Getting ready for finals: ACC Library resources can help!

Stressed about finals? ACC Libraries have resources available for you so that you feel ready to take on finals week! Check out a few of them here:

If you are working on a paper or presentation:

If you're having trouble formatting your paper or presentation, we have a Tech Toolbox that can help. The Toolbox is full of hints and tips for using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Docs, and Blackboard. All of our ACC Libraries have PCs loaded with Microsoft Office Software for you to work on, so come in and get to work! 

Need citation help?

Take a look at our citation style guides. The style you will need to use for your paper depends on your instructor. ACC takes Academic Integrity seriously. If you need help understanding what plagiarism is, check out our online tutorial on Academic Honesty and Plagiarism.

Speaking of Tutorials...

Our online tutorials can help you learn more about how to search for information, build a research paper, or evaluate information you find. The tutorials are interactive, and you can practice skills that will help you in lots of different areas of study. Check them out!

We've got books:

ACC Libraries have books you can check out that cover different topics that can be helpful around finals. Here are some suggestions:

Stress Management

Study Skills

Exam Prep

Ask a Librarian!

We have a real live librarian you can chat with 24/7. Whether you're pulling an all-nighter, or just don't want to come in to the library in person, you can always find someone to chat with online. If in person help is your thing, come and see us. When the library is open, we have expert Faculty Reference Librarians available to help you at the Reference Desk. Our Librarians can help you find a book, sources for your assignment, and figure out citations. Not sure if it's a question we can answer? Ask it anyway! We're here to help.

JSTOR

JSTOR's logo. JSTOR stands for "Journal Storage."

Want to impress your professor by using scholarly sources for your paper or project? Including articles from the JSTOR database in your research could do just that!

JSTOR indexes thousands of scholarly publications, especially in the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences. JSTOR also provides millions of pages of full-text, including primary source documents and books as well as journal articles, some written well over a century ago.*

Are you still trying to decide the specific topic for your paper or report? By searching a general topic in JSTOR, you are likely to discover all sorts of more specific topics that you can pursue.

For example, suppose you wish to celebrate the anniversary of King Henry V's coronation at Westminster Abbey on April 9, 1413, and you decide to write about Shakespeare's play Henry V. But what exactly about this play would you write? JSTOR includes so many different takes on Henry V, it might be difficult to choose!

Is this a rabbit, or a duck?

Some articles that JSTOR has indexed are seminal works in a particular scholarly area of interest, such as Norman Rabkin's highly influential "Rabbits, Ducks, and Henry V," which discusses Shakespeare's ambiguous portrayal of the English king. Likewise, when Henry V was crowned king during a snow storm, some interpreted it as a good sign, while others saw it as a bad one.

Suppose you have an assignment to write a book review. JSTOR has thousands of book reviews to serve as models for writing one. In fact, JSTOR has a box that you can check to limit search results just to reviews (illustrated in the example below)!

This search filter can come in handy for other types of reviews as well. For example, perhaps for a paper on a play the information sources required by your professor include a review of an actual performance of that play. JSTOR is very likely to have reviews of several different productions of the play (as long as it debuted more than five years ago).*

Searching JSTOR:

From the library home page at library.austincc.edu, click on the A-Z List of Databases link just below the long search box.

1.  At the alphabetical sequence near the top of the page, click on the J.
2.  Click on the JSTOR link. (If off campus, you will then need to log in.)
3.  Below the search box that appears, click on the Advanced Search link.

4.  Enter search terms in the search boxes that appear.
5.  From the drop down menu to the right of each search box, select the field in which each search term will be searched.
6.  To add search boxes, click on the Add a search box button below the last search box.
7.  Narrow by item types, such as articles, by clicking on the appropriate check boxes.
8.  Narrowing the search further by date, language, etc. is usually unnecessary.  When you are ready to execute your search, click on the Search button.

For more information on searching JSTOR, please feel free to consult with an ACC librarian. JSTOR also offers excellent guidance. JSTOR's tutorials include basic and advanced searching techniques, sorting and reviewing search results, and using JSTOR on a mobile device. Have fun exploring the wealth of scholarly resources JSTOR offers!


Note:

* Full-text coverage in JSTOR varies from publication to publication.  For most periodicals, an embargo on the most recent five years of articles is in effect. That is, JSTOR often indexes a periodical up to the present without providing full-text to the periodical’s most recent five years of articles. For more recent articles, you may wish to search some of the other great databases that ACC's libraries provide.

Help with Searching for Library Resources

You can search all of the library's resources in one place from one search box. Books, ebooks, streaming videos, articles, DVDs...they're all searchable from the Library Home Page or the Enterprise Search Tool; or, you can search only the Library Catalog through the Classic Search.

Search Box on the Library Home Page

Enterprise Search Bar

Go to:

Search Help Part One:

Using the Library Home Page or the Enterprise Search Tool

{Coming Soon -- Part Two: Search Help using the Classic Search.}

Practice Tests

Do you need to study for an upcoming standardized test? Are you looking for free practice tests that you can complete on your computer? The ACC Libraries have the resources for you!

Check out our Learning Express Library! It contains practice tests for the TOEFL, MCAT, ACT, GMAT, LSAT, GRE, and AP tests, as well as practice occupational exams, and much more.

You'll need to register and create a login the first time you use Learning Express, but registering is easy and free for ACC students!

You can find additional practice tests in our Testing & Education Reference Center! Here you can find over 300 practice tests, including the NCLEX, GED, TOEFL, TAKS, ACT, SAT, and CLEP, to help you get started studying today.

Have a question about how to use these resources? Ask a librarian! We're here to help you!

Black Authors in ACC Libraries

In honor of Black History Month, we’re putting the spotlight on a selection of black authors whose work you can find in ACC library collections.

Nikki L. M. Brown’s Private Politics and Public Voices: Black Women's Activism from World War I to the New Deal provides a deep dive into the theme of this year’s Black History Month, “African Americans in Times of War.” The Association for the Study of African American Life and History explains that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the theme “explores the complex meanings and implications of this international struggle and its aftermath.”

Toni Morrison. Photo by Angela Radulescu.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Toni Morrsion’s novels are available at many campuses, and you can always have one sent to a campus of your choosing. If you’re not close to campus, you can view this video featuring Toni Morrison speaking about what it means to be a black female author from anywhere you have access to a computer.

A large portion of James Baldwin’s oeuvre can be found in various ACC libraries, including a CD audiobook version of Go Tell It on the Mountain.

A selection of Zora Neale Hurston’s novels and short stories can be found by searching our library catalog. Check out her autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road, for a fascinating look into Hurston’s life and work as a novelist, folklorist, anthropologist, and more.

Zora Neale Hurston. Photo by Bev Sykes
Licensed under CC BY 2.0

You can find Roxane Gay’s fiction works as well as her recent memoir here.

The Masterplots Series contains scores of stories and essays by black authors. You can find these books in the Reference Section at select campuses.

Finally, because we love libraries, here is a special spotlight on the writings of Audre Lorde. Lorde was a writer, LGBTQ champion, feminist, and… a librarian!

If you want guidance on exploring works by other black authors, stop by the library or chat with us online.

Request items from other ACC Libraries

Interested in requesting a book or DVD at another campus be sent to your preferred campus library? Did you find that the perfect source for your paper is on the shelf at your campus library, and want to be sure it isn't checked out before you arrive? You can now easily request a specific copy of that title be held or sent to any ACC Library!

Note: You cannot request textbooks from the Student Support Textbook Collection online.

Search the ACC Library Search Tool on the Library Homepage to find materials on your topic of interest.

After you have found the item you want, click on the title of the item.

On the next detail screen, you will see an option to “Request this copy” in the holdings grid. Click on the copy you want to request.

Login using your ACCeID and password. Other users, such as TexShare borrowers, use their ACC ID# or barcode, and their assigned password.

Choose the campus location where you plan to pickup your item. Click on the Request Item button.

After submitting the request, you will receive message whether the request is successful

 or not successful and why.

Note: When an item such as a Textbook is unavailable to be requested, a message like this one will appear.

When the item is ready for pickup, you will receive a message at your ACC email address.

NOTE on books/videos at other libraries: Items are pulled from shelves only once each morning (M-F). Campus mail delivery may take 2-4 days. If you require faster service -- or, if you have not heard from us within 10 days -- contact the library directly. Also note that items are not always returned by their due dates.  Items On Order will take longer.

NOTE on requesting books/videos that are checked out: Items are not always returned by their due dates. 

If you wish to suggest or request that a new title be purchased for the library, you can find more information here.

If you have any questions, you can get help 24 hours a day on our Ask a Librarian page! 

Library Services and Programs During Intersessions

The mission of Library Services is to support teaching and learning at Austin Community College by offering Services and Programs that will help faculty and students attain a successful learning experience.

Open Libraries

Library Services has one central campus open between semesters (where the Student Support Textbook Collection is). See this page for information on open libraries.

If patrons need to return material when libraries are closed, there are book drops at many campuses that can be used. Book drops at closed campuses are checked frequently during intersession to collect any returned items. (See this FAQ about returning library material.)

To support access to the Student Support Textbook Collection, Highland is the open campus library with staff from other libraries rotating in to staff the library. All library assistants staffing HLC during the intersession are trained in textbook policies and procedures.

Reference & Research Services

Reference Librarians provide assistance to students at the Highland Campus Library during the intersession.Chat service provides our students with assistance even when we are closed. The service provided after hours includes librarians who are trained in and are familiar with our resources.

We continue to answer email reference questions when we are closed as well for those who choose not to use Chat services.

As always, the ACC Library Services offers 24/7 access to the Library Web Site with links to such resources as:

• ebooks,
• online library catalog,
• subject guides to resources,
• research guides,
• online tutorials

In Addition:

During intersession phone messages and signage at all library locations are standardized, instructing students on which library is open and how best to reach them. Check flyer holders on library doors for "handouts" with hours and directions guiding them to the open campuses.