University of Guelph Library

University of Guelph Library tag line "Changing Lives, Improving Life" (JPG 10kb)

University of Guelph Library Ask Us! Service button and link to the initiative (PNG 6kb)

Ask Us! service title and link to its homepage (PNG   5kb

How Do I...

Text Size: S M L XL

 

How do I learn more about my topic?

  • Our subject and course guides provide important resources for subject-specific background material, as well as more detailed information.
  • The Topics section of the Research 101 tutorial will help you find an appropriate topic or question for research. The Topics section will also demonstrate how that question can be focused to suit the limits of time available, length of assignment, or scope of the problem to be solved.
  • Face-to-face help with research is available at the Research Help desk on the 1st floor of the McLaughlin Library.
  • Graduate students can contact the Research Enterprise and Scholarly Communications Team

    for more in-depth help.

How do I find books or videos?

  • Use Primo, the library's online catalogue, to search holdings/collections in the TriUniversity Libraries. (If the Primo catalogue system is down, use the TRELLIS catalogue.)
  • See the Primo help pages for search tips.
  • All of our videos and/or DVD's are listed in Primo and can be found by doing a TITLE search or an ADVANCED SEARCH.
  • For more information about the audiovisual collection see: Audio, Video & Multimedia.

Top

How do I find primary sources?

  • Primary sources include:
    • Accounts by an eyewitness or the first recorder of an event. Examples are diaries, autobiographies, letters, minutes of meetings, news footage, newspaper articles.
    • Data obtained through original research, statistical compilations or legal requirements. Examples are reports of scientific experiments, U. S. census records, public records.
    • Creative works such as poetry, music, or art
    • Artifacts such as arrowheads, pottery, furniture, and buildings.
  • See the subject guide: History — Primary Sources
    • The overall information for searching for Primary Resources is true for most disciplines
    • This guide lists newspaper resources, suggestions to search the library catalogue, and tips for finding reliable Web sites on the Internet.

How do I find and get theses?

  • See: Theses & Dissertations resource page for more information about how to obtain a thesis in paper and/or electronically.

How do I find citation/style guides?

  • You'll find citation/style guide resources on the Electronic Reference page.
  • Styles include (but are not limited to):
    • American Psychological Association (APA)
    • Chicago Style
    • Council of Scientific Editors (CSE)
    • Modern Language Association of America (MLA)

Top

How do I find articles from newspapers?

  • See our Newspapers resource page for newspaper article databases subscribed to by the University of Guelph Library.
  • See our News and Current Affairs subject guide for more resources including online newspaper sources.

How do I find articles from scholarly journals?

  • Professors usually require students to use scholarly journal articles as resources when writing research papers. Articles in scholarly journals typically go through a peer-review process. When a researcher submits an article for publication in a scholarly journal, it is reviewed by peers in his/her area (an editorial board) to determine whether it is a high quality piece of work. Scholarly journals always cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies. These bibliographies are generally lengthy and cite other scholarly writings. The library subscribes to thousands of scholarly journals.
  • Some journal article databases allow you to narrow your search to "peer-reviewed" articles such as:
  • Some journal article databases sort results by article type including "peer-reviewed journals" such as:
  • Ulrich's Periodicals Directory is a good tool for assessing whether the journal is peer-reviewed. Search for the journal title and look for the symbol Refereed icon (JPG – 2kb) in the list of results, or for the "refereed" information on the detailed record:

    Image of a detailed Ulrich's record with the refereed field highlighted [GIF-8kb]

    If Ulrich's does not list the journal, do a Web search for the journal title to find a Web site for the publisher. Check to see if the site states that it publishes peer-reviewed papers.

How do I get full-text articles?

  • The Primo catalogue is the place to search for our journals. One or more of our partner institutions may have the journal in paper &/or electronic format. If Guelph only has the journal in paper for the year you need, then you must photocopy the article. If access is electronic, you may get the article through the catalogue record via the "Click here for access" link, as long as you are a current student, staff or faculty member or using our campus network. If you are off-campus, you need to log-in using your central log-in account through the "Off-Campus Log In" link from the Library homepage.
  • Many journal databases have Get it! Guelph buttons or full-text links when you do a search for articles on your topic. By clicking on either of these features, you may access the electronic copy of the article if we are a subscriber and as long as you are logged-in. Follow the intermediate pages that appear once you click on the Get it! Guelph button because there may be several providers that have an electronic copy of the article, or you may need to connect back to Primo to locate the journal holding if we only have it in print.
  • If the ANNEX, UW, WLU or Guelph-Humber owns the journal and you need a copy of the article, please refer to the section below titled "How do I get an item from UW/WLU/Annex/Guelph-Humber libraries?". If you try to request it via Interlibrary Loan (RACER) or order it any other way, you will be blocked.
  • If we do not have the journal in our holdings, then you can request it through Interlibrary Loan (RACER).

How do I get an item from UW/WLU/Annex/Guelph-Humber libraries?

Top

How do I get an item not owned by UG/UW/WLU libraries?

  • Interlibrary loan

    Use RACER. For more information about RACER services see our Interlibrary Loan page. Allow 3-10 business days for delivery.

  • Obtaining theses
  • Canadian University Reciprocal Borrowing Agreement

    Canadian university libraries extend in-person borrowing privileges to students, faculty and staff from across the country. All that is required for borrowing is a valid university identification card or a valid participating regional consortia card. Students, faculty and staff should check with the library of their home institution to ensure they have the appropriate identification before visiting another Canadian university library.

How do I get access to library holdings from off-campus?

  • To access license-protected electronic resources (databases, e-journals, e-articles, etc.) you will need to log in to the library Web site.
  • Who Can Log In?
    • Registered students, faculty and staff of the University of Guelph, and Guelph-Humber University.
    • Note: Alumni and community borrowers cannot log in to this site due to licensing restrictions imposed by online publishers.
  • If you are a distance education student, see Distance Education & Open Learners: How to obtain print resources

How do I get an alumni or community borrower card?

  • Alumni can obtain a free alumni card or replace a lost card at Alumni House and activate it in-person at the Circulation & Interlibrary Services desk in the library. Alumni cards expire every 2 years. Contact the Circulation desk for re-activation. To obtain your card, contact the Alumni House reception desk at 519-824-4120 ext. 56934 or e-mail
  • Community members can purchase a community borrower card at the Circulation & Interlibrary Services desk for a $20 annual fee.

    Services offered to Alumni and Community Borrowers:

    Book Limits
    Maximum 20 books at a time on 2 week loan (from U of Guelph, U of Waterloo, or Wilfrid Laurier University). Books may be renewed online or in-person an indefinite number of times barring any holds or recalls on the item.

    Annex (off-site storage facility)
    May book an appointment to visit the Annex warehouse – call 519-821-7946 locally or 1-800-597-8016 long distance to make an appointment. May request that items be retrieved from the Annex by placing a hold through the Primo/TRELLIS system (books or journals). Items will be retrieved and made available for pickup at the designated pickup location on the next business day.

    Holds/Recalls
    Eligible to place holds on books in the general collections at UG, UW, WLU or the Annex. Recalls are not permitted on items charged out.

    Reserve Material
    Generally, material placed on Reserve for course use is not available to alumni and community borrowers, however the OVC Reserve Textbooks are available for in-library use with a validated Alumni or Community Borrower Card.

    AV collection
    The Library’s AV collection is available for in-library use with a validated Alumni or community borrower card.

    Electronic Resources
    Due to licensing restrictions alumni and community borrowers may only use electronic resources on-campus. This restriction is imposed by the database vendors, and enforced as part of our compliance with license agreements. This is standard practice for all database producers and all academic libraries, and not unique to the University of Guelph. 

    Databases available to Ontario residents:

    Resource Ontario databases via your public library;

    The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) service covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journal articles.

    In-Library Wireless Access
    Guests visiting the University of Guelph can acquire temporary access to the campus network without charge by obtaining a U of G Guest Access Account. Guests will be given a login ID and password that will provide basic wireless internet connectivity for web browsing (HTTP/HTTPS) and secure shell (SSH), which works at campus residence network (ResNet) and the U of G wireless network (with SSID: uog-wifi only) for a specified period of time. Visit the Circulation & Interlibrary Loan desk for a Guest Access Account.

    To use our wireless network, you'll need a laptop or PDA with an 802.11b/g compatible wireless network card (most newer laptops come with this capability built-in.).

    Archival & Special Collections
    The Archival and Special Collections material is available for use in the Archive area only. An identification card is required.

    Research Help
    Research help staff are available in the Fall & Winter semesters Mondays — Thursdays 9am to 9pm, Fridays 9am to 4:30pm and Saturdays/Sundays1pm to 4:30pm. Hours are reduced during the spring/summer and between semester periods.

    Interlibrary Loan
    Material from other libraries may be ordered via Interlibrary Loan. Cost for each satisfied request is $25.00, plus any cost incurred from the lending Library.

    Questions
    Should you have any questions regarding any of the above services, please contact the Circulation and Interlibrary Services Desk staff at (519) 824-4120, ext. 53618 or

How do I get the RefWorks Group Code?

  • The group code is emailed to you when you sign up with RefWorks. If you forget the code, here's how to get it again:
    1. Go to the RefWorks login page
    2. Click on "Forgot your log-in?"
    3. Type your University of Guelph email account into the "Email Address:" box
  • RefWorks will email you with your password and your group code.

How do I get items if I'm a Distance Education/Open Learning student?

How do I contact someone about my library account problems?

  • The Library's Circulation department handles library account problems/enquiries.

    E-mail:
    Phone: 519-824-4120 ext. 53618

  • View your library account

Top

Quick Links

Contact

Head, Discovery & Access

Amanda Etches-Johnson

Learning Commons Partner logo (GIF 12 kb)

Last updated August 19th, 2011 by R.S. (details)