Online libraries, such as Questia.com, HighBeam.com, FindArticles.com, the Jewish Virtual Library, and the Small Business Administration Library, are either free or fee based. Learn research skills and helpful tips on locating the right online library for you.
Introduction
One of the most difficult things about college is the endless stream of research papers that must be written, each semester, perhaps three or more 10 to 15 page research papers a month, each requiring five to ten authoritative sources. To find authoritative sources, such as peer reviewed journals and books, students once spent countless hours in the school’s library conducting a physical search of hundreds of books and publications. While a physical search of a university or public library may help you locate good information, it is not the best way to tackle the problem.
In the past several years, Internet-based libraries have dramatically improved the ease of user access to information, they have increased their research features, and they have increased the number of publications that are available to view online. With these advancements, conducting research for school, work, or for fun now can be done by utilizing one or more of the vast number of online libraries that are now available to the general public. To understand how valuable these online libraries are, and how they can help you with your research needs, this article will examine two types of online libraries: free public access online libraries and fee-based access online libraries. The online libraries featured in this article are not your only options, but they have been presented to give you an idea of what is available, and where you can start your search for reference materials.
Fee-Based Access Online Libraries
Questia.com
Questia.com is a fee-based access online library that hosts over 60,000 full-text books, and over one million articles. In addition to these references the online library also gives you access to a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a thesaurus, and a collection of digital tools that you can use while conducting your research.
Questia has three payment plans that you can choose from. The first option is to pay a monthly installment of $19.95. You don’t have to make a physical payment each month, as the $19.95 is automatically billed to your credit card or PayPal account. Your second option is to pay a quarterly fee of $44.95. This saves you $4.97 per month. Again quarterly payments are automatically processed when the renewal is needed. Your final payment option is to pay an annual fee of $99.95. This is the best payment option if you can handle the lump sum, as it saves you $11.62 per month on services. If you don’t know if this service is for you, Questia also offers a free trial offer where you can try out all of Questia’s services and research tools.
Once enrolled, either by paying the fee or enrolling in the free trial, you will be able to navigate freely throughout the library. There is a tutorial available to help you with all of the digital tools, and to help you use the library’s search engine. When you enter a search phrase such as "organizational change" results will be displayed in four different categories: books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. This segregation of material is especially helpful if your professor requires a specific number of references from books or peer reviewed journals. This will also help you to identify what resources are the most authoritative, with textbooks being the most authoritative, peer reviewed journals the second most authoritative, magazines the third most, and newspapers the fourth most authoritative.
If you see a reference that looks like it will fit your needs you can click on the link and navigate through the text or article. If you have selected a textbook then you will only be able to see one page at a time. On the left hand side of the screen will be a table of contents and a list of pages that have your key words on them. You can click on the highlighted page numbers to jump directly to those pages with your key words, or you can click on a chapter. If you want to print a specific page out then there is a print icon available that you can select to print the page. However, you can only print one page at a time so if you need an entire chapter printed out it takes a little work. Articles are presented in their entirety and can be printed out in their entirety without having to navigate to and print out each page individually.
Another great feature of Questia is that you can save the references that you are using for your research project in a bookshelf that you can access at any time to retrieve the books or articles again. You can also check which references you have used in your research project and request a bibliography be formatted for you in MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style, ASA, or Turbian citation formats. This bibliography is formatted in a Word document that you can download to your hard drive and insert into your paper. This helps to ensure proper formatting of your bibliography and it provides you will all of the information that you need including publisher, location, and page numbers.
Finally, you have several options for canceling your membership. If you won’t be using your library membership for several months because you are not taking any classes during the summer, for example, then you can simply suspend your subscription for up to three months. You won’t be charged a fee during this period and you will receive 50% off the first month of your subscription after the suspension is lifted. If you will no longer need the library services than you can request your subscription be cancelled. To do this you simply have to click on the cancellation link on their website and follow the directions they provide.
HighBeam Research
Another fee-based access online library is HighBeam Research. They provide a similar service to Questia. The advantage of HighBeam is that it has a larger base of materials to look through. They boast of over 35 million articles from 3,000 highly respected publishers. In addition to a large selection of reference materials they also offer online digital tools designed to aid research and drafting research papers such as the Columbia Encyclopedia, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and an almanac. Other tools that are available to subscribers include: simple and advance search options, sorting options, My Research Center, you can save articles for future reference, you can request email alerts when new articles or material becomes available that match your research needs, and you can export your research to Microsoft Office or PowerPoint.
HighBeam Research offers two different levels of membership. The first option is Basic Membership, which is free with registration. This option allows users to:
Search the entire library;
Preview articles;
Advance search options;
Use of HighBeam Blog Enhancer;
Use of HighBeam RSS;
Search using HighBeam Web (5 sources only);
Create and save research groups (only up to 3);
Use of HighBeam Reference;
View Free Reference Articles;
Configure display preferences; and
Save search queries.
If you need more research options you can enroll in High Beam’s Full Membership program for $19.95 per month or $99.95 per year, which is comparable with Questia.com service charges. With paid membership you get all of the options above plus:
View of full text of your selected articles;
You can export articles to Microsoft Office;
You can save your articles online for future reference;
You can sign up for email alerts for new material;
You can use HighBeam Blog Enhancer;
Get up to 10 sources using the HighBeam Web;
Create and save up to 100 research groups; and
Access the premium reference and library articles.
If you aren’t sure if you want to pay for research services then you can sign up for a free trial of the full membership package.
Free Online Libraries
If you don’t have the money to pay for a fee-based access online library then you can also use one of the many free online libraries that are available for public access.
FindArticles.com
One of my favorite free online libraries is FindArticles.com. This site offers you a search engine that scans over one million articles. You can select to narrow your search by only free articles or you can expand you search to include those articles that require a third party membership at an online data base service.
In addition to a general search engine search you can also browse by subject or by publication. For example you can browse through magazines by topics such as: Arts and Entertainment, Automotive, Business and Finance, Computers and Technology, Health and Fitness, Home and Garden, News and Society, Reference and Education, and Sports.
Finally this site also provides users with helpful tools. First you can save articles that you are viewing to your own personal findarticles.com web page for quick retrieval in the future. You can also click on the print icon and print out an entire article. This is particularly helpful if your professor requires you to bring in a copy of the articles that you have used in your paper.
Jewish Virtual Library
In addition to general research online libraries there are also many cultural online libraries that can provide you with unique materials and references that are not available on other sites or at other physical libraries. One such online library is the Jewish Virtual Library. This specialized online library hosts 10,000 articles and 5,000 photographs and maps. The library is divided into 13 "wings": history, women, the Holocaust, travel, Israel and the States, Maps, politics, biography, Israel, religion, Judaic treasures of the Library of Congress, vital statistics, and reference.
One special feature of this online library is that it offers an educational tool called the Virtual Israel Experience. This tool allows users to virtually visit Jewish communities in Israel and other parts of the world, and learn about the history of Judaism, and explore current issues and events that impact the Jewish faith.
Small Business Administration Library
Government websites also are a good place to look for online databases and libraries. The Small Business Administration offers a library of reference materials, forms, and business development tools free of charge to the public. This site provides:
E-books and publications;
Business magazines and resource links;
Current business news;
Access to the SCORE Learning Center;
Online Reading Room containing materials relating to business laws and regulations;
Business forms;
Business card templates;
SOPs;
Information on the government;
Links to helpful business websites;
FAQ section; and a
Reports room.
Search Techniques to Find the Right Online Library for Your Project
The best way to locate the right information for your project is to fully understand the nature of your research topic. If you are researching an issue that deals with culture then you will want to search for a database or online library by using keywords that will bring up possible cultural libraries. For example if you wanted to do research on the Holocaust, you would need to first list the cultures involved in the Holocaust. You would want to use keywords such as Jewish library, German culture library, history library, and Holocaust library. As you can see it is important to include "library" in your search to improve the chances that a library database will be located.
To find a business topic library or database you may need to specify a particular governmental agency that may have enough information available that would necessitate a library. For example, small business topics are covered in the online library hosted by the Small Business Administration. While the SBA is a logical choice you may also want to try searching specific agencies or organizations that deal with the type of business that is being examined. For example, if you were doing research on a farming or an agricultural business you would want to search the Department of Agriculture (federal) and (state) sites, as well as the Food and Drug Administration.
The most important thing to remember when conducting research is to use keyword phrases that address your topic both generally and specifically. You should try looking for phrases that will give you exactly what you want such as Jewish library or Agriculture Business Information, and you should try looking for generalities that may lead you to a gold mine of information such as business resources. You should also keep in mind that links from sites that have general information on your topic can also result in great information and valuable information and resources that will help you develop your topic. For the best results try to keep these tips in mind when you are researching for school, work, or for a personal project.