Skip to Main Content
COM Library

Articles & Media

Books & eBooks

About COM Library

Guides

Virtual Librarian Examples

Example Notes & Options

The example announcements below are from a specific course. Each announcement can be customized for your course, just let us know what you'd like covered. 

In addition you can choose how many announcements you'd like for your students to receive:

  • Option 1 Just the Introduction 
    We can limit to just an introduction announcement so students know where to go for research help, as well as other basic library information. 
  • Option 2 Introduction & Best Sources
    We can limit to an Intro and a 2nd announcement on best sources for their course.
  • Option 3 Introduction, Best Sources & Specific Aspect
    We can send an Intro, 2nd announcement on best sources for their course and a 3rd announcement that is focused on a specific aspect of student research or presentation. 

Here Are Some Great Resources! [2nd announcement example]

Here are some great resources for your course that can make your research and citations easier. 

Sources for Your Papers

For most topics a really great place to start is OneSearch. OneSearch searches almost all our databases at once, so you can find articles, streaming media, books, eBooks and more at the same time. Learn more about using OneSearch. 

All our databases can be accessed on or off campus 24/7. When off campus, you must login with your COM account for off campus access.

If you're not sure how to use any of our databases, try our How To guides, or ask us! 

Top Databases & Tips for Current Event Topics

It depends on your exact topic, but this database will cover almost any topic: 

If your topic is a current event or has a controversial or pro/con aspect to it, we have several databases that specialize in that. CQ Researcher, Issues & Controversies, and Opposing Viewpoints or Global Issues in Context are the top databases that specialize in controversial topics. They provide pros & cons or viewpoints that are persuasive as well as objective information. 

Pro Search Tip: Use Quotes for a Phrase

Use quotes around any set of words sought as a phrase (these words in this order).

For instance, If you are searching for the American dream, use quotes around it in the search box when looking for sources. This can really help get rid of sources that aren't relevant. So you'd enter "American dream".

You can see more about search techniques in How to Search a Database. FYI, these techniques also work in Google and most other search engines. 

Top Guides

Just so you know, the library curates great sources on different topics in our guides, so you can find top eBooks, eBooks, articles, streaming media and open access sources all in one handy guide. You might want to take a look at some of our guides on controversial issues, current events or social media. Here are a few examples:

Top Databases & Tips for Literature

Literature can be little more challenging to research because there simply is not as much written about it as many other subjects. But if you use the right databases and know a few tips, it can be a lot easier. 

  • JSTOR
    Great for finding scholarly articles with criticism as well as great for finding copyright cleared images that you can use. Probably has the most criticism articles of all our databases. 
    • Start by searching with the title of your work. Quotes around a title of a work can really help. 
    • You can use the Refine Results options to limit your results to the most relevant articles. 
      • Under Academic content, try Journals
      • Under Subject, try Language & Literature
      • Under Language try English 
    • Once you find an article you like you can find Related text on the article page, where you may find even more articles that you can use. Try the Navigate the Article Page in How to Use JSTOR of you aren't sure where to find it. 
    • For images, you can start the search the way you normally would with a search term, but when you see the list of results look for the Images tab above the search box and select it to get just images in your results. And JSTOR will let you grab a citation for your image as well!
    • You can learn more about what you can do in JSTOR in the How to Use JSTOR guide. 
  • ProQuest PowerSearch
    Great for finding scholarly articles with criticism. You may find more recent articles here than in JSTOR. 
    • Start off your search by entering an author or specific work (with quotes around the title)  in the search box. 
    • Under Subject, choose literary criticism as subject.
    • Under Person, choose your author.
    • You can easily narrow down to academic, peer reviewed or scholarly sources if your instructor requires it by selecting Peer reviewed under the search box.
    • You can learn more about using this and other ProQuest databases in How to Use ProQuest. 
  • OneSearch
    Great for finding books and eBooks with criticism as well as articles. 
    • To get started you can do a search by entering the specific work that you are researching, with quotes around the title, like "Much Ado About Nothing" and select everything to search. 
    • Under Subject, choose Show More, select Literary Criticism and Apply filters. 
    • If you need peer reviewed articles you can easily narrow it down to by selecting Peer-reviewed Journals under Availability.
    • Narrow down by date by entering the desired date range and selecting Refine. 
    • You can learn more about what you can do in OneSearch in How to Use OneSearch. 

Tips for Writing an Annotated Bibliography

We've created some tips just for annotated bibliographies! See an example entry from an annotated bibliography and get tips on where to find the info to include in your annotation and how to format it. 

Grab Citations from Databases & Tips from MLA Style Guide

Did you know? You can grab MLA style citations for your sources right from these and our other databases! We have an MLA 9th edition guide that shows you how to grab citations from our databases, how to tweak them and even gives formatting tips like how to create a hanging indent in Word (it's easy when you know the tricks!)

If you are citing a website, zoterbib is free and very quick. Just type in your URL to get a citation in the style of your choice. 

MLA Handbook Plus

COM students have full access to MLA Handbook Plus online! You can browse or search the book online, get citation examples for just about everything, and see sample papers. The MLA Sample Papers can be especially helpful. Want more? How to Use MLA Handbook Plus. 

Writing, Research & Presentations for the Humanities

Writing, Research & Presentations for the Humanities has great tips on different kinds of academic writing, You'll find the database tips about and little bit more about literary research. 

Don't forget, you can also get one on one writing help from the Tutoring Center.

I can Help With...

I can help you with grabbing citations, finding sources, doing research, or other library questions. You can ask your questions on the Ask the Virtual Librarian page via live chat, call, or get face-to-face help in the library during our open hours. When we are closed, you can still use our live chat, find answers in our Knowledge Base or send an email. 

 Here is some contact info:

If you have questions, please, contact me. Have a great semester!

~Your Virtual Librarian

Presentations & PowerPoint [3rd announcement example]

This time I have some tips for presentations. 

Tips for PowerPoint & Presentations

Get tips on using sources, PowerPoint and public speaking for your presentation.

You'll find our top eBooks on using PowerPoint, direct link to Microsoft's videos on using PowerPoint and see answers to our most frequently asked questions about PowerPoint, like inserting images and videos into your presentation. 

PowerPoint for Dummies

This is our most popular eBook on PowerPoint. Librarians love the dummies series because they are well organized with easy to find information that does not waste your time searching for what you need to know. In the eBook format, you can use the table of contents to navigate as well as search the eBook for the info you want. We have unlimited access and you can access on or off campus, 24/7. 

Even if you’re completely new to PowerPoint, or even Microsoft Office in general. PowerPoint For Dummies quickly gets you up to speed on the basics. You’ll learn to create a new presentation from scratch and even import data from other applications. 

j

If you have questions, please contact me

~Your Virtual Librarian