Library Resources for Research Papers

Magnolia

Magnolia stands for Mississippi Alliance for Gaining New Opportunities through Library Information Access and it is free for all MS libraries….school and public.

Magnolia is a free consortium and we are very fortunate to have it. Not many other states provide free access to as many databases as MS.

Students can access Magnolia through the RHS website.

  • Click on Library (at top of page)
  • Click on Resources (left side of page)
  • Click on Magnolia

To access it from home, follow these same steps and enter the password

  • Magn0897

Quick tips for using Magnolia

  • Click EBSCOhost Research Databases
  • Academic Search Premier
  • Now, if you would like to add more databases, you can click on “Choose Databases” (above search box – in blue)
  • Pick which database(s) you would like to use
  • You can read about each one, then make your selection
  • You can pick more than one according to your topic
  • Put a check mark in each box that you want. For English a good place to start is with the following databases:
  • Academic Search Premier
  • MAS Ultra
  • Literary Reference Center
  • MasterFILE Premier
  • There might be more you want or you might not want these four, you must do some research and decide.
  • Then click OK at bottom left.
  • Type in all fields that apply and type your subject in the search box
  • Be sure to check Full Text under “Limit Your Results” and then any other limiters you would like to choose for each database you have chosen.
  • If you would like to search using more than one topic, click on Advanced Search. This will give you 3 lines and you can “add row” if you need.
  • Again, don’t forget to click Full Text under “Limit Your Results”

Ex:

1st line: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

2nd line: Criticism

3rd Line: Jim

This helps you limit what you are searching.

  • Click Search
  • All your “hits” will appear
  • The title is in Blue…You can also find the author, the source (title of magazine, etc.), the year of publication, volumes, page numbers, and how many pages are in the article
  • Click on the title (in blue) and it will take you to the article.
  • Hint: The page numbers will have the “p” before the number; and the amount of pages will have the “p” after.
  • Hint: When printing in a PDF use the printing options inside the PDF NOT the computer.
  • Be sure to site where your article comes from in order to prevent plagiarism!!

World Book Online

  • Start in Magnolia
  • Click on World Book Advanced
  • Type topic in search box
  • Click Search
  • Information on the left includes ALL types of media for your search
  • Information in the middle includes all encyclopedia articles
  • Information on the right includes Primary Sources, & ebooks (including criticisms)
  • The bottom of each article includes an MLA citation example

(World Book articles would be considered an online encyclopedia/ebook

NOT a periodical)

Jackson-Hinds Library System

Another free source for you to use for Periodicals is the Jackson-Hinds Library System.

  • At top of page, click InfoMall
  • Click Biography/Literature Resource Center (InfoTrack)
  • The ID: jack42655
  • Click on Literature Resource Center

Then you can search from here!

Follett Library Search

Magnolia provides periodicals for research, and although they are found using the computer, it is usually not considered an Internet source, but a periodical instead. In our library, students can use the Follett Library system to assist in finding legitimate Internet sources that have already been approved. Go to Library Search, just as if you were looking for a book….

Type the topic you are looking for in the search box and hit enter. All the hits that have an emblem are a web source. These sites rank the websites by grades, so students know not to use the site if it says K – 3.

Reference Books

Of course there are always print sources in our Reference section in the Media Center. These books, however, cannot be checked out, but may be used in the Library. Copies are $0.15 a page.

Good luck on your research projects! I know you will do wonderful!!

To know where you can find anything, that in short is the largest part of learning.

-Anonymous