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ALEC 440 - Business and Research Writing

Library Offerings

The UT Libraries provides access to millions of books, e-books, journals, and more. It is important to note that many of the resources available to you are paid for through subscriptions and cannot be accessed via Google. You may be wondering: where do I start? In the previous section we covered search strategies. Now it is time to put them to action by learning about the Libraries' offerings. 

Many of the resources we have are available through databases. Think of databases as subject specific search engines that are geared to your search. The activities below will help you learn about and find sources in several of these databases. Remember that where you search impacts what you find -- and how easily you find it.

Below are two tutorial playlists. On the left is the tutorial playlist for ERIC, an education database. On the right is the tutorial playlist for Web of Science, an interdisciplinary database with over 90 million articles, proceedings, and other scholarly content. Both video series have captions and transcripts available in YouTube.

Open the ERIC tutorial playlist in YouTube.

Open the Web of Science tutorial playlist in YouTube.


Activity:

Watch the tutorials below. Each video is between 2-10 minutes. Write down what features you find interesting about these databases. Can you spot commonalities between these databases?

Extension Publications

Extension publications are reputable learning resources written by experts in Extension units of land grant universities. They can be fact sheets, practical guides, or present research in a format intended for non-academics.

Find UT Extension publications at this link: https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications 

Type "site:.edu + extension + topic" into Google to find more extension publications from other states. Ex: "site:.edu + extension + ticks".

 

Next Steps:

Remember: whenever you are having difficulty finding resources, reach out to Pendergrass Library. We are available to ensure that you find what you need to be successful. We are available by phone call, text message, chat, and email.

 

 

Once you have found a resource that you like, you will need to evaluate it to ensure that it is credible and timely. Click the Evaluating Sources button below to continue the tutorial.