Why I Love Library Services at Purdue

Hi, this is Team SK in the Library. In this article, we'll cover the basics of what resources and services the Library offers, how to start a search, and where to find additional training and assistance. During your studies, you'll be asked to research assignment topics and locate academic resources to help inform your assignment's ideas and evidence for the arguments you're making.

The P.G. Library excels at providing academic resources and services to support your search for reliable, quality information. You'll need to visit us to access these services and resources. There are a few ways to do this. First, access the Library's website. You can navigate your browser directly to library.purdueglobal.edu. You can also find us through your student portal under My Studies. These links will bring you to the main Library website and homepage.

Additionally, you can find a Library link under More Tools in your classroom. When clicking the link from the school, the Library link will display a list of resources available to you instead of our primary website homepage, customized by either the content area of your program or specifically to your course.

Whether you're looking at a course Library Guide or on our main website, there are generally two primary paths you can take to research your topic. You can type in keywords and start searching immediately or browse the Search section and menus for specific resources. In the Search area, you'll find links to databases, providing access to resources normally closed off and behind a paywall on the web, extending your overall information network available to you.

However, the feature you will probably use the most is the search box on our homepage, which searches most of our content simultaneously. This search box is powered by EBSCO Discovery Service, and anything you type here will lead to its native interface in a new browser window or tab.

EBSCO Discovery Service's search results list will present an article, ebook, video, or another type of publication it can find, where it found a match between the magazine and all of the words you typed in. The results list is ranked by relevancy by default and will only show results you have immediate full-text access to, either through EBSCO or another database or resource like ProQuest.

Once you have the text, depending on the database and publication type, you can download, print, email, or copy a link to the item for easy access later. The search box on our homepage also has two other modes you can enable by clicking the corresponding tab. Clicking Publication Finder will help you search for a specific journal, another serial, or ebooks instead of searching for articles by keyword. You can also click on the third tab to search across our website and support documentation or find a specific database or guide by search term instead of browsing for it.

To help you find information, we also have support resources and services, all located in the Support section. Here, you can find links to contact Library staff, watch videos and tutorials about research skills and navigating library resources, find Library Guides for many different subjects and topics, and find a searchable Support F.A.Q.

Hub with entries on several questions and topics. You'll usually find what you need on our homepage, Search or Support sections, or in the guide linked to your classroom. However, we provide additional resources and content like our Document Delivery service, links to the A.P.A.'s Academic Writer tool, and other Purdue Global services in the Other Services and About sections. Please check out the resources in these sections at your earliest convenience for this brief introduction.

Conclusion:

Hopefully, you now feel more comfortable with the basics of navigating our site and resources. Should you need any assistance finding the information you need, however, always feel free to reach out!