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Education Dashboard (M.Ed.): Find Sources & Information

Finding Sources & Information in the UVA Wise Library

Article databases provide information on a variety of topics. The Library licenses article databases so you may access articles for your topic – for free.  All of the Library's databases are available at A-Z Databases list.  To help with using the databases the Library Database Tutorial Videos share directions to learn more about working with the Library's databases.

In addition to finding databases, the Journal Finder tool allows you to search by individual title for a journal available on the UVA Wise Library databases. If you know the title of the journal you can enter it into the Journal Finder search box. If you are not looking for a specific journal you can browse by discipline. 

Also, to find the sources for your assignment or research, search or browse the UVA Wise Library's catalog for our collection of books, ebooks, journals, government documents, streaming videos and more.  Use words, phrases or format type to help you find possible works of interest.  If you want a broader search (not just what is owned by UVA WIse) you can run searches by subject and keyword in WorldCat, an online catalog that lists locations of books, videos, and other materials in thousands of libraries worldwide. Also, Google Scholar where you can find articles from most online scholarly journals plus some books and Web sites. (Note: Google Scholar does not search all of the journals to which UVA Wise Library has access.)

NOTE: Submit an Interlibrary Loan request for any materials you need but are not available in the UVA Wise Library collection or on one of our databases.

Materials

  • You can find articles by searching the Library's databases.
    • Search databases using the tips in the “Search Strategies for Databases” box, below.
    • Understand the scope of the database. Some cover multiple subjects and others cover a specific discipline. If you aren’t finding what you need, you might need to try another database.
  • Off-campus? Most article databases are available by logging in with your UVA Wise username and password.
    • As long as you are a student, faculty or staff you can access our libraries databases from home. In order to do that, just click on the database or product that you want to search, and a box will pop up asking for your ID and password. That is the same as your UVA Wise email and password.
    • You can also Ask a Librarian if you are having difficulties accessing a database off-campus.
  • Interpreting Database Results:
    • Once you perform a search, you'll see a list of results (articles that match your keywords). Most databases try to be like Google, which means your results will rank by relevance.
    • If you need recent articles, peer-reviewed (scholarly) articles, or if you only want to see articles which can be viewed online, you can limit your search. Use the database's function and search options.

How do I find a book on the shelves?

  • Our books are organized by subject using the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System 
  • Feel free to ask anyone at the Library's Service Desk on the 4th floor or any liaison librarian to help you find your book

What are those white labels on the spine of all the books?

  • The white labels on the spine of the book displays its Call Number.  A Call Number tells you where a book it is located in the library.
    • Each number and letter refers to details about that book's subject and it's title and author.
  • Call Numbers start with letters that match up with subject categories.
    • A Call Numbers beginning with NC:
      • The subject category, N, is Fine Arts  and  the subcategory, NC, is Drawing Design, and Illustration 
      • Think of NC like the name of street you live on. 
      • The combination of NC with other numbers and letters gives you the shelf "address" of a specific book.

E-book -- Subscription

E-book projects--Nonsubscription

ebooks@ibiblio
"Home to one of the largest 'collections of collections' on the Internet, ibiblio.org is a conservancy of freely available information, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies."  This is an excellent place just to browse.

Google Books Search
Find full text and/or bibliographic information using the world's best known search engine to search though one of the largest collaborative digitization projects ever.  To find "Full Text Books," select that option before doing a search.

Internet Library of Early Journals
Browse through at least 20 consecutive years of British journals: 18th-century Gentleman's Magazine, The Annual Register, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society; and three 19th-century journals: Notes and Queries, The Builder, and Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.

LibraVox
A site designed to facilitate the sharing of audio books. It works like this; users select a chapter of a literary work that is out of copyright and in the public domain and record themselves reading it. Then the audio file is uploaded to the site and available for download.

Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the oldest digital library.  It is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works.  Most of the books in the collection are the full text of books that are in the public domain.  They have over 28,000 items in their collection and use open formats so that they can be used with almost any computer.  Most releases are in English, but there are some non-English titles available.

The Library has over 1,500 videos on DVD and VHS and more than 45,000 streaming videos online. The collection is about 65% feature films and 35% documentaries. 

Curricular Focus
The Library purchases video materials in direct support of curricular needs across all disciplines represented at the College. We purchase most titles requested by faculty if needed for classes. We also purchase materials that contribute to the broader study of media, including critically acclaimed titles, award winners, and films from specific studios and/or distributors.  

Services
The Library is committed to supporting the use of video in teaching and learning at the College. In addition to our extensive video collection and specialized viewing equipment and spaces, we offer a number of services to facilitate the use of the Library’s video collections. Liaison Librarians are available to consult with faculty and students to help locate appropriate video content for a class or research project, purchase new content, plan screenings or film festivals, and offer assistance with technical and intellectual property issues.

Resources

NOTE: Not all video sources are available off campus.

Government documents and materials linked here.

 

he Archives and special Special Collections of the UVA Wise Library comprise several collections, which are outlined below. To ensure a successful search, please ask for assistance from the Public Services staff when attempting to use any of these materials.

Guidelines for Usage

1. The Archives and Special Collections are available when the library is open.

2. The entire collection is non-circulating. It is available for use in the library only.

3. Photocopying is not allowed without special permission. Taking a non-flash photo of the materials is allowed.

4. Briefcases, purses, backpacks etc. are not allowed in Special Collections; please deposit them at the Service Desk on the Library's 4th floor.

5. Please treat the material with extreme care and use a pencil when taking notes.

6. Only one archive box can be used at a time.

7. Please be careful to return materials to the original box.

8. The Library's staff will gladly assist you; however, you are to do your research.

Collection Descriptions

General
This is a collection of historical, general, and rare books. The books in the collections can be searched using the catalog.

James Taylor Adams
James Taylor Adams was a newspaper editor, writer, historian, Post Master, and a merchant of Wise County. The collection contains folklore material, historical material on Wise County, and local genealogy. The bulk of this material is available in microfilm. (More info HERE. )

Beatty-Flannery
The collection contains papers and account books of the Beatty-Flannery Department Store of Wise, from 1870-1973.

Bruce Crawford
Bruce Crawford was a newspaper writer and editor in Wise County, Virginia. The collection contains books, newspaper, and personal papers from 1900-1940.

W. Eugene and Joyce Cox Collection
W. Eugene Cox, native of Keokee, Virginia, is a U. S. Navy veteran and a retiree of the National Park Service. Gene and his wife, Joyce, co-authored the book Keokee, Virginia: Origins of an Appalachian Coal Mining Community. The collection contains the research notes they used in writing the book. The collections consists of correspondence, documents, maps, deeds, photographs, and other material pertaining to Keokee, Virginia. Copies of the book are available in the library.

Emory L. Hamilton
Emory Hamilton (1913-1991) was a historian and educator in Wise County, Virginia. The collections contains books, photographs, articles written by Mr. Hamilton, and personal letters pertaining to the history and genealogy of Southwest Virginia.

The Highland Cavalier
The Highland Cavalier has been both microfilmed and digitized. View the Highland Cavalier archives, starting with the first publication.

Historical Society of Southwest Virginia
The library houses a collection for the Historical Society of Southwest Virginia. The collection contains books, pamphlets, and letters pertaining to the history of Southwest Virginia and surrounding areas from 1780 to present. Much of the material is on microfilm and is available at the Wise County Historical Society. (More info HERE.)

John Warfield Johnston
John Warfield Johnston (1818-1889) was a U.S. Senator from Abingdon, Virginia. This collection contains correspondence, wills, and documents of the Johnston family, as well as railroad corporation charters and other papers concerning the state and national politics and business ventures in Southwest Virginia. Correspondents and persons represented include President Rutherford B. Hayes, General Joseph E. Johnston, Peter Johnston, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and George Washington.

Melungeon Collection
The Melungeons were a mixed race/ethnic population believed to be among our earliest settlers. Descendants of these primarily Mediterranean and Middle Eastern people migrated to the Southern and Central Appalachian region, intermarrying with other ethnic groups. This collection, compiled by N. Brent Kennedy, contains letters, photographs, books, newspapers, video, and audiotapes, and other artifacts, covering material from the early 1500s to present.

Southwest Virginia Folklore Society
The Southwest Virginia Folklore Society collects material relating to the life, culture, and folklore of the Southern Appalachian region, specifically that of Southwest Virginia. The Society's archives are comprised of field audio and video tapes and manuscripts.

Sutherland Collections
Elihu Jasper Sutherland (1885-1964) was a local author, lawyer and judge from Clintwood, Virginia. Judge Sutherland's cousin, Joshua Hoge Sutherland (1897-1970), was an educator and historian. These collections contain books, newspapers, scrapbooks, letters, diaries, and other documents dealing with the history and genealogy of Southwest Virginia. (More info HERE.)

Trigg-Floyd
This collection contains papers of Daniel Trigg and John B. Floyd dating from 1830 to 1903. Daniel Trigg (1843-1909) was a lawyer from Abingdon, Virginia and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. The Trigg papers are dominated by professional correspondence that reflects the economic development of Southwest Virginia. John B. Floyd (1806-1863) was governor of Virginia and U.S. Secretary of War under President James Buchanan. The Floyd papers relate to his public service and contains correspondence between the women of the Floyd and Johnston families.

The University of Virginia's College at Wise
This is the archive of the University of Virginia's College at Wise. It contains memos, reports, and publications of the College. Also in the collection are the Outpost, the student yearbook, and the Highland Cavalier the student newspaper.

Virginia Coal Operators
This collection contains annual reports, correspondence, ledgers, and papers of coal mining companies of Southwest Virginia and the Coal Operator's Association. The time period covered is 1919 to 1960.

Coming Soon:

Town and Country Garden Club of Wise, VA - Digital Access

 

For further information contact:

Kim Larmee, UVA Wise Archivist at
rag2rr@uvawise.edu

Search Strategies

A keyword search retrieves words or phrases from the important fields of the database records. In most databases a keyword search finds words in fields that have descriptive content, such as author, article title, source title (book, journal, magazine, or newspaper, subject/descriptor terms, and abstract. In some databases, additional fields may be included in the keyword search. And in other databases, a keyword search will search everything in every record.  Some keyword search engines allow you to specify which field(s) are to be searched.

A keyword search usually retrieves more items than a subject search, but they may not all be relevant. The computer is looking for the exact word you typed, not for the meaning or context of the word.

For example, a search on AIDS will retrieve items on...

  • aids for the hearing impaired
  • school aids
  • AIDS (the disease)

A keyword search is the best method to use when:

  • You are beginning your research
  • You are searching for a new trend or concept
  • You are not sure of the correct subject heading
  • The database does not have subject headings
  • You are looking for specific factual information

 Some search tips:

  • Use only significant words, not common words, such as the, of, an, and that.
  • Avoid using phrases such as "people with diabetes", or whole sentences, such as "How do people buy cigarettes if they are under 18?"

A subject search involves searching for subject headings/terms used in the library catalog or a library database. The library catalog and many library databases include subject headings/terms that are assigned to each record.

A list of subject headings, (also known as a subject thesaurus), ensures that all items about the same topic have uniform headings. Users can then retrieve all of the items on the same topic using a subject heading/term, even when there may be several other ways to state the concept. By using the subject heading/term, you will retrieve every relevant item for your topic. Searching with a subject heading/term retrieves items ABOUT that particular topic, and it is a more precise search than a keyword search.

For example, you may want to research the topic pet therapy.

Possible ways (synonyms) to state this topic include: 

  • pet therapy
  • animal therapy
  • dog therapy
  • therapy pets
  • therapy animals
  • therapy dogs
  • pet assisted therapy
  • animal assisted therapy
  • dog assisted therapy

When using the Library's catalog, to search for books, the subject headings for pet therapy are:

  • animals - therapeutic use
  • pets - therapeutic use.

When using the Library's catalog or the Academic Search Complete database to search for articles, the subject headings for pet therapy are: 

  • animal-assisted therapy
  • dog-assisted therapy
  • pet therapy
  • therapy dogs

The subject heading for pet therapy may be different in other library databases.