LibGuides: Research Guide for High School Students: Home

Welcome Springfield High School of Commerce International Baccalaureate Programme students to the W.E.B. Du Bois Library!

Photo credit: University of the Pacific

Keep your research organized

Put all your references in a citation manager, create quick and easy bibliographies, build your knowledgebase.

There are lots of options, such as:

Books!

How to Find Books at UMass

Books, journals, articles, videos and more can be located using the general search box on the library home page, www.library.umass.e du.

Books that UMass owns will indicate "UM" in the location. For a paper book, make sure it says "Available"and note its location and call number. If it's at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, you can get the floor from this chart here, based on first letters of call number.

TIP: When you look for a particular book on the shelf, make sure to browse the shelf and nearby shelves for related books. Take your time! Open the books!

Photo credit: Rio Hondo College Library

Learn about journals and journal artices!

What's a peer-reviewed journal?
Many of our journals are peer-reviewed. If you don't know what that means or why it matters, watch this video.

Databases for Research

Beyond the Basic Search: How to Find Research Articles and More at UMass

There are hundreds of online collections and databases at UMass. To help researchers navigate that, librarians have created Research Guides organized by subject. Below are just a few of our databases and online collections.

Library databases are available to Massachusetts residents on a walk-in basis. Residents may use the database collection at any of the 50 public terminals located in the Learning Commons, W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Please note that remote access to library databases requires current UMass affiliation.

America: History & Life
Journal articles, dissertations, and book reviews, many in full text, relating to United States and Canadian history and prehistory, 1954-present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Black Studies Center
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Combines key indices (Schomburg, IIBP, etc) to scholarship and primary sources in Afro-American studies.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
ERIC
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Education journal articles (EJ references) and ERIC documents (ED references), 1967-present. EDs before 1997 are requestable using the Microforms Request page and usable in the Microforms Vewing Room in the LC.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Full-text articles from newspapers, magazines and journals of ethnic communities in the United States. In several languages, 1965-present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Google Scholar
Use to access many UMass online journal subscriptions. In Scholar Preferences, you can choose to export citations to RefWorks bibliographic manager.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

You can access Google Scholar with UMLinks buttons from outside the UMass Amherst IP range ("off campus") by two methods:

1. Access Google Scholar through the Library web site by using this link.
2. Go to generic Google Scholar.
a. Click on "Settings."
b. Click on Library links.
c. Type in "University of Massachusetts" or "UMass Amherst" (or a few other variations).
d. Check "University of Massachusetts Amherst - Get Full Text via UMLinks" and Save.
e. You will be asked to authenticate somewhere along the way to full text.
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
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Articles from scholarly journals on Latin America & the Caribbean, the US-Mexico border area, and U.S. Latinos, 1970-present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
PsycINFO
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Published by the American Psychological Association (APA), PsycINFO is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed journal literature in psychology, behavioral science and mental health - 2,500 journal titles indexed - 2.8 million records - 1887 to present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Social Services Abstracts
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Articles and dissertations on human services, social welfare, social policy, and community development.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Sociological Abstracts
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References to scholarly journal articles, dissertations, and conference papers on sociology and related disciplines, 1960-present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

Tip for databases

After you've run a search, use the button to retrieve articles if available.

Access Online Resources for Free

The Boston Public Library (BPL) and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) offer Massachusetts residents free, remote access to proprietary databases. Database resources include e-books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Request a BPL E-Card for access.

Connect to databases for Massachusetts residents at http://www.bpl.org/electronic/index.htm. You will need your 13-digit BPL E-Card number to login.

Use Care When Relying on Web Sites

Evaluating Web Sites (U. of California Berkeley)

Remember to evaluate

web pages for accuracy, authority, currency and coverage before using information you find there unless the web page is recommended by your professor, a librarian or other individual you know and trust. Below are links to web sites that will help you do this quickly and effectively.

Get Research Help

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Reference Desk Hours

Call Desk: 413-545-2623