New Students Guide

Doing some research?  Learn how to:

When searching for a book or journal article in the Evans Library's collections, many students will start with the OneSearch search box. 

If you already know the title of a specific book or article, you will probably want to search for that. Otherwise, try searching for a topic (e.g., climate change, ocean acidification, etc.). After you click on the Search button, check the Refine Results section on the left side of the results page; this will allow you to limit your results to a certain Source Type (e.g., Academic Journals or eBooks), a particular time range, etc.

The library's website also includes a More Ways to Search section, as pictured in the image below. This provides additional ways to search for books and journal articles.

For example:

• Library Catalog can be used to search for all books in the Evans Library collection, whether in print or electronic format.
• eBooks is used specifically for finding books in electronic format.
• Course Reserves identifies books that your professors have set aside for students' use at the iDesk.
• If you are looking for an article in a specific journal, try using Journals.
• Databases will give you access to many research databases, allowing you to simultaneously search numerous journals for articles on a topic of interest.
• The Scholarship Repository contains intellectual content (e.g., research papers, theses, dissertations, etc.) produced by faculty and students of Florida Tech.
• If you are interested in learning more about Florida Tech and its history, try accessing Digital Collections and University Archives.

Sometimes, the librarians answer your questions before you even ask them.

Your librarians work hard at anticipating your needs and questions. This is reflected in a wide variety of online research guides that assist you in accessing library resources relevant to a wide variety of topics.

To access research guides:

1. Go to the Library website.
2. Under the More Ways to Search section, click on Research Guides. 

If you wish to find a research guide addressing a specific topic, you may use the search box (shown in the image above) to do so. 

As the above image shows, the three tabs at the top of the page determine the display of the research guides:

• ALL GUIDES
• BY SUBJECT
• BY COURSE/TOPIC

By default, the BY SUBJECT tab is selected. From the list of subject areas, clicking on the subject area corresponding to your area of study will reveal a variety of research guides that can be useful to you in your studies.

Choosing the BY COURSE/TOPIC tab will allow you to display:

• Course Guides: tailored to specific courses taught at Florida Tech
• General Purpose: relevant to all Florida Tech students
• Subject Guides: similar to what is displayed for the BY SUBJECT tab
• Topic Guides: address topics that apply across multiple areas of study.