#msu library

THE BOOKSHELVES MOVE!!!

Here are three sources I am considering for my second project in my writing class:

Taylor, Robert B. "Medical writing: A guide for clinicians, educators, and researchers" Michigan State University Library.  Springer. c2011. Web. 10 June 2012.

This is a guide for writing in the medical profession. An electronic source at the MSU library giving it a quick skim will provide the reader with a sense of what is expected in all fields of the medical profession.

Kramme, Rudiger. "Springer handbook of medical technology" Michigan State University Library. Springer. 2011. Web. 10 June 2012.

This book is an index of the technology used in medicine and the level of expertise and exceptions of each. One can use this as a broader material source that also provides an in-depth look into specifics when a topic is reached.

Bleakley, Alan. "Medical education for the Future" Michigan State Library. Springer. February 2011. Web. 10 June 2012

Dear Future MSU student,

            Writing your first college- level research paper can be a daunting task but with the use of the MSU Library it will be a lot easier. To start, you can find the website for the library at www.lib.msu.edu. From there click on the “Undergraduate Page” button and that will take you to where you will do the majority of your online research. Once you are on the undergraduate page, you can easily find articles, books, and a plethora of research help. I recommend that you begin your research by clicking on the green button that says “Research Help” and then going to research guides. The page should look like this, www.er.lib.msu.edu/guides.cfm. You can then browse research guides by subject. I have found this to be the easiest way of starting my search for sources. The nice thing about this is that it will find scholarly journal databases that are reliable sources of information. These are what you will want to use for your papers instead of a random .com website that you found on Google. You should always make sure that your main sources are credible sites that have peer reviewed or list references that aided in their research.

            Another important aspect of research is finding primary sources to help solidify your evidence. A primary source is source that provides a first- hand experience of an event, someone’s life, or a time period. They include letters, diaries, oral histories, manuscript notes, field notes, organizational records, ephemera (things like ticket stubs or posters), and visual sources. For more information on primary sources you can visit: www.lib.msu.edu/exhibits/primesource/pslinks.jsp.

            If at any time during your research you reach point where you need help, the librarians at MSU are more than happy to help you. There are many ways to receive their help. The following are what I have found to be the easiest ways to get help:

-       Go to the library in person and go to the main desk on the first floor

-       Text them at 66746 and start your question with “askMSU”

-       Call them at (517) 353.8700 or (1.800) 500.1554

-       Instant message them by clicking on “Ask a Librarian” on the undergraduate page

I recommend making time to actually go into the library to do research, don’t attempt to do it all online. There are many valuable sources in the library that you cannot check out, they have to be used while you are there, these are sources like high- use periodicals, special collections materials, and microforms. Don’t exclude these from your research just because you don’t want to go to the library, it will be worth it in the end. Your paper will be that much stronger because you took the time to find great sources.

                                                                                    From,

Regardless of your major here at MSU, you will most definitely need to be able to use the library's resources in order to prosper. More specifically if you are a social sciences or arts and letters major taking a writing class your first semester is necessary; for all other majors you will need writing skills for your more disciplined classes later in your academic year. Nevertheless I will take you step by step on to through the basics of the MSU library.

Your research journey begins on the MSU library website where immediately you will want to click the undergraduate colored box to the right to be redirected to an appropriated site. Click on the Research help tab; here you can find a link to a Primary sources search engine, research guides, course guides and citation guides which come in handy in writing classes. When using the primary sources engine it is very important to understand what a primary source is relative to the research project. For example: if you were to be researching the great depression and needed primary sources you would want to look for sources from the 1930s; any source after that would be irreverent to your topic's goal. Back on that tab the research guide is a great read prior to a research project, but in a classroom setting is typically preached to you.

As I will be reaching my junior before long, I would like to introduce new coming students  one of the most convenient and helpful method to obtain resources when you confronted with either project or paper and so on. Yes, it's our superior MSU library！This can be extremly benefical if you use it properly rather than plagiarize. Actully, once you mastered the norm and steps to operate the system, enormous information essential for you task comes really easy.

Here is some basic information you must know prior, millions of books,  sound clips, subscriptions, articles and other sources are stored inside which you can borrow or consult. During our main two semester spring and fall, library usually opens 24 hours, while sometimes the schedule may have a slightly change like close earlier, all these information will be noticed on paper stick on the front door. To be more convenient, like summer, you can just go check the library website, the home page will tell you exatly when will it open and close in a specific day. When borrowing books, you can borrow 4~5 at one time with student ID for nearly two weeks, once this period ended, you can still renew it online, there is a obvious bottom instruction books renewing in the home page. Course reserve is another tool to help you build in-class knowledge directly, it's time period that youcan check out is always 2 hours.

As you are just a freshman coming to MSU, the most important page for you is going to be the undergraduate page. When you first go to the MSU library homepage, you will find the link to the undergraduate page in the middle of the screen, just above the graduate page button. If you click on this button it takes you to a really cool page for undergraduate students. From here you can do multiple things, like figure out how many days you have to do an assignment from the assignment calculator along the right side of the page, or you can figure search for scholarly articles by subject. You can also change what you search in to search for books, or journals as opposed to just articles. This page is really cool, and a good place to get to know.

If you then click on research help, you can learn a lot about different things within research. One of these is primary sources. Primary sources are pieces of history that provide first hand experience. They include things like letters, oral documentaries, and raw data. The major thing to remember is that they have not been interpreted by scientists. This may sound confusing, but just remember that primary sources are usually things that haven't been edited or adjusted by anyone else. Secondary sources, however, are articles or journals written by scientists, historians, and anyone else that take a primary source, and interpret it into modern language and meaning.

Also under research help, are things like research guides. THis is a lot of tips that will help you when deciding to start your research and which steps you want to take.

If you are ever confused you can contact the MSU librarians by going into the library, using their webchat service, using instant messaging, texting the hotline, calling the numbers provided, or emailing them.

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