How Do I...?

Find a book?
To find books that are physically in one SCC's three campus libraries, you need to search the Library Catalog. You can search by keyword, author, title, or subject. To see more options for finding books, including electronic (online) books and books that can be requested from another library, go to our Find Books & Videos page.
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Find a video?
To find videos that the library owns, you need to go to the Advanced Search in the Library Catalog, and select "Audiovisual Collection" from the "Location" drop down box. Then enter your search term in the top box (next to keyword). This will limit your search to items that are in our Audiovisual Collection -- which is mostly videos (DVDs and VHS), but also contains some CDs, CD-Roms, and Books on Tape.
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Check out a book or video? For how long?
SCC students, faculty and staff need to bring their SCC ID card to the library in order to check out materials. This ID card serves as your library card. For community patrons, you will need a driver's license or other form of valid picture ID to check out materials. Students from PASCAL affiliated libraries, need to bring their valid student ID card from the school they attend.
Please see our Library Services page for check out periods. Check out periods vary depending on the item being checked out and the status of the library patron. Generally, though, students and community loan patrons can keep books for 3 weeks. Faculty & staff can keep them until the end of the semester. Videos can be kept by students for 3 days; faculty & staff can keep vidoes for 2 weeks.
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Find a magazine or journal article?
To find a magazine or journal article on a specific topic, you will want to visit our Find Articles page, select the subject area that best fits your needs, and search one of the Library Databases listed in that subject area. For advice on which database to use or which subject area to begin looking in, ask a Librarian -- at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email.
The SCC Library also has magazines and journals available in print in the library's periodical section. The most recent issues of these magazines are kept out in the periodical section; however, the library usually keeps approximately 5 years worth of older issues behind the Circulation Desk -- so if you need an older issues, please ask a library staff member to assist you. For a list of our current print magazines and journals, go to our Magazines by Subject page and select Central campus or Cherokee campus to see what is available at each location.
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Tell the difference between a magazine and journal article?
Magazines have colorful, splashy covers, contain many advertisements, contain many pictures and colors, and are written in language the average audience can understand. They may mention sources, but they usually lack a bibliography or footnotes. There is no peer review process for a magazine, and they are usually written by regular journalists/staff members of the publisher.
Journals have plain covers, often with no pictures, little or no advertising, and most illustrations used are charts and graphs. Journals use higher-level language and jargon (terms and words) of the field; sources are cited, often in long bibliographies. The peer-review process is often required, and the authors are experts working in the particular field.
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Find a newspaper article?
To find a newspaper article on a specific topic, you will want to visit our Find Articles page, select the subject area that best fits your needs, and search one of the Library Databases listed in that subject area. For advice on which database to use or which subject area to begin looking in, ask a Librarian -- at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email.
The SCC Library also has newspapers available in print in the library's periodical section. The most recent issues of these newspapers are kept out in the periodical section; however, the library usually keeps some older issues behind the Circulation Desk -- so if you need an older issues, please ask a library staff member to assist you. For a list of our current newspaper subscriptions, go to the Library Catalog and click on "Links to Magazines by Subject" (in the top-left, under the SCC log). Then select which campus you are on, and then look for 'News, Current Events, Essays & Newspapers."
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Know whether SCC has a particular magazine or journal?
To tell if the library has a particular magazine or journal in print, you will need to search the Library Catalog, entering the title of the journal or magazine as your search term.
To tell whether the library has articles from a particular magazine or journal article online, you can search for the title of the magazine or journal article in the Library Databases; however, because there are so many databases, this can be tricky. It is best to contact a Librarian for assistance -- either at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email.
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Renew my materials online?
Go to the Library Catalog, and click on "My Account" (near top of page). You can either review your account or renew materials. To renew materials, enter 003994 followed by your college i.d. number (on back of college I.D., no spaces). The password is "scclibrary." Check which items you would like to renew, then select "renew selected items." You can also renew items in person or by phone. NOTE: you can only renew materials before their due date. Once an item is overdue, it may not be renewed. To see more detailed instructions with screenshots, Click here.
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Place a hold on an item that is checked out?
When you find the item in the Library Catalog, and it says the item is checked out (i.e. due date is displayed), then you may place a hold on an item. This means that you will be contacted when the item is returned to the library, and this item will be held for you at the Circulation Desk. When you are looking at an item in the Library Catalog, if it is checked out, you will see a box that says "Place Hold" on left hand side of screen. Click on "Place Hold," and enter your username (003994 followed by college I.D. number, no spaces) and password is scclibrary (no spaces). A screen will pop up with your name and information about the item on hold. The library staff will call you once the item is available. If you have any problems or questions, please call us at 864-592-4764 or email askalibrarian@sccsc.edu. NOTE: if you have changed phone numbers or email addresses since you enrolled in SCC, you may want to contact the library to make sure we have your current contact information on file -- otherwise we may not be able to get in touch with you when your requested material comes in.
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Start a research paper?
Before you start searching for material, check out the Library's Subject Guides to see if there is a subject guide that might help you with your assignment. These guides can point you to good places to start searching, as well as some specific materials that might be useful.
After that, you may want to check out the library's Find Books & Videos or Find Articles page for help locating those types of sources for your research.
If you have any questions, be sure to ask a Librarian -- either at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email.
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Find a peer-reviewed or refereed journal article?
A "refereed" or "peer-reviewed" article is a scholarly work that was reviewed by the scholar's peers, meaning other scholars in the field. This is an important part of the research process since it allows other scholars to provide input on the accuracy and methods of the research. Only scholars or experts in a field write a refereed article. It is generally published in academic journals.
A general magazine article, on the other hand, is often written by someone who is not a specialist in the field. A good example of this would be Newsweek or Time articles -- they are written by journalists who have done research on the topic they are writing on, but they are not scholars in that topic. They are writing for general readership rather than on a level that only other scholars could understand.
Many of the library's datases, including Gale Databases and Academic Search Premier, give you the option to limit your search to peer-reviewed journal articles by checking a box on the search page.
CAUTION: Be aware of things like book reviews or editorials that appear in peer-reviewed journals, but aren't necessarily peer-reviewed themselves. For questions about this, contact a Librarian in person at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email
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Make a Works Cited page?
A Works Cited or Reference page can vary depending on which citation style you are using. If you are using MLA or APA, see our Citation Help! page, for guidance and examples of a how to make a Works Cited page. If you have any questions or are using another style, email Ask-A-Librarian for assistance.
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Make an annotated bibliography?
The format and content of an annotated bibliography can vary, so be sure to ask your instructor for specific guidelines; however, see our Annotated Bibliography page, for guidance and examples of an annotated bibliography.
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Use Noodlebib to make citations?
Noodlebib will walk you through the process of setting up a Works Cited page. To get to Noodlebib, go to the Library's Databases page and select Noodlebib. If you are off-campus, you will be taken to our off-campus page and will need to enter the off-campus username (your SCC email) and your SCC password. Once you get to Noodelbib, it will have another login screen.
First time users: click on "Create a Personal ID" to set up a personal ID and password so you can have a Noodlebib account. Be sure to remember your personal ID and password so you can go back into Noodlebib.
Once you have your account, you will be taken to your "My Lists" page. Click on "Create a new list" to create a works cited list. Step one is to select the format (select "MLA advanced" or "APA"), and then in step 2 give it a descriptive name (i.e. "Eng. 101 paper" or "Eng 102 short story"), then click on "start adding citations."
You will be taken to the "Bibliography" page. Near the top, there is the phrase "Cite a" and a drop down box. You will select what it is you are citing (magazine article, journal article, book, reference book or website, etc). Even if your book or article came from one of the library's databases -- i.e. Gale Databas. etc, still select "book" or "article". There will be a screen later asking whether or not your source was "print" or "online". There you will select online if it came from one of the Library's databases. Make your selection and click on "Create Citation."
Once you make a selection, you will be taken through a series of screens asking you questions about your source. When you first use Noodlebib, read everything and follow along carefully -- once you get the hang of it, it will go much faster. It is wordy because MLA and APA are so precise. There are a lot of phrases such as "Click here for instructions" or "Advanced help with Names" or "what words should be capitalized" that you can click on that will show you the right way to enter the name, title, publisher, etc. To move from screen to screen, use the buttons at the bottom of the page.
When you get to the final screen, one of the buttons at the bottom will say "generate citation." Click on this and you will be taken back to the "Bibliography" page and you will see your citation listed in MLA format. Remember you need to enter the right information in the right boxes for it to come out correct and you need to follow advice given in the hyperlinked phrases (such as the "click here" or "more help") to make sure you get the capitalization and other formatting issues correct. Noodlebib will do all the italicizing, etc.
To add another citation, again use the "Citing a" and select from the drop down box. When you are done entering in your citations, you will see them all on the "Bibliography" page, listed by type of source. Your options for creating a Works Cited page are listed up at the top of the "Bibliography" page. Click on "Save as Word Doc" to save it as an RTF document (A format that can be opened by Word, Works, Word Perfect and a lot of other word processing programs). When you do this, you will see your Works Cited page created, with the entries in alphabetical order.
Give yourself some time to get familiar with Noodlebib. In the long run, this will save you lots of time!
For more information, ask a Librarian -- either at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email.
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Cite an E-book?
To find the citation information you will need, click on "Detailed Record" in the left sidebar when viewing an e-book.
To learn how to format your citation, see our MLA Guide or APA Guide, depending on what citation style you are using.
Please contact a Librarian if you need to cite an e-book in a format other than MLA or APA. You can contact a Librarian in person at the Information Desk in the library, by phone at (864) 592-4654, or Ask-A-Librarian via email.
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Convert a Works document into a Word Document?
Using Microsoft Word 2007, follow this link (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP100848691033.aspx) for instructions.
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