Resource Spotlight: Fastcase

Fastcase is a resource used by lawyers, law firms, and bar associations across the country. This service provides comprehensive access to the law by searching case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, constitutions, and law review articles.

It is called Fastcase because it uses powerful algorithms to bring the most relevant resources to the top, thus providing a quicker retrieval experience in many cases.

You can find the user guide here with search examples. The HeinOnline Knowledge Base has specific guides and videos to help you learn this valuable resource. Below is a video that will walk you through finding case law:

If you have questions about this database or need help, please contact the Reference Librarians at 847-214-7354 or libref@elgin.edu.

–Written by Maria Bagshaw, Reference/Instruction Librarian

Full Text Finder: your gateway to full text article access

Full Text Finder is a new name for our old EBSCO A-Z search for periodical titles.  You would use Full Text Finder if you want to know if a magazine or journal article can be found in its entirety through our library’s collection.

Once you click on the link for Full Text Finder, simply type in the title you want to search.

Once you search the title, if the title is available in our collections, you will get a screen like this, with your link to the full text access:

You can also browse the journals by discipline (subject area). Click on the subject you want to explore, such as Biology, History, Marketing, etc:

Find Full Text Finder on the right side of the Article Databases webpage, or by choosing “F” on the alphabetical list.

If you need help using this tool or finding out if we carry a particular title, please contact us!

Awesome database upgrades! CINAHL and Academic Search via EBSCO

Through our consortium membership, both the CINAHL and Academic Search databases through EBSCO have been upgraded to include even more resources, effective July 1.

CINAHL is:

…the definitive research tool for nursing and allied health professionals. With CINAHL Complete users get fast and easy access to top nursing and allied health journals, evidence-based care sheets and quick lessons.–EBSCO

CINAHL Complete highlights:

• About 700 more full text journals are now available
• About 2,000 more indexed journals
• Click here for more about CINAHL Complete

Academic Search Complete is:

Designed for academic institutions, this database provides complete coverage of multidisciplinary academic journals.–EBSCO

Academic Search Complete highlights:

• About 4,400 more full text journals are now available
• Over 7,900 peer-reviewed journals are now available in full text
• Click here for more about Academic Search Complete.

To use these resources:

• Go to the library’s webpage.
• Click on Article Databases.
• Choose EBSCO.
• Choose to search All EBSCO databases.
• Find CINAHL and/or Academic Search on the list and check the box.
• Begin your search!

Please note that this upgrade will only be available through June 2015.

For Faculty: Keeping up on New Education Research

Graphic courtesy of http://blog.simplek12.com

It can be difficult to keep up on the new research in your field at the same time that you’re keeping up on teaching and grading.

That’s why we put together a guide on Professional Resources for Educators. You can use it to find the library’s best databases for education research and the library’s best journals specifically focused on issues of importance to community college educators.

You can even use the library databases to set up an email alert in ERIC to have journal articles on whatever topics you choose sent to your inbox once a week or once a month. Learn more about setting up an email alert in EBSCO.

A polling we will go…

By hlkljgk Heather Katsoulis Creative Commons

On our library page, we occasionally post polls about YOUR use of library services, resources, and other information.  Past polls have included the use of IM Chat, where do you start when doing research, and if you have attended a library instruction session.  You can find the most current poll in the bottom left corner of the library’s webpage. Click on View to see up-to-the-minute poll results.

The latest poll centered on “What is your favorite library database?”  Overwhelmingly, EBSCO came out on top with 32% of the 110 votes.  EBSCO has thousands of full text articles available in many different subject areas, as well as specialized databases for ESL and Psychology.

ProQuest earned the second spot, with 12% of the vote.  ProQuest has the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, as well as Ethnic NewsWatch and Nursing & Allied Health databases.

Surprisingly, almost 1/4 of those who took the poll didn’t know what a database was.  Stop by the library for a quick tutorial.  It will make research so much easier! 

To get to the library’s databases, click from our webpage under Search for Articles & More.  A list of the most popular databases can be found under Quick Links.

Our previous poll was “Which e-reader do you use?”  Out of 164 votes, 96 (or 59%) did not own an e-reader.  The most popular device was an iPad (14%), followed by Kindle (12%) and Nook (7%).

Weigh in with your opinion and check out our website for new polls every few weeks!

New database just for ESL/ELL Faculty and Students

English Language Learners Database via EBSCO

EBSCO’s ELL (English Language Learners) Reference Center database is a new resource that provides a variety of ways to assist those learning English. This specialized resource contains 1,000 main articles, written especially for English language learners. It includes sections on History/Civics, Literature, Science, and Life Skills. Highlights include:

• ELL reading level/lexile information are given for each article.
• Users can HIGHLIGHT and LISTEN to a term in context to enable better comprehension.
• Comprehension tests are available at the end of many articles, with a mix of multiple choice and fill in the blank.  This helps students to test their level of understanding.

You can access the ELL Reference Center through our EBSCO interface.

We have also created an ESL/ELL Research Guide, which includes an in-depth look at this database.

Please see one of the librarians or email libref@elgin.edu if you have any questions.