Help with searching for electronic resources
If you are unable to find the information you need here; or, if you need more specific research assistance, contact staff in the Reference Department (847-491-7656), or contact a subject specialist in the library.
- Description of Resource Types
- Legend for icons used throughout the Library Web sites
- Information about access restrictions to these electronic resources
- Using Proxy Services or the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access electronic resources from beyond Northwestern.
- Information about access to networked and standalone CD-ROM titles
Description of resource types
- Biographies - Dictionaries or databases containing primarily biographical information about people (dead or alive)
- Dictionaries - Resources providing the meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) of words, terms, and/or phrases in one or more languages; alternatively, they may constitute an index to quotations in a particular language; for subject dictionaries, see "Encyclopedias"
- Digital Media - Resources containing digitized images, sound, and/or video
- Directories - Databases providing information about companies, associations, organizations, and government bodies, or web sites that provide links to other sites, usually browsable by subject category
- E-Books - Books available electronically that are generally intended to be read online
- E-Journals - Journals and other periodicals that are distributed electronically, with succeeding issues archived for retrieval by calendar or chronological designation
- E-Texts - Electronic texts that are marked-up and searchable, generally intended for linguistic or textual analysis
- Encyclopedias - General or subject-specific reference resources, usually with browse and/or search options
- Finding Aids - Descriptions of archival collections, with notes regarding the importance of the collection, its contents, extent, and arrangement While the finding aids may vary somewhat in style, their common purpose is to provide detailed description of the content and intellectual organization of collections
- Geographic information systems - Databases providing spatial data information
- Indexes to articles - Databases containing abstracts or full text of journal articles, dissertations, reviews, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications, etc.
- Informational web sites - Internet sites providing informational content as opposed to "Web Search Engines" or "Directories" of links to other sites
- Library catalogs - Online catalogs to the holdings of libraries in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. and abroad
- News & current events - Resources containing citations, abstracts, and/or full text of newspaper articles and current events
- Research guides - Guides prepared by Northwestern University librarians to help users locate resources of a particular subject or type not accessible in a unified space or location, but dispersed throughout the Library
- Statistical and numeric databases - Databases providing census and/or other statistical or numeric data, reflecting not only demographic changes, but also financial and market trends as well as shifts in public opinion
- Web search engines - Web sites offering search software designed to help users locate useful sites
Legend for icons used throughout the Library Web sites
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Northwestern Community only - restricted access resource |
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Login and Password required for access (Northwestern Community only) |
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Unrestricted Resource - available to everyone |
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Networked CD-ROM (This resource is only available within the libraries)  NOTE:
For some resources there is now remote
CD-ROM access beyond the libraries. |
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Standalone CD-ROM (see location for resource) |
