to limit searches to refereed
or peer-reviewed publications (journals).
Using
Expanded Academic ASAP (.pdf)
Using Academic
Search Premier (.pdf)
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Need a
magazine article? Both Expanded Academic
ASAP and Academic Search Premier
are good databases to use for articles out of magazines. If you are
doing research on a controversial topic, you might also want to take
a look at Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
as well.
Using
Expanded Academic ASAP (.pdf)
Using Academic
Search Premier (.pdf)
Using
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (.pdf)
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Need a
newspaper article? Try using our database, Custom
Newspapers, which lets you limit and sort by newspaper
section such as opinion, sports, and others.
Using
Custom Newspapers (.pdf)
OR
If you're looking for newspaper
articles on a local or California topic,
try using Lexis Nexis, which lets you limit
your search by region, or the Los Angeles Times.
Using
Lexis Nexis - California News Sources (.pdf)
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Subject-specific
databases with articles
There
are several subject-specific databases accessible via AGent
that contain full-text articles, including:
Business:
- Business Source Premier
- Business and Company Resource Center
Health:
- Health Reference Center Academic
- Health Source - Nursing/Academic Edition
Government and Politics:
Literature:
- Literature Resource Center
Psychology:
Career:
- Vocational and Career Collection
Statistics:
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Searching
more than one database at a time
You can now use our AGent
database portal to search up to fifteen databases simultaneously:
Metasearching via AGent (.pdf)
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Limiting
searches to full-text articles
Some
of our databases, such as Expanded Academic ASAP
and Academic Search Premier, have limits that
you can place on searches so that only articles with the full-text articles
will be included in the results. Many of our other databases, such as
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, include
only full-text articles.
Using
Expanded Academic ASAP (.pdf)
Using Academic
Search Premier (.pdf)
Using
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (.pdf)
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Telling
the difference between primary and secondary sources
Need to know the difference
between a primary and secondary source? Take a look at the following
websites:
Primary
Vs. Secondary Sources - Prepared by the Libraries at Bowling Green
State University
Library
Research: Finding Primary Sources - From the Libraries at UC Berkeley
If you are looking for primary
sources for a history-related topic, you might try using the Chaffey
Library Catalog.
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Searching
the Web more effectively
In general, the most efficient
way to use Google or any search engine to search for quality information
off the Internet is to use the Advanced Search feature.
The link to Advanced Search for Google is located to the right of the
search box.
Using
Google Advanced Search (.pdf)
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Evaluating
a website to determine good or legitimate information from bad information
Examine the URL(the web
address)– it often gives you a few clues about who put the information
on the website. In general, you have a better chance
of legitimate information from the following domain types: .edu,
.gov, .mil. Sometimes you will see a tilde (~) in a URL to
a .edu – this represents an individual’s website and NOT
necessarily that of an academic department.
In general, you may need
to evaluate the information more carefully from the following domain
types: .com, .net. You will need to verify information
from a .org to establish the legitimacy of the organization.
Remember, there are
exceptions to EVERY rule, and this rule about URLs is no exception!
Some other criteria to
consider:
-
Look for
the credentials of the author of the information
on the website
-
Look for
date of the last update of the information on the
website
-
Watch
for bias
More pointers for evaluating
websites: Evaluating
Webpages (.pdf)
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Locating
scholarly information on the Web
One strategy for finding
websites more appropriate for college-level research is to use the Advanced
Search feature on Google to limit searching to a specific domain:
.edu. This domain is used only by college and university sites,
so you may have a better chance of finding scholarly information using
the .edu limit compared to a basic Google search.
Using
Google Advanced Search (.pdf)
Another Internet resource
that may be worth exploring is GoogleScholar.
The focus of this Google engine that is to search specifically for scholarly
materials on a particular topic. The results can include abstracts and
some full-text of articles, book citations, reports, and web pages.
One benefit to using GoogleScholar
is that it retrieves results from a wide variety of domains. If you
find a book or an article citation that sounds like it might be useful,
you can check our Catalog
to see if we own the book or check Serials Solutions, accessible
via AGent,
to see if we have access to the article.
Using
the Chaffey Library Catalog (.pdf)
Using Serials Solutions (.pdf)
The following are some other
Internet resources for scholarly literature:
University of California eScholarship Repository
Sponsored by the California Digital Library, this website includes full-text scholarly content written by academics on a wide variety of subjects.
IngentaConnect
Contains citations and abstracts from academic journals on a wide
variety of subjects. Articles are not freely available full-text;
check our databases behind AGent
to see if Chaffey has access to articles.
PLOS:
Biology
Includes access
to primary research articles on biology-related topics as well as
primers (overviews) on topics of current interest in the field of
biology.
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Locating
and using other search engines besides Google
Google isn't the only web
search engine out there, there are many others which have different
strengths and capabilities. Also, if you are having trouble finding
web resources on your topic, it might be worth it to use another search
engine; there is less overlap than you might expect between Google and
other engines.
Other
search engines and metasearch engines
Web subject directories
Search
Engine Showdown: User's Guide to Web Searching - by Greg R. Notess,
this site includes news, analysis and reviews of search engines as
well as charts listing search engines by feature
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Finding
online reference works
Reference works (encyclopedias,
dictionaries, almanacs) are good for background information.
They can give you the who, what, where, when,
and why on a topic and therefore are a good place to look when
starting to do research.
Chaffey Library has access
to several reference databases which you can access by logging on to
AGent.
Oxford Reference-Searchable access to more than 100
reference titles
Gale Virtual Reference- Includes 38 full-text
searchable reference works on a variety of topics
You
might also consider Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
if you are researching a controversial topic; the results tab for reference
will usually include topic overviews. If you are looking for information
on a health-related topic, take a look at Health Reference
Academic; this database includes several medical reference
works.
Using
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (.pdf)
Using
Health Reference Center Academic (.pdf)
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Citing
sources correctly
You will usually have to
include a works cited page listing the resources
you used to research and write your paper. Your instructor usually
has very specific instructions regarding this works cited page. The
following are links to handouts put together by the Chaffey
College Writing Center about particular citation formats:
If you need assistance
or have additional questions about how to cite sources, the folks
at the Writing and Success
Centers can help you.
Accessing eRes (Electronic Reserves)
Did your instructor say that
material for your class was available online through eRes
or Electronic Reserves? Access to eRes
is behind AGent.
Following are directions for access:
Accessing
eRes (Electronic Reserves)
(.pdf)
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Renewing
a Book
In some cases, you can
renew books checked out to you online from the Library Catalog or
you can bring the books to the Circulation Desk to renew them. Books
cannot be renewed over the phone. Overdue materials
cannot be renewed; renewals must be made before the due date. There is no limit on renewals, but all materials must
be returned by the end of the semester. Books with holds placed on
them cannot be renewed.
Help
with writing, grammar, and /or punctuation
If you're having trouble
with grammar, punctuation, or writing, the people at the Chaffey
Writing and Success Centers are the ones you need to contact. They
offer several workshops
during the semester, as well as tutoring. The Writing Center also has
links to web
resources for these issues.
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