Throughout the semester you are building information literacy skills, learning to think critically about information, and building your own voice. This guide is here to help you think about the value of the information at various stages of a research project. The guide is broken down into phases for each step of the research journey.
We hope that through this you will gain better general knowledge about a topic, to then confidently dive deeper and find information that supports and refutes ideas. It will challenge you to think about how and why information is created and used, and to ethically and effectively use information yourself in your paper.
You will find an Ask the Librarian information box on each page. If you are lost and confused, contact us. We will guide you through it.
Happy journey!
Your instructor will give you written parameters of the research assignment. Make sure that you read them thoroughly to understand what you need to accomplish. The instructions should include:
Email, call, chat, or visit us at the Reference Desk with any and all of your information needs. We're happy to help you!
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Mo - We 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Th 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Fr 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sa Closed Su Closed |
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Keeping the Learning Commons open at this time has the potential to harm our community more than help. Our space will be closed until further notice.
Please visit the Lone Star College Coronavirus Update page for news from the college system.
Your LSCS ID serves as your library card and gives you easy access to the library's online resources from off-campus, the Fitness Center on-campus and may help you obtain student discounts from community stores and shops that offer one. For off-campus access to eBooks, articles, and streaming video from the library's databases, use the 14-digit barcode number on the back. You will also use your student ID to add cash to your Print Account so you can copy and print in the Learning Commons.
Go to the circulation desk of any Lone Star College Libraries or Learning Commons. You will need a photo ID and you will need to be registered as a student. Of course, we also provide IDs to faculty and staff!
If you're an online only student, complete the form at http://www.LoneStar.edu/library/card. Make sure you use your LoneStar email address, and a Learning Commons employee will send you a barcode number to access the library's online resources!
You will need to set up a Print Account and then add money to it:
The Learning Commons has two high-end book scanners that can be used to email a document, print, and more.
No, the space is designed for various study needs with the use of furniture. We have two instruction labs that when not in use with a librarian teaching a class are available for use. LIB 118 may be used as an overflow group or individual study space. LIB 120 is an absolute silent study space. During finals week, both labs are absolute silent spaces.
In order to find books and other materials in a library, we have to have a way to organize it all to make it easy for you to find. Librarians manage large collections by giving each item an identifier. Think of it like the book's license plate number. We use databases called the catalog to search for these items. Once you have chosen which item you want, you need to find on the page the book's call number. This is the license plate or classification number. This is how you will be able to find it on the shelf.
The Lone Star Libraries use the Library of Congress classification system. It was created in the twentieth century to help organize the world's largest collection of material that is housed in Washington D.C. It is alpha-numeric, which means that it uses letters and numbers to help organize all the information into twenty-one broad subject categories. You will find that most academic libraries use this classification system. The great thing about having books well organized is that you'll be able to find more material on the shelves around the book that you went to find.
Public libraries and school libraries tend to use the Dewey Decimal system, which only has ten subject classes that simply use numbers.
In the library's online catalog, you can search for books and other material at all the LSC-Libraries, Harris County, and Montgomery County libraries. Once you find an item that Kingwood does not have, you can request the item by clicking on the Place Hold button on the right-hand side of the screen. A pop-up window will appear and will ask you for your Library Card number and Pin.
Below are your borrowing privileges:
| Item | Loan Period | Number of Times you may Renew | Fines |
| Circulating Book | 2 weeks | x 2 | $0.25/day |
| Circulating Videos | 2 weeks | x 1 | $0.25/day |
| Reserve Items | 2 HOURS | permission required | $0.50/HOUR |
If a checked out item is overdue, your check out privileges is suspended. You will have a hold on your academic record until the overdue material are returned and fines are cleared.
If the item is damaged , lost, or stolen, you will be charged the cost of replacing it.