From choosing a topic, to finding your sources and citations, take a look at IRIS. (IRIS 4-2 “Information and Research Instruction Suite for two year colleges”)

Use IRIS to focus on what you need to know right now.

The library hours are M-W 7:30am-8pm; Th 7:30am-6pm; Fr 7:30am-4:30pm and Saturdays 10am-3pm.

In addition, you can get online help 24/7 using our chat service. If a GHC librarian isn’t available, you’ll get help from one of our partner libraries around the country.

To access the library’s databases from off-campus, you will need to log-in using your name and 9-digit student ID number.

Please note that the Library’s off-campus log-in procedure is THE SAME as the log-in procedure for the on-campus computers.

To see what books etc. we own, you don’t have to log in, but once you find what you want, you need to place a hold or come in and pick it up.

More details on using the library from off campus are here!

For example, Proquest Research Library is a database available from our library. Proquest is a collection of articles from a whole bunch of different magazines, newspapers, and journals. The library pays for access to these articles for you, articles that would often cost between $20-30 each. If you search for your topic in Proquest you will see tabs across the top of the results list that read: All Results, Scholarly Journals, Magazines, etc. If you select the Scholarly Journals tab, Proquest will leave you a list of only peer reviewed articles.

You can also look for a check-box that will limit your search to scholarly or peer reviewed sources. ProQuest Research Library and Academic Search Premier both have boxes like that. Science Direct does not have a check-box, because EVERYTHING you find in Science Direct is peer reviewed!

Internet resources can be trickier. If you aren’t using a database with this Scholarly Journal feature or you are finding an article on the Internet, you can usually find whether an article is peer reviewed by going to the magazine or journal’s website. Once you’ve found the publisher’s website, look for a link or a tab that says “Submission Guidelines” or “Information for Authors,” essentially any link that is geared towards article writers. You’ll then need to look for information mentioning if the article is peer reviewed and by whom.

Books generally go through an editorial process before publication. Books published by university presses are almost all peer reviewed, since they are often written by faculty that are under great pressure to write high quality articles and books.

Blogs, wikis and personal websites are not considered peer reviewed sources, since people can publish whatever they want without going through an outside editorial process.

Sometimes finding out whether a source is peer reviewed can be a challenge. Use the database features mentioned above to make it easier on yourself, and if you ever have any doubts, feel free to contact a GHC Librarian and ask for help.

Originally posted by Ben Hoganson. Updated by Adrienne Roush

You can view ebooks on Black History, any time day or night, from on or off campus.

(for more on ebooks, look here!)

We are still open on Saturday the 14th, normal hours. (10am-3pm)

You can read up on Dr. King in some of our ebooks online from ebrary.

Have a great weekend!

Most books, when fully downloaded, are checked out to you for 14 days. They expire automatically.

Chapter PDFs do not expire.

Chapters and entire books can be loaded to a variety of portable reading devices.

For full help, click here.

In addition, you can chat with a library 24/7!

Whether you are just starting at GHC or returning for more, the library has resources to help you out!

Books, e-books, magazines, newspapers, journals (both in print and online) and media. You can find it all at the library web site: http://ghc.edu/library

If you’ve got questions, don’t hesitate to contact us- chat, email, phone or in person- we’re here to help!

Normal hours will resume on January 4th.