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CHM123

CHM123

Quick Tips:

Library home page (http://www.sunybroome.edu/library)

  • Books: Search for books on the “books/media” tab.  Books that you can check out of the library are on the second floor of the library.
  • Articles: Search for articles on the “articles” tab.  (If you are off-campus, it will ask you for your MyCollege login information.)
  • Interlibrary loan: If we don’t have the book or article you need, we will borrow it from another library for you.  For free.  Books can take up to a week to get here; articles take 2-3 days.
  • Help:

Avoiding Crap on the web:  The C.R.A.P. Test

  • Currency: When was it written?  Is the information up to date?
  • Reliability: Where did the author(s) get their information?
  • Authority: Who is the author? What are their credentials?
  • Purpose: Is the author trying to sell you something? 

 

Finding the Pros and Cons of Your Topic

Newspapers are a good source of opinion articles (editorials).  The following database provide the pros and cons about many topics:

What are Peer Reviewed Articles?

  Scholarly  and Peer-Reviewed Articles Magazine Articles
Purpose To report results of original research and experimentation To report current events, opinions, and general information
Look Plain, serious, lengthy articles, may contain charts and graphs to support findings Glossy, attractive, contains color illustrations/photos, and everyday product advertisements
Author Scholars and experts in field of study/discipline Journalists/reporters, staff or freelance writers
Audience Scholars in academic and discipline related fields, researchers, students Anyone
Language Academic and technical Non-technical, written in a language for anyone to understand
Documentation Heavily cited with footnotes or bibliography Sources are rarely cited, although references may be mentioned in text

 

More information about what the peer review process can be found here: https://www.elsevier.com/reviewers/what-is-peer-review

Articles

From the library homepage, click either the “databases” or “complete list of databases” links. Under “databases by subject”, click “Science”.  Recommended databases are: