Got Information?

Suppose you are researching a topic for a class and your instructor says that you need a journal article or peer reviewed article-where are you going to find this?  Well the best place is to start with the library. In person or via phone or email, the reference librarian is here to help you with such research needs.

The librarian and library assistants are a little different than the work study or test proctors: they have been specially trained to help you find the perfect resource.  

The librarian at Colorado Springs is Amy Phillips and the library assistants are Martha Hall and Oliver Batchelor.  In Denver, the librarian is Tracy Treece and in Kansas City, it is Olga Kaz. 

How can they help? This example will show you:

Student: Do you think you could help me find some articles? I have to write an argumentative essay for an English class on a current event topic. The problem is that I don’t know where or how to start.

Librarian: Absolutely!  What is our topic?  We want to make sure we get you to the right resources.

Student:  Well I think it is going to be on Health Care Reform but I still am not sure.

Librarian: Anything particular on the health care reform? 

Student: No, I just want to get started.

Librarian: Well, the CECybrary has wonderful resources that might be of help such as Academic Search Premier and Opposing Viewpoints.  Let’s get you in and we can find you some resources.  

The librarian and library assistants are here to spend time with you to ensure that your research needs are met.  Come on by or call us and ask for us by name for excellent service.

If you enter your ID and see the message ‘Sorry, your identification is not recognized’ – call (719) 590-6708. Let the staff know you are a CTU student trying to access the databases and your ID is not recognized.

Once you have access to the links, click the database of your choice.

 If you need a user name/password, it will be provided next to the database link.
 Not every database is 100% full-text and each database handles full-text differently.

• ProQuest & EBSCO – select ‘full-text’ as an option
• IEEE, SAGE, Emerald – 100% full-text
• Science Direct displays a green page icon next to full-text articles available to us. Etc.

There should never be a fee for an article if you are within our subscribed material.

Troubleshooting (We use IE; IT does not support other browsers):

•  Delete old cookies and browsing history (Internet Options → General → Delete).
• Always accept cookies (Tools → Internet Options → Privacy → Advanced → check ‘Override automatic cookie handling’ → select ‘Accept First-party and Third-party Cookies’ → check ‘Always allow session cookies’). ***A cookie can also be blocked by any other security software loaded on your machine.
• All security software must accept cookies from the links below.
  Trusted (Safe) sites (Tools → Internet Options → Security → Trusted sites √) can be recorded as
  http://library.colorado-tech.com/
  and
  http://ctu.rpa.dynixasp.com/rpacoltech/webauth.exe
  (If your security software has blocked one of these links, you will need to manually remove it from the list of blocked sites and then list it as a safe site.)
• Make sure you have the latest version of JAVA. It is a free download from http://java.sun.com/getjava/download.html.

Usually, this is enough to gain access. Occasionally, small things make a big difference, such as:

• switching browsers
• going directly into our website (not through the portal), http://library.colorado-tech.com/

Option 1
World catalog is your best source of dissertation titles ( http://www.worldcat.org/advancedsearch → choose Thesis/dissertation as an option for ‘content’). Titles may or may not have a summary.
• If the dissertation displays an eBook icon, it may be saved in the related university’s repository and available to download.
• Some titles may be purchased through Dissertation Express, http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb#order_method
• Some may not be accessible except through the publishing university.

Option 2
We have a limited number of dissertations in ProQuest. Go into ProQuest (http://library.colorado-tech.com/ → ‘Find Journal Articles’ → Search All Databases), basic or advanced search. Type your keywords into the search box and click ‘search’ . If there are dissertations using those keywords, you will see a dissertation tab to the right (and at the end) of the ‘all sources’ tab. Select this tab and only dissertations will appear in your search content. These are generally full-text.

Option 3
From our CTU online catalog (http://library.colorado-tech.com/ → ‘Find Books’ → Search Our CTU Library Online Catalog), do a basic or advanced search using General Keyword, Title, Author, etc. Notice the ‘Limit by’: option. Select ‘Dissertation Collection – Colorado Springs’ or ‘Denver Dissertation Collection’. That should give you any dissertation titles that pertain to your keyword search and these dissertations are available through the CTU library.

Just a reminder that the CTU library, library@coloradotech.edu, provides interlibrary loan services for CTU students. Have you checked our databases online and can only find the abstract for the article you need? Send us the complete citation and we will interlibrary loan it for you. Please allow a minimum of 48 hours for your request.

Copyright law limits the article to your personal use. That means: you can’t share, make copies for a friend or your class, or use it for profit in any way.