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SOC / CJ 323 Methods of Social Research: Finding Books

I-Share

The "card catalog" of the A.C. Buehler Library. Use this resource to find books, journal titles, movies, and music owned by Elmhurst College, and information about items located in 85 academic and research libraries in Illinois.

Subject words to try in I-Share:

  • Social surveys
  • Questionnaires design
  • Social sciences research methodology
  • Research design

Some tips on using the I-Share catalog

Some tips for effective I-Share Searching: 

What should you select in the "Search By" box? It depends on what you are looking for....

  • Title Searches: Use when you are looking for a specific book: ie To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Author Searches: Use when you are looking for books written by a particular author: ie William Shakespeare
    • If you are looking for books written about an author, do a Subject search
  • ISBN/ISSN Searches: Use when you are looking for a specific book by the ISBN or a specific journal and you have the ISSN.

There are two kinds of searches you will use when you are researching a SUBJECT:

  • Keyword Searches: Use when you are first starting out with a search and you're not sure what you will find.
    • A keyword search can be a good way to get at more specific words that will help you find more useful information
    • This can be frustrating if the words you are using are not the "right" ones
  • Subject Searches: Use these when you know (or would like to find out) the Subject headings that pertain to your topic.
    • Subject Searching can be an extremely efficient way to find information on a topic
    • The catalog can "help" you figure out what Subject headings are
    • The catalog can "help" you use Subject headings to find more books--you can click on the subject heading and get to more titles

Books on Social Research Methods