ENG 101 Research and Composition I. Luyt : Home

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Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

We offer a wealth of quality research resources via this research guide and our website.

You will likely need to login once you attempt to access a library database or ebook for the first time in your research session.

When the white login screen appears simply enter your MyJCC login username and password.  Further details are available via the link below.

When we share tips for doing research we try to put ourselves in your shoes - - so this guide will provide the resources we would use if we were actually writing papers like the ones you have been assigned.  Along with the links to the resources we will provide a few tips and exercises that may help you more easily locate the resources you require. 

We encourage you to look at each tab of this guide and explore the various databases and resources we offer.  If you have any questions, please contact us! 

Keyword Tips:

• If searching for sources that are focused on specific aspects of a topic, include a keyword for each concept.  For example, let's assume you require information on the increase in number of hydraulic fracturing laws by local governments in New York State.
  
  Your keywords might include:  New York State hydraulic fracturing laws
  
  Be careful not to include too many keywords - in most cases all of the words you enter in the search box must appear in the articles for them to be returned in your search results.
  
  On the other hand, if you receive too many results and they are not focused on what you are looking for, add keywords to narrow the search.

• Use synonyms as appropriate.  For the above example you might substitute "fracking" for "hydraulic fracturing" or "legislation" for "laws".

Search Tips:

• If searching for a phrase or name, you can include the words in quotations marks to do a phrase search:  "hydraulic fracturing" will return articles with those two words together, in that order.

• You can often search for multiple versions of the same word using truncation. Add the appropriate symbol to the initial letters in the word to return results with each variation:  legislat*  would return articles with the words legislation, legislator, legislating, legislate, etc.

• You can use boolean operators to help structure your search, creating fairly complex queries.
  
  AND searches for both terms, for example:  Fracking AND laws   (Note that most of our interfaces employ "AND" by default, so you do not need to enter it.)
  
  
  OR can be helpful if you have two words or phrases that are used to refer to the concept you are searching for, for example:  "hydraulic fracturing" OR fracking   (Note that these tricks can be combined, here the boolean OR has been used in conjunction with a phrase search.)
  
  
  NOT should be used sparingly, as it eliminates all articles containing the word anywhere in the text.

Need help with something? Ask Us for Help!

If you are on-campus you are encouraged to stop by the Library and ask for help, we welcome the opportunity to work with you.

If you are off-campus and we are open your best option is to call the Reference Desk at 315-786-2482 and ask for one of us. You can also contact us via email or if you need immediate assistance and we are not open, you can chat with a librarian online (likely not a JCC librarian, but helpful nonetheless) as outlined on our "Ask for Help" web page.

We look forward to working with you!

John Thomas (jthomas@sunyjefferson.edu / 315-786-2314)

Beverly Scarpulla (bscarpulla@sunyjefferson.edu / 315-786-2224)