You will not always find books and articles exactly on your topic. Books, for example, may be on a broader topic, but have 2 or 3 chapters on your topic. To find those broader books, you may have to use a broader term for your topic. For example, if your topic is how poor diet effects learning in grammar school children, you may need to find a book by typing in the words poverty and education. Within such a book, it is likely you would find useful information on your topic. Discover when to use a book by clicking here.
Ask us to help you choose the words to type in!
The Library Catalog, in the middle of the Library's home page, is a database of what the library owns. Use it to find books and e-books. When using this or any other database, always look for and use the advanced search. It provides you with more control over your searches.
Once you have found a book in the catalog, email the citation to yourself at the bottom of the page or write down 1) campus 2) location and 3) call number. You now have the proper information to find the book on the shelf. If it is at Mesa College or Miramar College, you can use your student ID at those colleges to pick it up yourself. If you prefer, we can get it from them for you and you can pick it up here at City. Ask the professor librarian at the Information Desk about this. If it is an online book, your user name is your City College ID number and your password is your last name.
Here is a small example of primary sources in this library about sociological topics.
When using online sources (E-Books and article databases) provided by City College Library your user name is your City College ID number and your password is your last name.
