This guide will direct you to a number of library resources that will help you with your class project. If you're looking for something in particular and having trouble finding it, feel free to email me (Chana, your librarian) or make an appointment on my calendar using the buttons in my profile box below. This page will introduce you to the library's catalog search, which is how you'll find books and other materials that you can use.
The first thing to do if you're looking for something in the library is to search from the library homepage. You can access the website at www.lib.msu.edu. You may choose to search all the kinds of materials that the library has, or you can use the dropdown menu to choose a specific type (for example, if you need a movie or music, you would choose "Books and Media"). To see tutorial videos on using the website, click the links below. To get help, either with the website or another library question, you can also click "Ask Us" to the right of the search box to chat with a librarian.
Note: If you've already found an article using Google or Google Scholar, you can copy and paste the title into the library search box to see if we have it in full text. If we don't, you can also request the article via interlibrary loan. If you're searching outside the library, you may reach screens that tell you you'll have to pay for an article, but as a member of MSU, you should never have to do that!
Google Scholar can be easier to use than library databases, but it will sometimes lead you to versions of articles that ask you to pay to read them. As long as you're affiliated with MSU, you shouldn't have to do that. We subscribe to most articles and journals that you need. To download the full version of most articles for free, either make sure that you're logged in with your NetID on another tab in your browser before searching Google Scholar, or copy/paste the title of the article into the search box on the library web page.