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Research Guides

Information Systems & Technology

Find Your Textbook & Course Materials

The Library makes books/textbooks, DVDs, and other course materials available online or in print for students to share access to as an alternative to purchasing them. 

You can find your textbook and other course materials by searching in the Course Readings list using your professor's last name or course name. 

If you do not see your textbook listed, then your professor may not have submitted the title(s) to the bookstore. Please reach out to your Subject Librarian to get more help with finding the item you need. 

Subject Call Numbers

The Claremont Colleges Library use the Library of Congress Classification System to organize physical books in the library. Our science section can be found on the first (1st) floor of the Honnold side of the building.

Subclasses Relating to Information Systems & Technology

  • Instruments & Machines: QA 71-90
  • Electronic Computers, Computer Science: QA 75.5- 76.95
  • Computer Software: QA 76.75-76.765
  • Managerial Control Systems: T58.4
  • Information Technology: T58.5-58.64
  • Management Information Systems: T58.6-58.62
  • Standardization: T59-59.2
  • Automation: T59.5
  • Human Engineering in Industry, Man-Machine Systems: T59.7-59.77

Search Strategies

Learning how to search databases is important because it is a little different than searching Google. This section will help you learn how to create searches and limit the thousands of records in the database to retrieve relevant information.

If you are having difficulty finding results, Ask Us. TCCL Librarians are happy to help.

Envisioning Your Search Process

It's often helpful to envision the process of completing your work before starting on searches. It allows you the space to organize your thoughts and plan steps so that you don't spend time aimlessly wandering. 

Identify & Refine Your Topic Using a Concept Map

Start with a general topic/broad keyword(s) then narrow as you build. Use a Thesaurus to find alternate terms. Brainstorm for keywords that are most important in defining your topic.

Streamline Your Searches Using Advanced Techniques

Boolean operators connect your search words together to either narrow or broaden your set of results. Using Boolean Operators will provide better and more accurate results. The three basic boolean operators are: AND, OR, and NOT.

Exact Phrase Searching

  • Use quotation marks around a phrase of two or more words to limit or narrow your search results
  • Phrase search indicates to a search tool that you want the search terms in a specific order together
  • Example:
    • "alternative energy"
    • This will retrieve results where these terms appear in this specific order and together
    • So, you will not get results with just energy or just alternative or energy alternative
  • Phrase search is most useful when you are searching for keywords that have multiple meanings or that have specific meanings when used in combination.

Web Domain Searching

  • To find websites with specific domain such as:
    • .org = non-profit organizations
    • .gov = U.S. government
    • .edu = educational 
    • .com = commercial
    • .net = large network
  • Use "site:" and the domain you wish to find, without spaces.
  • Example: site:.org

Truncation Searching

  • Truncation is a way to search for words that may appear in multiple forms
  • It is usually indicated by an asterisk *
  • Example: politic* will retrieve all results that contains political, politics, politician, politicians, politicize, politicized

Citation Chaining 

Use the citation chaining technique to find related articles.

Types of Sources

Identifying Scholarly Sources

When conducting academic research for your assignments, it is often stressed that you need to use articles from a scholarly journal.  

Characteristics of scholarly journals include:

  • Written for a specific field/discipline
  • Include lengthy research or technically oriented reports
  • Usually written by researchers, experts, scholars of the field/discipline
  • Include citations and references
  • May be 'peer-reviewed' by other researchers, experts and scholars before publication

Scholarly journals are also known as 'academic journals', 'peer-reviewed journals'.

Primary vs Secondary Sources

Primary and Secondary Sources from the SCC Library on Vimeo.

 

Identifying Primary Sources

A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about a person, place or thing and was created during the time period in which it occurred. A wide variety of formats can be considered a primary source, as long as they meet the above criteria. 

Examples:

  • Autobiographies and memoirs

  • Personal letters, diaries and business correspondence

  • Internet communications including emails, memos, blogs, ListServs and newsgroups

  • Photographs, drawings and posters

  • Artifacts

  • Scholarly articles (written during relevant time period)

  • Technical Reports

  • Books, magazines and newspapers (published during relevant time period)

Identifying Secondary Sources

A secondary source is something that has been created after the time period in which it occurred and by someone who may or may not have had first hand knowledge of the topic. They may describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate or summarize. Sometimes they will reorganize materials to make it easier to find primary source information - such as in the case of an encyclopedia. 

Examples:

  • Bibliographies

  • Reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases)

  • Articles from magazines, journals and newspapers (published after the event occurred)

  • Literature reviews

  • History books

  • Works of interpretation or criticism

  • Commentaries

  • Textbooks

STEM Librarian

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Kimberly Jackson

Contact:
Research, Teaching, & User Services -
The Claremont Colleges Library
909 607-7168