News Bulletin(s): The library will be open on Fridays 8 a.m.-1 p.m. during the summer term.
Using Library Resources
Finding Books, DVDs, VHS Tapes, Audio CDs and E-books:
- Visit the library's online catalog to search for these items.
- You may search by title, author, keyword or subject. Title and author searches are useful when you already know the name of the item or person you are looking for. Subject searches will locate items that are mostly or entirely about a certain topic. They are usually for broader, more general topics like "climate change" or "child psychology." Keyword searches will search for a particular subject as well as items that include sections or chapters containing the search term. These searches can be for more specific topics, like "ethics of information management," or for topics that are unlikely to have an entire resource dedicated to them. You may also retrieve extraneous results.
- You may search all campus libraries and career centers, or choose to search only one library's collection. You may also search all 28 institutions in the Florida College System or just Seminole State. You may request to have books sent between campuses, and even colleges, by using the catalog's "Request" link.
Finding Articles from Journals, Magazines and Newspapers:
- Visit the library's electronic database collection to access more than 100 databases and hundreds-of-thousands of full-text articles. You will need to log in using your Borrower ID and PIN number.
- Your Borrower ID is your MySeminoleState login name
- Your PIN is usually the last four digits of your Social Security number. In some cases, however, your PIN may be the last four digits of your Seminole State student ID number.
- Databases are organized by subject area. Clicking a heading name (Social Sciences, for example) will retrieve a list of all databases found in that category.
- Many databases contain a "Full Text" option. Checking this box will ensure that your search only returns entire articles, not citations or summaries.
- Articles found in databases can usually be printed, e-mailed, or saved to a computer or mobile drive.
- When searching, it is advisable to enter only key words or phrases. Boolean terms ("AND," "OR," "NOT" and "NEAR") are research terms that allow you to expand or narrow your search. An "AND" search will narrow your results to articles containing both terms (the one typed before "AND," and the one typed after). An "OR" search will expand your search and return articles that contain one or more of the terms you have entered. A "NOT" search will also narrow your search by returning everything about Keyword A, unless it also contains Keyword B.
Example: A search for "climate change AND oceans" will only return articles that contain both "climate change" and "oceans" in the document; "climate change OR oceans" will find articles containing information about either climate change or oceans, but not necessarily both; and "climate change NOT oceans" will retrieve articles that include information about climate change but not oceans.
Interlibrary Loan:
- If you are unable to find the materials you need through the library's catalog or databases, you may fill out an Interlibrary Loan form. Interlibrary Loan requests can take up to three weeks to be filled, so please plan your research accordingly.
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