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Stony Brook University

First Year Students: How to Start

A guide to help new students succeed at Stony Brook University.

What Resources Should I Use?

If you need:	Try using:
Somewhere to start your research	Academic Search Complete
Background information	Books, encyclopedias (Britannica Online), dictionaries (Oxford English Dictionary), or other reference material. Choose “Reference" from the database subject list.
Current research on a subject	Peer-reviewed journals, print or electronic from databases. Search the library's discovery system. *JSTOR is a back issues database and won’t have the most current research.
Academic or scholarly articles	Peer-reviewed or refereed journals, print or electronic from databases. Search the Databases list tab for a list of databases or view Research Tutorials tab for information on scholarly articles.
Info on both sides of “hot topic” issues like abortion or gun control	Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Up-to-the-minute information like stock prices, news, sports scores	Newspapers, the Internet or theses databases: LexisNexis Academic
Statistics	Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center or government websites
Popular articles	Magazines or Academic Search Complete
Contemporary accounts of historical events	New York Times Archive or other newspapers on microfilm. Search the library catalog to find other historical newspapers.
Primary Sources (letters, diaries, government reports, photographs, maps, manuscripts, etc.)	These specific databases: American Memory, Empire Online, North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial to 1950, Women and Social Movements in the United States These types of books: autobiographies, memoirs, correspondence, or letters. Primary Sources Visit the Special Collections department of the library (by appointment only).