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Most research assignments should have a combination of different source types within your research. Books are a great resource for doing research. E-books and physical books both fall into this category.
Books differ from peer-reviewed journal articles because books provide general overviews of a topic, whereas articles are shorter and more specific.
Remember: You don't have to read the entire book! If there is one chapter in the book that works for your topic, just read that chapter.
The link to the library catalog will take you to an advanced search. Use these steps to fill in the search box:
Your results will come up as a list of sources with the ability to save links. Along the right side of the page is a sidebar with more filtering options.
The sidebar is labeled "Tweak your results." Use some or all of the following tips to narrow down your results further:
These articles are basically the "bread-and-butter" sources for scholarly research - they're used in every discipline.
If an article is peer-reviewed that means that before the article was published it was reviewed and scrutinized by other experts in the same field. This process ensures that the sources are reliable and trustworthy.
These source types may also be referred to as peer-reviewed article, academic article, or journal article.
Databases are the best way to find scholarly articles. A database is a collection of resources grouped by subject, material type, or just by who owns the materials. To learn more about databases, visit our databases and searching tips help guide. When off-campus, you will likely need to log in with an EZprozy server with your NDUS account.
Web Resources
Teacher Resources
National Archives - Teacher Resources: Teacher resources from the National Archives. Use primary documents to teach about history. Resources for K-12 educators.
North Dakota Studies: The North Dakota Studies program is part of the Education and Communications division of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The division provides communications and educational outreach by interpreting the collections and works of the Society for the public.
Awesome Stories: Story-driven, evidence-based archive for teaching and learning.
Lesson Planning
Lesson Plans
Discovery Channel School: Contains lesson plans written by teachers for teachers.
Education World: Lesson Planning Center
Google Lesson Plan Search: Google offers a number of lesson plans for K-12 education, as well as a number of resources and apps in their Educator Resource section. One of many features in google.com/edu!
New York Times Learning Network: Highlights resources for parents, students and teachers and is designed for grades 3-12
Scholastic: Offers a number of resources, searchable by grade level
PBS Learning Media: "library of free digital media resources produced by public television, designed for classroom use and professional development." Organized by subject areas for K-12.
TED-Ed: Flipped lesson plans from the people who brought you TED Talks!
Vocabulary Builders
American Idioms: Click on an idiom for a sample paragraph providing a definition of the idiom and an illustration of how it is used.
American Slang: Provides definitions, sample sentences, etymology, and synonyms.
EnglishClub.com: English Vocabulary: Survival English, synonyms and antonyms, lists of useful words, figures of speech, idioms, and quotes.
Internet Picture Dictionary: Learn vocabulary by browsing through pictures arranged by subject category. Includes interactive learning activities.
Language Guide: Sound-integrated resources for 13 different languages (with a choice of 21 native language interfaces). Particularly helpful for vocabulary building and word pronunciation.
Vocabulary Lessons from The English Page: Vocabulary building for advanced English language learners.
Praxis Guide
Studying for the Praxis and need a little help?
Are you off campus and need a library resource mailed to you? We can do that! We can also scan chapters and email them to you!
Fill out this OneStop form and we will send you the resource!
Need a book or article that we don't have at the library? We can still get it to you! At the VCSU Library we are able to get you access to resources at other libraries through our Interlibrary Loan program. Learn more about InterLibrary Loan!
When using the library databases from off-campus, you will need to log in using a proxy server. If you use a link from the library website, it should automatically take you to a screen that says "log in with NDUS account or use guest account." Make sure to click the button for the NDUS login account, then use your "firstname.lastname" and NDUS password to log in.