Ferris State University Library for Information, Technology and Education (FLITE).
SOCY 121- Mitchell

Where to find material at FLITE:

Finding Books

To find books in FLITE, try either Subject or Keyword searches in the online catalog.

Book Locations:

  • Main Stacks, Call Numbers A-H - Lower Level
  • Main Stacks, Call Number J-Z - Third Floor
  • Reference - First Floor
  • Government Documents - Second Floor

Finding Journal Articles

To find journal articles on a particular topic, it's necessary to use one or more of the databases available on the FLITE Web site. These databases cumulatively provide indexing to thousands of journal titles. A few of the databases provide full-text (content of the articles is found directly within the database), but most only provide citations (description of where the article originally appeared in print).

Databases

Academic OneFile
A very large, full-text database with over 50 million articles covering a myriad of subjects, General OneFile indexes both newspapers and journals. Coverage is from 1980 to present. A few journals, especially older dates, give only selective full-text.

ERIC
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) indexes and abstracts 780 journals covering education and related fields such as counseling, psychology, and social sciences from 1966-present.

Sociology
The Sociology Collection from Sage indexes 35 journals offering over 28,000 full text articles. This diverse collection of journals includes a wide range of sociology related topics including race, gender, sports, theory, culture, research and methods, family, children, and sexuality.

Social Science Abstracts
Indexing and abstracting is provided for journal articles, interviews, obituaries, book reviews, and biographies. A wide ranges of social science fields are covered including anthropology, sociology, and political science. Coverage is from 1983 to the present.

Additional Databases

Education Databases

Social Science Databases

Off Campus Access

FLITE's subscription databases are available to all current Ferris students, faculty, and staff. When you access a database from off campus you will need to login using your Ferris Computing ID and Password. If you experience problems logging on, please call (231) 591-2669 or (800) 4-FERRIS (ext. 2669), or stop by the Check Out Desk at the Library.

Requests can be made electronically through the InterLibrary Loan (ILL) Request form.

Additional information can be found at Off Campus Database Access.

Getting the Article

If HTML or PDF full text options are available, click the link to go directly to the full text.

If you do not have full text or PDF available, click "Find it." The system will direct you to options of retrieving the article. It may be available electronically, in the library, or needs to be requested. Click the red GO of your selection to locate the article. If directed to Interlibary Loan, follow the directions and your article will be emailed to you in 5-7 days.

To look up whether FLITE owns a particular journal, use the Find a Periodical database to search for the journal title. Remember to use the journal title not the article title for your search.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another's work or ideas as your own. Plagiarism is often unintentional, but it occurs whenever you use someone else's ideas or words without giving them credit. It can be obvious - purchasing a term paper or turning in a project done by someone else. It can be putting other's ideas into your own words. A simple rule: do not copy text from Web pages or other sources without identifying the origional author. In this description, I am using ideas presented in the FLITE Online Tutorial called PILOT.
The tutorial provides these four tips to avoid Plagiarism:

  • Take clear, accurate notes about where you found specific ideas
  • Write down the complete citation information for each item you use
  • Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words
  • Always credit original authors for their information and ideas
For more information about Plagiarism, please explore the Plagiarism webpage provided by the Ferris State University Writing Center.

Citing Sources

Whenever you are quoting or using information from a source, you must credit or cite that source. Failure to do so is plagiarism which can lead to expulsion from the University. The following links provide information on how to use:

APA:

Citation Style Guide: APA (PDF)

APA List of References
More examples of how cite different types of sources using the APA format.

Copies of the full-length APA manual (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.) are found in the Ready Reference section on Floor 1 of the library near the Oval Information Desk.

RefWorks

RefWorks is a tool available to Ferris students which allows you to import and enter citiations for future access. The RefWorks Tutorial describes this tool and proivdes a detail description on using it. The A-Z guide provides tutorials for every database and how to export from them.


If you have any questions about what we went over during the library visit, Email Jodi Shepherd.

Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the Oval Information Desk and ask for help at any time. You can also call us 231-591-3602 or chat with us.

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Last Update: September 11, 2006

Rick Bearden
Library Web Coordinator
Email Rick Bearden
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Big Rapids, MI 49307-2279
Questions/Comments: Ask Jodi Shepherd
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Fax: (231) 591-3724