!Help! Help! Help!: Research help

► Databases and eBooks can be accessed from Off Campus through the Off Campus Proxy Server ◄

The username and password can be found in Blackboard on the Institution Page section for Student Tools to Stay Connected at Atlantic Cape or you can email library@atlanticcape.edu for username and password.

♦ Limited to current students, faculty and staff of Atlantic Cape Community College ♦

• Primary Resources
  • These resources contain first-hand information, meaning that you are reading the author’s own account on a specific topic or event that the author directly participated in.
  • Reported by scientists and written for others in the field and published in scientific journals (usually peer-reviewed)
  • Examples of primary resources include scholarly research articles, books, speeches, interviews, eyewitness accounts, autobiographies, creative works such as poetry, music, video and photography.. These sources assume the reader has basic knowledge of the subject area. 

• Secondary Resources

  • These sources describe, summarize, or discuss information or details originally presented in another source. In this case the author would not generally be a participant. This type of source is written for a broad audience and will include definitions of specific terms, history relating to the topic, and summaries of major studies/events as related to the topic.

  • Use secondary sources to obtain an overview of a topic and/or identify primary resources. 

  • Examples of secondary sources include textbooks, magazine articles, book reviews, commentaries, encyclopedias, almanacs. and journal articles for a general audience.

• What is Peer Review

  • Peer review is the process where academic writing (such as an article or a research paper) is reviewed and evaluated by a group of professionals in the same field before it can be published or accepted.  This process helps to ensure that the material has the proper citations, references and meets the publication standards of the journal.

The research resources licensed to the library contain multiple databases.

View these video tutorials to help your search task

• Ebscohost introduction
• Ebscohost basic searching
• Ebscohost advanced searching
• Proquest basic searching
• Proquest advanced searching

Use these Powerpoint tutorials to help your search task

When saving or emailing an article link in Ebscohost be sure to select the right side bar "Permalink" to create a direct link to the article. To get Proquest's direct Document URL select "Document/Details in the left margin. The direct link to the article is located on the bottom of the "Document/Details" page.

• Journals
  • ​Journals refer to scholarly publications. Articles from scholarly journals have been written by specialists in the field of study and have been reviewed by specialists (known as peer reviews) before they are published. They also contain references that were used by the author that can lead you to other relevant materials. Scholarly journals are the preferred source for academic research and writing.
• Periodicals
  • ​Periodicals are publications that are issued in a series or periodically. Examples are newspapers, magazines, and journals. A periodical is a generic term used to categorize publications issued on a recurring schedule.
• Magazines
  • ​Magazines are publications of business organizations, or news companies. These publications contain general interest news about current events or news and developments in a specific trade or industry. Magazines can be used to gain general knowledge or background information on news and industry activities.
• ​Books and eBooks
  • Scholarly books contain in-depth, authoritative information with extensive accounts of research, historical data and views by experts on the subject.
    • Use the Table of Contents for a general idea of the topics covered.
    • Books will contain a bibliography of materials used by the author that may provide a guide to additional relevant sources on the subject.
    • The index will list the specific subjects, events, dates and other detailed terms related to the contents of the book. The index is also a good place to see subject terms and keywords that might be helpful to refine your search.
    • In some instances, books take considerable time to write and publish and are not always the best source for a current topic.

Did you find an article not available in full text? How about a book not owned by Atlantic Cape or the Atlantic County Library System.

All is not lost. The library may be able to get your article or book from another library. The Interlibrary loan service is free to all current students, faculty and staff of Atlantic Cape.

• Don't wait too long to make your request. Books may take 7-10 days to arrive. Articles may take up to 7 days.

Please be sure to provide as complete a citation as possible, so the lending library can quickly locate your request.

Interlibrary Loan for Articles

Interlibrary Loan for Books

• Loan periods are set by the lending library.