Library Reference Desk Closed July 3-4

The library Reference Desk will be closed on July 3rd and 4th.  Normal hours will resume on Sunday, July 5th.

As always, the research databases are available 24/7.

Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably.

Use the Ask  A Librarian form to query the library.

Theorists through the Library!

Need to find a theorist? Not sure where to start? The Library can help!

Through the library, you have access to encyclopedias that contain information on theorists and theories. One of the best sources to start with is The Encyclopedia of Social Theory.

• Start at the library’s homepage: library.waldenu.edu
• In the center of the page under Books, click on eBooks.
• On the next page, click on e-reference from SAGE.
• You should then see a search box and a list of subjects. Scroll to the bottom of that list and click on Sociology.
• On the next page you’ll see a list of titles related to Sociology. Scroll to the bottom and click on Encyclopedia of Social Theory.
• On the next page, click on ‘Reader’s Guide.’
• You should then see a list of topics, among which are Theories and Theorists!!

Feel free to browse through these names to learn more about them and how they can relate to your research!

For questions about this or anything else in the library, please feel free to contact us through the ‘Ask a Librarian’ button on our web site!

Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably. Use the Ask  A Librarian link at the top of  the right hand column!

Search Tips for the Health Sciences

1. Identify the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) associated with your topic . You can do this inside the library”s MEDLINE or CINAHL databases by using their browse features or you can explore your topic in the National Library of Medicine MeSH Browser.

2. When you are searching the literature in MEDLINE and CINAHL, it is important to search for each topic separately and then combine them. You can expand your Search History to see the sets you have created in both MEDLINE and CINAHL. You will also locate the buttons near the Search History to combine the sets.

3. Select the Explode option if it is available when browsing and selecting a Subject Heading. Selecting this option will broaden your retrieval. This is especially true if you are combining and applying limits to fit the parameters of your research.

4. Consider using keywords combined with Subjects or in addition to a Subject search. You can truncate words to search variations, for instance: diagnos$.tw. in MEDLINE and diagnos* in CINAHL.

Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably. Use the Ask A Librarian link at the top of  the right hand column.

Finding Required Readings in the Library

Are you having trouble locating required readings for your class?  The Walden Library has a search engine that will help you find your required readings – and any article that you know the title of!

The Course Reading Quick Search is located in the Thoreau database.  This search engine will search all of the databases for your articles, so you don’t have to spend time searching each database on your own.

Here is how to find articles using the Course Reading Quick Search:

1. Click on the Thoreau button on the left hand side of the library website.
2. There is a brown box on the left side of the page.  In the box underneath “Course Reading Quick Search”, type in the title of your article.
3. If your article title includes punctuation, please omit them from your search.
4. Click Search.
5. The search engine will now search all of the databases.  Once the search says “Complete”, scroll down until you see your article.
6. Click on the “View PDF” or “Walden 360” link to get the full text of your article.

As always, the Walden Librarians are here to help if you have any questions!

Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably. Use the Ask  A Librarian link at the top of  the right hand column.

Higher Education Statistics from IPEDS

If you need data on higher education in the United States then you need to know about the IPEDS resource maintained by the Department of Education.

IPEDS – or the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System – is a FREE and extraordinarily rich source of statistical data available online.

The IPEDS program surveys over 6,700  postsecondary institutions annually – this includes every college, university, and vocational school that participates in the federal student financial aid programs.  Data is collected on several dozen variables, including:  institution size, academic calendar, admissions and enrollment, student demographic data, completion rates, degrees conferred, tuition rate,  financial aid, funding, institutional spending, retention and more.

IPEDS stores and archives vast amounts of data collected from these surveys online, and they offer a wide variety of tools to help researchers use the information.  Popular tools include:

• College Navigator – a very user-friendly search to help one pull up data on individual institutions or to compare data on two or more schools.
• IPEDS Data Center - a very complex data center that includes tools to create custom tables, track trends on specific variables, perform advanced statistical comparisons and more.
• IPEDS Tables Library – a resource for downloading pre-configured data tables for commonly used statistics.

You can start exploring IPEDS at their homepage.  If you want more information about the system, the “About IPEDS” page is a good place to start.

For help using any of the IPEDS tools, look for HELP links in the data exploration web pages.  You can also contact IPEDS support staff for more information.

Remember -please don’t use the comments field to ask a library research question — this will delay your response considerably. Use the Ask  A Librarian link at the top of  the right hand column.

Using WorldCat

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that the Walden Library is a virtual library. No bookshelves. No check-out desk. No library cards. All well and good – but what if you want a hard copy of a book? WorldCat is a tool that can help you find one in your area.

WorldCat is an international database that catalogs books, articles, music and more, and that shows which libraries hold them. It is the world’s most comprehensive listing of library holdings. Here’s an example of how to use it:

Say I live in St. Paul, Minnesota and want to borrow a copy of Dr. Seuss’s Fox in Socks, but I don’t know where to look.

• First, I could go to WorldCat, at; http://www.worldcat.org/ (it is also linked from the “Quick Links” list on the Walden Library home page.)
• Then, I select the “Books” tab and type “Fox in socks” in the search box.
• Many editions come up. I decide I want the original 1965 edition and click on it.
• Bibliographic information appears, along with a search box that says “Enter your location.” I type in my zip code, 55101, and hit the “Find Libraries” button.
• Now I have a list of all the libraries in my area that own the book, including my own St. Paul Public Library.

But I can take it a step further. By clicking on the name of a holding library, I can see their local catalog, find out how many copies of the book they have, see if they’re checked out or not, or learn about their lending policies, hours, and location.

So next time a PDF won’t cut it, remember WorldCat!