About library databases (in college)

[ShadowArmy]

Ok, you know how most college classes, when you have to do a research paper, they tell you that you can't cite wikipedia? And, in some cases, you can't use sources that you find through google, yahoo, etc. nor through a company website; you have to find it through an independent source or from a publication in a library database?

If you find an article in a library database, but then google it and discover that the article can be found that way, too, does that make it illegitimate? I would ask the professor or a librarian tomorrow but I think I could get a quicker answer here.

 

[evil^milk]

If you found it on a library database that was approved by your professor then you could cite your source from there and pretend you didn't google it.

Also, if it's just an essay and not a publication that you're going to make available to any audience but your professor, then I don't really see the harm.

 

[VirusType2]

Yeah. He gave you permission to use the library and anything in it. I mean, you can probably find Shakespeare through Google too, that doesn't negate the value of it.

 

[Ennui]

When professors say you can't use stuff you found on google, they mean normal old websites because they aren't always credible (you know, like "Tim's Roman History Page" on Angelfire wouldn't be a credible source for a Roman History reserach paper).

If it's in an academic journal that you find thru google or a library database, you're good to go (JSTOR, ebscohost, lexusnexus etc) because they index articles from newspapers and academic journals which are certainly always going to be something you are allowed to cite unless your professor is a major ****ing weirdo.

 

[dfc05]

^That

Also, just thought I'd mention in case... you don't actually cite the database itself. I mean technically you could, but normally just cite the journal and you're good.

Google Scholar is also typically a legitimate way to find things.

 

[Naph]

In my day, I made sure I could cite information before I even read it :/

 

[xcellerate]

Just find a paper somebody else wrote and cite that.

Profit¿

 

[Eejit]

Best way to start looking for journal papers to cite is by either looking at what wikipedia cites or (better) find a review paper and check what it cites.

 

[dfc05]

Best way to start looking for journal papers to cite is by either looking at what wikipedia cites or (better) find a review paper and check what it cites.

Or (better better),
Web of Science / ISI Web of Knowledge
ScienceDirect
Scifinder Scholar
:dork:

 

[Eejit]

I said to start Those are more useful once you have some idea of what specifically to search.