Library Science

Welcome to the Library Research Guide for Library Science. This guide will help you to find useful resources as you explore this field of study at UCM. It will also provide accurate, reliable sources as you write your research paper or projects.

Librarians are available to answer your questions Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm CST.

• Email: Contact Education Librarian Sara Evans at saraevans@ucmo.edu
• Visit: James C. Kirkpatrick Library, First Floor, Office 1120 (to the left of the Information Desk)
• Make an Appointment: Meet with a librarian one-on-one virtually or in-person for in-depth help.

Boolean Operators

Most databases use a search technique based on Boolean logic. This type of search retrieves all records in the database which contain a word or a set of words and uses Boolean operators--words that have special meaning in database searching. The most important operators are AND, OR and NOT. See below for an explanation of these terms. Some databases require the Boolean operators to be capitalized; otherwise, they may be searched just like regular search terms.

AND

Will retrieve records which contain the word “girls” and the word “mathematics.” This operator is used to decrease the number of records retrieved. AND is the most common default Boolean term.

Example: girls AND mathematics

OR

Will retrieve records which contain either the word “mathematics” or the word “arithmetic” -- or both. This operator is used to broaden the number of records retrieved.

Example: mathematics OR arithmetic 

NOT

Will retrieve records which contain only the term "charter schools" but not the word "urban." This operator is used to reduce the number of records retrieved.  Exercise caution when using NOT; you may eliminate helpful records--such as an article that is predominantly about rural charter schools but includes the term "urban."

Example: charter schools NOT urban

• The Boolean Machine

  Rockwell Schrock coded this Web page to visually demonstrate how Boolean operators work in a search.

Nesting

Use nesting to preserve the “logic” of your Boolean Search. Nesting is the use of parentheses to put your search words into sets. If you do not use parentheses, Boolean terms are connected according to the default functions of the database. Because it is difficult to keep track of differences in databases and because almost every database accepts parentheses, it is suggested that parentheses ALWAYS be used in a complicated search phrase.

(Huntingtons AND disease) OR chorea

Huntingtons AND (disease OR chorea)

((diabetes OR diabete) AND (hypertension OR (high blood pressure))) NOT therapy

Truncation

Use truncation to find different forms of words in a Boolean or keyword search. Some databases use the asterisk, some use a dollar sign, and others use the question mark. The symbol may represent one character or multiple characters. It usually applies to word endings and may or may not apply at the beginning or middle of a word. Check the help function of the database you are using to learn the truncation symbol and rules. The most common truncation symbols are * and ?

Example: counsel*

Will retrieve counsel, counselor, counseling, counseled, etc.

Stopwords

Stopwords are commonly used words that occur frequently in records. Stopwords may be ignored by a search or they may stop a search. Stop words are usually listed in a database's Help screens. Commonly used words rarely help refine your search results and should be avoided.

Some common stop words are: the, an, at, for, from, of, then.

Phrase Searching

Different databases treat phrases differently. Some automatically assume two adjacent words are a phrase. Others require the use of quotation marks or parentheses to search for a phrase. Databases that automatically assume two words are a phrase often ignore the quotation marks. Because it is difficult to keep track of differences in databases, it is often helpful to use quotation marks when you enter a phrase.

Example: "school choice"

An exact phrase finds the words in exactly the same order and will search for "school choice", not "choice school."

Location of Materials

All physical materials are located in the James C. Kirkpatrick Library at UCM's Main Campus in Warrensburg. Physical materials can be requested via the library website to be delivered to the MIC campus as well.

Call Numbers

Call numbers are groups of numbers and/or letters that classify library items by subject. Items are arranged on bookshelves by call number. The main collection of the James C. Kirkpatrick uses Call Numbers in the Library of Congress classification system. The Children's and Young Adult Collection at JCKL uses Author Alphabetical classification for Fiction titles and the Dewey Decimal classification system for Nonfiction titles. 

Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings

Books on library science topics primarily fall into the Z classification, found in the main collection on the third floor. For a complete list of subject headings used by the library for LIS, see the Subject Collection Development Plan for Library Science and Information Services. To find more call numbers, search the Library of Congress Classification Outline, or the Library of Congress Authorities. 

Call Number	Subject
Z 662 - 1000.5	Libraries
Z 665 - 718.8	Library science
Z 687 - 703.6	Collections. Books.
Z 711 - 711.55	Public services. Reference services
ZA 3060 - 5190	Information sources (General)