You will use the ReSEARCH Station to find books, videos, and other materials located in the Meriam Library. You can search the Library Catalog by (among other things) author, title, and subject.

On the ReSEARCH Station, the library catalog is the first choice in the Search For menu, under the title Books & More (Library Catalog).  Once you have opened the catalog, click on Advanced Search, which appears towards the right of the screen that comes up.

Use the search bars and the dropdown boxes with the AND and OR operators to try different searches.  Check the “Limit to Available” checkbox to ensure the books you locate are checked in to the library (you will need to physically come into the library to take a look at one).

You can set any limiters in the bottom half of the screen you would like – limit by date range, limit by language, etc.  You can also narrow your search by selecting “Subject” in the dropdown boxes to the left of the search bars instead of the default “Any Field.”  Doing so will cause your keywords to be searched in the catalog record’s subject headings specifically, as opposed to throughout the entire record:

When you have found a book that you would like to take a look at, fill out your worksheet for section five, and, using the title and call number, locate your book – yes, by coming into the library.  Here is an explanation of how to use a call number to find a book on the library's shelves of books:

Most of the books in the library are in the Main Collection on the third floor.  But if you are looking for a book in another collection, the librarians at the reference desk would be glad to show you where in the library you need to look.

When you have found your book, make a photocopy of the title page.  There are copy machines on the second and third floors of the library, and the cost is ten cents per page.  It is important to note that the title page is not the cover of the book, but rather the page inside the cover that contains the title, author and publisher's name.

Don't panic if the book isn't on the shelf. Simply go to where it should be shelved and use a book that sits before or after where you would have found your book, and make a photocopy of the title page of that book.

• People frequently look for a book about how their topic relates to Chico specifically. While the library has plenty of books about Chico, it is not always possible to find a book about a specific topic (electronics recycling, for example) as it exists within Chico. Frequently a book of this nature has never been written. While it is possible to find information on a topic like electronics recycling in Chico, that information would most likely be found on the Web as opposed to in a book. If you encounter this situation, look for a book about your topic broadly -- following the above example, this would entail a book about electronics recycling in general. Then relate it to Chico using the information you found in section two or three.

• Don't search too narrowly when looking for a book. You are unlikely to find an entire book dedicated expressly to the optimum kilowatt range of solar panels to maximize energy efficiency within a specific region. Rather, search broader keywods such as "energy efficiency" or "energy conservation," and then take a look at some of the books you find to see if they include information about solar panels.

• Do not use a government document to complete this section of the assignment. Government documents are excellent resources containing a wealth of great information, but they have their own individual characteristics that frequently do not match the characteristics your worksheet asks you to find.

You can tell if you have found a government document by looking at its catalog record. If the record says either "Gov Docs 4th Fl" or "California Docs - 4th Fl," you have found a document generated by either the federal government or the government of the state of California. Here is an example of the record for a federal government document:

You can use the catalog's advanced search to avoid finding government documents. When you have opened the advanced search page up, find the "location" scroll box in the limit search section of the page. Limit your search to only material in the main collection -- the main body of books in the library:

Then enter your keywords as described above and find a book. The main collection limiter will ensure that all of your results are from the Main Collection, and (by extension) not government documents.

Your worksheet, with the following sections filled out:

• section one (constructing a search string)
• information on an article from either section two or three
• information on an article from section four
• information on a book from section five
• the title page of the book you located in section five

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