Ask a Librarian

Visit our LibGuide on citations for some helpful hints on how to cite using different styles. 

Yes, you can print from your laptop once you download the necessary drivers to your device. Please visit the IT Student Support Portal on MyCharger to follow the dowload instructions. If you have any issues with the process, please contact IT here. 

A library database is a searchable electronic collection of resources. A database may contain articles, scholarly or trade journals, magazines, newspapers, eBooks, and more. The University's collection offers subject specific databases that limit to one discipline or multidisciplinary databases that cover multiple subjects and topics. The A-Z Database list, which contains over 100 databses with descriptions, can be found here. 

Don't fret! If the Library does not have the material you need for your research, you can request the source through an InterLibrary Loan (ILL). ILL is a service where our University Library will attempt to borrow materials from another library.

To request an ILL, click here to access the request page through MyCharger. Fill out the form with your information, choosing either book or article request. 

Please note, most requests can take between 1-14 business days, with some journal articles arriving quicker. If you have any issues or more questions about ILLs please contact our ILL team at ill@newhaven.edu or call us at (203) 932-7194. For instant help, look for the LiveChat "Ask a Librarian" on our homepage or the chat incon in the lower-right corner of EBSCO-based databases. 

You can add funds by downloading the Transact eAccounts application or by visiting the eCard website here. If you have questions or issues with yout University ID please visit the OneStop Card Office or contact them at (203) 932-7062 or ccard@newhaven.edu. 

The Library has access to several eBook specific databses. To access our eBook databases, click here. 

To find eBooks, start at the Library homepage, then click the Databases A-Z tab from the Find & Use menu. From there, click the All Subjects bar, and highlight eBooks. All of our eBook databases will populate. 

There are a few different ways to request research support: 

• Visit the Library Service Desk in person to get help from a librarian or student Researcher-2-Researcher  (R2R) 
• Access the online Library help chat: click the "Ask a Librarian" icon on the Library hompage, or access here. 
• Request a research consultation appointment with a librarian or R2R in person or via Zoom here.
• Send us your question(s) in an email to libraryhelp@newhaven.edu or call us at (203) 932-7189

For more information, please visit the "Contact Us" page at MyCharger here. 

There are over 120 different databases in our collection, which cover different subject areas and contain various resources. To locate relevant databases on your topic click the A-Z databases tab on the library homepage. Then select the All Subjects drop down menu to view databases by subject. This breaks down all the databases based on the content of the material found inside. Once you've selected a subject, a full listing of all relevant databases will be listed.

Some Courses also have established Library Guides, with relevant databases and resources all in one place for you! To find you course's library guide visit the library homepage. On the top click Research and Support to view a drop down menu. Select Course Specific Library Guides, and from there select the drop down guide menu to find your course, or click here.

Yes. There are library databases that contain only newspapers. To locate newspaper databases, start at the A-Z Databases tab on the Library homepage. From the "All Subjects" pull-down menu, select News & Newspapers. 

There are three main types of sources: primary, secondary, and tertiary

• Primary sources are original materials created or produced during the time under study. 

• They present original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information. 

• These materials have not been interpreted, filtered, or evaluated. 

• Primary sources enable the reader to make their own interpretations about the event, without having to rely on what has already been written on the topic.

• A primary source reflects an individual viewpoint from a participant or observer. 

• Original research is created using primary resources.

Examples of Primary Sources include: Studies, Survey Results, Statistics, Speeches, Interviews, Letters, Official Records of Organizations or Government Agencies, and Photographs.

A secondary source analyzes, evaluates, and interprets one or more primary sources. 

• Many secondary sources rely on other secondary sources for information.
• They are accounts written after the event with the benefit of hindsight and often draw a conclusion.

Examples of secondary sources include: Journal Articles that Interpret or Review other Works, Book Reviews, Books (not: Fiction or Autobiographies), Newspaper Articles (not first hand accounts), Magazine Articles, Criticisms, and Histories.

Keep in mind:

• Journal articles that interpret or review a topic or event are secondary sources.

• If a journal article contains experimental research or data sets, the article would be considered a primary source. 

• Newspaper or Magazine articles can also be primary or secondary sources. 

A tertiary source typically provides an overview on a specific topic and may contain both primary and secondary sources.

•     Usually a collection of secondary and primary sources that are presented as factual information with basic terminology.

•     Compiles general common knowledge into one source, while providing key terms, phrases, and/or additional key (seminal) sources.

•     Tertiary sources are not usually credited to one author.

•     The information is not analyzed or interpreted. 

•     Tertiary sources are generally not acceptable for academic research, but are a great place to learn about your topic and get information.

•     Examples of tertiary resources: encyclopedias, text books, Wikipedia, and book reviews.

•     If the newspaper article describes a persons first hand account of an event, the article would be considered primary. 

•     If the writer of the article includes additional background information on the topic and interprets an event, then the article is a secondary source.

There are many ways that you can broaden or narrow down your search! Below are some of the ways:

1. Use an advanced search: Using the advanced search section allows you to separate the topics and ideas that you are searching for, which can lead to a more narrowed search.
   • Example: If you are researching housing discrimination for a specific population, searching for housing discrimination in the basic search bar may lead to many results. An advanced search would allow you to search for "housing discrimination" in one line and "African American OR Black OR minorit*" in another line. This would lead you to more topic specific sources. 
2. Using quotation marks: Using quotations marks will make sure that the phrase you are searching is searched as a phrase rather than individual words.
   • Example: Searching for housing discrimination will search housing and discrimination as two separate words, but searching for "housing discrimination" will search for the phrase as one thing.
3. Using conjunction words: Using conjuction words such as AND or OR can broaden you search by using words that are similar to what you are looking for.
   • Example: When searching for "perception" you might want to search for "perception OR attitude OR opinion OR perspective."
4. Using an astrix: Using an astrix allows you to search for a word and all of its different possible endings.
   • ​Example: Rather than searching for "LGBTQ," you could search for "LGB*." This would then add LGBTQIA, LGBT+, LGBT, and more to your list of search items without you actually needing to type them in.
5. Select a specific field in the search: Selecting a specific field can help if you have a more specific idea of what you are looking for.
   • Example: One field option is "AU Author." If you are looking for articles written by a specific author, using this field specifier would filter articles and provide you with what you are looking for. 

• Peer reviewed journal articles are original research, theoretical, or experimental analysis of a topic.
• Peer reviewed journals contribute to the scholarly conversation on that topic.
• These articles are written by subject experts, typically scholars with advanced degrees such as a PhD, and are read by other experts and students.
• A journal is considered to be peer reviewed if its articles go through a rigorous editorial process that involves review and approval by three of the author's peers.
  • These peers are people who are experts in the same subject area and are recognized leaders in that field who have been asked to sit on the publication's editorial board.
  • The peer review process for journal articles ensures the quality of published scholarship.
  • During the review process, any identifying information about the author is removed (name, institution, etc.) to elimate bias or favoritism.
• After the article has been reviewed, it may be accepted, sent back for further editing, or rejected. 
  • It is extremely difficult to be published in a peer-reviewed journal
• Only scholarly journals can be peer reviewed. All peer reviewed journals are scholarly, but not all scholarly journals are peer reviewed.
  •  Newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and websites are not peer reviewed publications.
• Not every article published in a peer reviewed journal is a research article. These journals also may contain book reviews and other content that are not peer reviewed research articles.

This search box is called QuickSearch, which provides the University of New Haven community the ability to search across most of our databases all with one search box. This includes journals, books, eBooks, databases, government documents, course reserves, and more. QuickSearch is a discovery service, meaning it should be used to discover information on a topic. 

Use QuickSearch when you are beginning your research and want a wide range of resources. You can also use it to locate a specific book, journal article, or other source, if you know the title of author. 

For in-depth research, use the subject specific library databases. 

Science Direct is a database containing peer-reviewed journal articles covering the sciences, however, many of articles are not available to read immediately.

To access the full-text of the article found in ScienceDirect:

1. When searching ScienceDirect, click on the title of the article.

2. Click on Get Access.

3. Click on Request Document.

4. Fill out your name, affiliation, and your university email. 

The full-text article will be sent to you within 48 hours, although it typicaly arrives much sooner.

You can login to any of the Library computers using the same username and password you use for MyCharger. We have Dell computers with Windows, and we have iMacs with iOS and Adobe Creative Cloud. 

Remember to sign out when you are done using the computer. 

Black and white printouts are $0.08 per single-side and $0.12 for double-sided. Color printouts are $0.50 per single-side and $0.75 cents for double-sided.

Each student gets $18 of free printing funds. After they are depleted, you can use Charger Cash to print.