Start Here:
OneSearch
Get Started: Use OneSearch for Broad Searching
OneSearch is a simple search engine that allows you to search simultaneously for books, articles, and more available at SCU Library. OneSearch brings together content of a large selection of our subscribed e-journals and databases, our library catalog, and our digital library collections in a single search interface. It can be a good starting point for interdisciplinary research, which you then might augment with some discipline-specific databases. Access OneSearch directly on the Library homepage. Learn more about OneSearch here.
Examples of search terms:
Subjects Mexican Americans -- Ethnic identity.
Hip-hop -- Influence.
Mexican Americans -- Social conditions.
Hip-hop -- Social aspects -- United States.
Rap (Music) -- Social aspects -- United States.
Mexican American youth -- Social life and customs.
| Subject Keywords | HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General. |
| Hip-hop -- Influence. | |
| Mexican Americans -- Ethnic identity. | |
| Mexican Americans -- Social conditions. | |
| Rap (Music) -- Social aspects. | |
| United States. |
To find books on your topic, follow these steps:
1. Go to OSCAR, the library catalog:
- OSCAR - SCU Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
2. Enter keywords describing your topic. For example
- music and segregation
- music and war
- music and poverty
3. Be sure to check the locations of the books in OSCAR. Some books are located in the ARS (Automated Retrieval System) and you need to request them, while some are in the stacks on the lower level of the library by call number.
Encyclopedias and other reference sources can provide basic information to help you understand your topic better:
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Allows you to search for articles from over 600 different electronic reference books and also works as a gateway to a very wide array of other information sources, including images, audio and video. It is a really excellent place to begin research with 'Topic Pages' offering authoritative overviews and a Mind Map feature to assist in narrowing and focusing research and identifying keywords for database searching.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Provides the full text of over 200 subject encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and directories.
- Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and can be a useful source for background information. Because it is open to any author(s), quality can vary depending on the topic.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary database provides access to over 5,600 active full-text journals and over 6,500 open access journals. Covers topics that range from business, education, social sciences, humanities, engineering, and science. Coverage varies, updates also vary.
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowThis database contains two collections: 1) A current collection (1990-present) of full- text newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic and minority presses. 2) A History collection (1959-1989) of full-text newspapers, magazines and journals, focusing on African American, Hispanic American, and Native American presses.
- Music Index with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database tells where to find books and articles from international music periodicals on all aspects of classical and popular music worldwide, published from 1970 to the present.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowThis database provides encyclopedia articles on classical, popular, and folk music from all eras and areas of the world.
- ProQuest Social Science Premium Collection This link opens in a new windowThis database provides full-text articles and abstracts from scholarly journals from 1871 to present on anthropology, criminology, economics, education, international relations, library science, linguistics, political science, public policy, social work, sociology, and more.
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowThis database provides access to psychology journals, books, and dissertations. It is THE source for starting any psychology research project. Coverage is from 1887 to the present.