9 Finding Course Materials via the Library
The library has a multitude of resources that would be free for you to use in your courses, but it is important to be mindful of copyright laws and what constitutes fair use.
Books
You can find all print and electronic books through the “Books” tab under “Smart Search Options” on the library’s homepage. Once you have done a search, you can further limit to either print or e-books on the left side of the screen. The left toolbar within the catalog allows you to select facets for your search.
To find open access materials, select “Open Access” under Availability.
If we don’t have the book you need, you can request a print copy through interlibrary loan. Or you can use WorldCat to find print books from libraries worldwide. You can also request a purchase.
Journal Articles
You can find journal articles in a number of ways.
- Use the “Articles” tab under “Smart Search Options” on the library’s homepage. You will notice there are two search bars located here. If you are not finding what you need searching with the first bar, try the second one.
- Use BrowZine to browse available journals.
- Use any of our Databases located at the “Databases A-Z” tab on the library’s homepage
- Here, you can narrow down by “Subject” or “Type” to better customize your database options.
When you have found an article you want to use for your course, it is best to provide the permalink to the article in your Blackboard shell.
News
- Kentucky news from the Lexington-Herald Leader can be easily accessed through the link at the bottom of the library’s homepage.
- Other News Sources can be accessed through the “Databases A-Z” tab located on the library’s homepage. Once you have chosen this tab, you can narrow the databases down by type. Simply choose “News” in the drop-down menu.
- Search America’s historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America « Library of Congress (loc.gov)
As with articles and e-books, it is best practice to provide the permalink to the resource in your Blackboard course shell.
Streaming Video
Films on Demand is a large, multi-disciplinary collection of streaming videos. This database breaks films into segments, so it is easy to share just clips with your class. It’s important to note that content in this database can change and licenses expire, so it is important to check links each semester you use material from this database.
Other databases with streaming video can be located by going to the “Databases A-Z” tab on the library’s homepage, and then filtering by “Streaming Media” under “Types.”
Primary Sources
Digitized primary sources related to Morehead State can be found through ScholarWorks, located at the bottom of the library’s homepage.
Primary sources can also be located in various other library databases and open source collections as found here.
Tutorial
“Primary Source on the Web: Finding, Evaluating, Using” from the Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.
