WOU Writing Center
The Writing Center is the only service unit on campus specifically designed to promote your development and success as a college writer. The consultant team is available to assist you both in person and online with writing projects for any course and any level of instruction.

Writing Center: APSC 301

Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Friday, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Night Hours: HL 116

Sunday-Thursday, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

walk-in sessions only: first come, first serve

This Printable Handout highlights the key elements of an effective library database search

Wikipedia? Yes...Wikipedia.  You shouldn’t cite Wikipedia as a source in your research paper. And no, it is not because Wikipedia is a bad source for information. Wikipedia is about as accurate as any other encyclopedia out there.

You shouldn’t use it as a source for your paper because it is just an encyclopedia. College level work requires more sophisticated source material.  However, it is perfectly fine to use for background research.

Go to www.wikipedia.org

Look up your topic

Fill in a background research log based on the Wikipedia entry. 

Books

Western Oregon University
Books and e-books available at WOU. Books can be checked out for 3 weeks with 2 renewals. E-books are available online 24/7 from any computer and don't need to be checked out.  

E-Brary
Western Oregon University's e-book collection. You can access the e-books anytime and print 25 pages per day.

WOU, SUMMIT, and Beyond
Books and e-books available at WOU. Books and other materials from Oregon and Washington academic libraries, and books and materials from Interlibrary Loan. 

Western books and materials check out for 3 weeks with 2 renewals.

Summit books and materials check out for 6 weeks with no renewals. Summit items take 3-5 business days and can be picked up at the WOU library checkout desk. You will be notified by E-mail when your items are ready to be picked up.   

Books and materials from Interlibrary Loan can take 7-14 business days, have variable loan periods, and may or may not be renewed. 

Multi-Subject Databases
These databases cover a wide range of subjects and are a good place to begin you research on a topic

Academic Search Premier has newspapers, magazines, and academic articles

Academic OneFile has newspapers, magazines, academic articles, and multimedia including video, blogs, and podcasts

JSTOR has academic articles

Google Scholar has academic articles and books (note--this does not search websites) Articles not available for free can be orderd through Interlibrary Loan

Databases by Subject

Each subject has databases that are designed to provide magazine and academic articles for that subject.

Here is a list of databases we have in your subject area