Research and Instruction
Brandy Burbante
Homepage Additional Resources
Additional Resources
- LOUIS CardA LOUIS card allows students, faculty, and staff to borrow materials directly from participating Louisiana institutions. Must be applied for in-person.
- WorldCatWorldCat is catalog of bibliographic records created by libraries who are members of OCLC. This database contains records for millions of items in over 400 languages.
- Interlibrary Loan RequestFor articles or books that the library does not carry electronically or in print. Plan ahead as ILL requests can take up to 3 weeks to receive.
- Instruction Assessment FormOnce you have completed a library class, please fill out this quick survey.
Library social media
Welcome to the Ellender Library Department of Research and Instruction
Research librarians at Ellender Library are available to assist users with research and documentation during regular library hours. Librarians can help you find accurate and reliable information via the library's resources and can provide instruction about their usage.
Research librarians can be contacted several ways:
- In-person (check in with the desk on the second floor of Ellender Library)
- Telephone (985-448-4625, or just ext 4625 if you're on campus)
- Email (el.reference@nicholls.edu)
- Appointment (schedule a time to meet)
Have questions? Contact us, and we'll help you find answers!
We can answer questions remotely, or schedule a one-on-one instruction session to help you with your research.
Teaching faculty can also contact us to request instruction sessions and library tours.
Basic Reference Resources
Try one of these general reference resources to get a feel for a topic, person, event, or whatever you're interested in:
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowThis online reference tool gives you access to the full text of hundreds of online reference articles (from dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs).
- CQ Researcher Plus Archive This link opens in a new windowProvides users with original, comprehensive reporting on issues in a balanced, unbiased manner, along with tools to study how these topics have changed over time.
Search the Library Catalog
You can use the search box below to search for resources across the library catalog.
Choose from the drop down menu to search by keyword, title, author, subject, series, or periodical title.
General Topics Databases
Databases are a great place to start your search for scholarly articles since they provide the opportunity to search across a huge number of publications at once. A list of general topics databases is available below:
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
- America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
- Biography (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
- JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collection This link opens in a new window
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new window
Search Tip: Boolean Searching
Whether you're using the library catalog or searching our EBSCO databases, Boolean searching can help you narrow your search results to a more specific topic. Boolean describes the connecting word you use between your search terms such as AND, OR, & NOT. Using these connectors allows you the ability to link search terms, so you can find articles that address multiple subjects.
These options are sometimes found in drop down menus where you enter your search terms, or you will have to enter them yourself between terms. In EBSCO databases, you can find Boolean terms in drop down menus to the left of the fields where you enter your search terms.
Adding OR between search terms will search for all records with one term OR the other (this is a broader search tool).
Using AND between words will search for all records with BOTH or ALL search terms applied.
If you use NOT between the terms, it will search for the FIRST word in your search string and NOT the other.