Where to Search
Step 2: Once you have an understanding of what types of sources exist, you need to understand how to find them. The library has many ways to search for resources. They can be found on the following tabs or on the library's Student Resources Page.
If at any point you would like assistance finding relevant results, don't hesitate to contact the library.
Search Tools to Find Sources
Discover Search
What it searches: e-books, book chapters, scholarly articles, trade journal articles, and more. It searches ALL of the library's resources at once. This is a good starting point if you need background information on your topic.
Best use: Use Discover Search as a starting point in your research.
OPAL and OhioLINK
What it searches: Mostly books, both eBooks and print, but it can also search print copies of news, magazines, and scholarly journals.
Best Use: Search for eBooks.
Note: There are two main library catalogs: OPAL and OhioLINK. The Mount Carmel Catalog (OPAL) searches what is in our collection, including our ebooks, but can also search the collections of some other Ohio private college and university libraries. The OhioLINK Catalog searches almost all of the college and university libraries in Ohio. Online students can borrow up to 5 print Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library items per semester that will be shipped to the home address on file.
*Please note: Only students located in Ohio have permissions to borrow from OhioLINK.*
For details, look at the library's policy Circulation of Library Materials-- College of Nursing Distance Learning Students.
What they search: Primary scholarly, news, trade, and magazine articles, but some include patient education, drug monographs, and more!
Best Use: Use for research papers, project, and clinical research.
Use extra caution when looking for resources on the Web. The Internet is unregulated and required vigorous evaluation to be sure you've found a credible resource. That being said, there are many valuable resources available via the Internet. Use the evaluation techniques are available on the tab Step Four: How to Evaluate Resources to be sure you're using a credible source.
While you may be very familiar with a regular Google search, consider trying some of these tools for finding sources on the Web.
- Google Scholar (scholar.google.com): Searches the web for articles in scholarly journals using the simple Google interface.
- Google News (news.google.com): Searches through a select list of news organizations rather than the entire web. Also generally puts the most recent articles at the top of the results. Great for current events.
- Bing News (bing.com/news): Similar to Google News, except powered by Bing search.
Many searches in Google are keyword searches; however, advanced searching can be done in Google.
- Use the Advanced Search https://www.google.com/advanced_search option
- Use Advanced Search Features: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en
The table below details some of the differences between searching a Library Database versus the Internet.
Have Questions?
Chat with a Librarian
Online Quick Links
Find Print & eBooks:
Find Articles & eJournals