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English
Instructor: Mr. C. Charter
English 110

PURPOSE:  Aren't we always trying to improve ourselves? Perhaps yes, perhaps no.  It seems as though we are.  But what is self improvement really? This research guide has been designed to help you complete your research assignment. This research guide has been designed to help you with your research assignment.  Most of this work can be done on the Cuyamaca College Library Website.

CONTENTS

STEP 1: Selecting a Topic

Before you begin using search tools to hunt down the sources your will need to write your essay, you need to select a topic.

  • Mental Health (stress, anxiety)
  • Medicine (alternative, natural, vitamins, protein bars, sunscreen)
  • Fitness  (yoga, pilates, walking)
  • Diet and nutrition (diets, organic foods)
  • Television benefits
  • Recreation (sports, reading, travel, massage)
  • Personal finance

STEP 2: Find Books

One research tip we can suggest is to look at books with "How to" in the titles. For example, you may want to find a book

DIRECTIONS FOR TOPIC IDEAS:
1. Go to the Library homepage.
2. Click on "Library Catalog".  At the Library Catalog screen, and locate the word "BROWSE"
3. Click to open "BROWSE". Type in the phrase "How to" and select TITLE
4. You should get a list of book titles with the phrase "How to"

  • To find books in the Cuyamaca Library, click on Library Catalog, which is on the library website under "books."
     
  • You may also want to order titles from the SDSU Library or from the Grossmont Library.  Usually, we can get books from either of these libraries in two business days.
     
  • To order a book from another library, fill out the interlibrary loan form.

STEP 3: Find articles

DIRECTIONS to find articles: 1) Go to Library homepage.  2) Click on Databases A-Z.  3) Select a database.  Note: if you use one of these databases from a remote location, you must enter your campus username and password.

  • General Onefile - database of articles from magazines and journals. RESEARCH TIP: type in your subject phrase and narrow topic to "health aspects" or "social aspects".

General:

periodical database

leads to
arrow

Citation

"Children and nutrition"
Resto, Jeri
Child Development 2:5 (2,123:March) 235.

 

leads to
arrow

Article text.

"The formation of the ideas of children constitutes a study equally interesting from a literary and a scientific point of view..."

 

STEP 4: Find print reference Sources

  • The African American Woman's Health Book / Valiere Alcena
    RA 778.4 A36 2001
     
  • Encyclopedia of Mental Health / editor-in-chief, Howard S. Friedman
    RA 790.5 E53 1998
     
  • The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders / Dana K. Cassell and David H. Gleaves
    RC 552 E18 C37 2000
     
  • The Encyclopedia of Understanding Alcohol and Other Drugs
    HV5017 O37 1999
     
  • The Family Mental Health Encyclopedia / Frank J. Bruno
    RC 437 B69 1989
     
  • Handbook of Emotions / edited by Michael Lewis, Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones
    B 561 H35 2000
     
  • Health Issues / edited by the editors of Salem Press
    RA 425 H39 2001
     
  • The Nutrition and Health Encyclopedia
    QP 141 T88 1989
     
  • Reader's Guide to Alternative Health Methods / John F. Zwicky
    R 733 R4 1993
     
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases:  Sourcebook: Basic Consumer Heath Information about Sexually Transmitted Diseases
    RC 200.2 S387 2001
     
  • Women's Encyclopedia of Health & Emotional Healing:  Top Women Doctors Share Their Unique Self-Helf Advice on Your Body, Your Feelings and Your Life / by Denise Foley, Eileen Nechas and the editors of Prevention Magazine
    RA 778 F66 1993

STEP 6: Find online reference sources

We have added new online databases to our collection. Please view them at Databases A-Z.

 

STEP 7: Find Websites

The MLA Handbook is located in the general stacks under the call number LB 2369 G52, as well as on the Reference shelves under Ref LB 2369 G52 (books in the general stacks may be checked out).

Important Note =>When using a magazine or journal article from a database, such as Infotrac Onefile, you must cite it differently than you would if you used a paper copy.

Here is an example of a citation in MLA style for a source found in the database Infotrac Onefile.

Phinney, Alan.  "Cinderella Cactus."  Sunset  Oct. 2001. 
            Infotrac Onefile.  Gale Group.  Cuyamaca College Lib.,
            El Cajon, CA.  17 Dec. 2003
            <http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com>

The above citation in MLA Style would be very different if you found a copy of this article in an actual magazine.

Phinney, Alan.  "Cinderella Cactus."
       Sunset  Oct. 2001: 78-80.

For additional help on how to format your citations, take a look at our MLA Style Guide.

Or try one of the following guides:

 

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