Distance Learning Students Page - Library Resources

Introduction to Using Resources

Below are links and information for accessing materials, including books and articles. In order to obtain materials, you will first need a BCC library card.

Your card has a barcode on the back which is your password to accessing articles from our Periodical Index Databases and books from our Public Access Catalog. Simply enter the number beginning with 2739100....

For Articles: Once you have logged into our Periodical Index Databases, using the bar code on the back of your library card, you will be able to search for, retrieve and print out articles from your home internet connection.

For Books: In order to order books, you will not only need your BCC library card, but you will need to create a Personal Identification Number, or PIN. The Using the PAC brochure below offers a step-by-step guide to doing this. Please be aware that you can not use a public library card if you wish books to be sent to any academic library. You can use another current academic card from a CW/Mars member library to order books. Colleges who participate in the CW/Mars system include MCLA, STCC, HCC, AIC, Elms and GCC.

Databases - This is where you go to search for articles. Click here if you wish to go to our login page to access our Periodical Index Databases from offsite. You will need a BCC library card to access these databases. To learn how to use databases click here for brochures.

Databases are listed in alphabetical order. There are two lists. The annotated A-Z list provides descriptions of the databases, and allows you to search each database separately. Certain databases, such as Lexis Nexis and medical databases such as Medline and Cinahl are best searched individually and accessed from this page. The Annotated A-Z list is the best list to begin with. The new OneSearch A-Z list also allows you to search each database separately by clicking its name, but also permits you to search different databases together with one common interface "find" box. While this may be more convenient when searching multiple databases at the same time, there is more of a chance that you will be timed out and your search may be incomplete. The best way to know which database, and even which list to use, is to try all options and to be flexible. The more you use the periodical index databases, the more expert you will become at searching these.

While we have many database providers, most of our databases come from two companies, EbscoHost and Thomson/Gale. (Infotrac) The Ebscohost database templates all look like this. It includes a find box for searching and allows you to decide whether you want full text or scholarly articles. (To read more, click here for the Ebsco database brochure):

Most, but not all of the Thomson Gale databases look like this: It includes a find box for searching and allows you to decide whether you want full text or scholarly articles.(To read more, click here for the Thomson Gale database brochure).

Public Access Catalog - To find books, click here to enter the BCC Online Public Access Catalog, the online catalog of all the books in our collection.

A Public Access Catalog provides a record of every item in the collection of a library, and where on the shelf that item is located. As we are part of the CW/MARS system, you can also look at the Online Public Access Catalogs of a number of academic and most public libraries throughout central and western Massachusetts. Click here for a brochure on how to use the PAC and how to set up an account or PIN. A PIN will allow you to order books from libraries to be sent to your academic library. You will also be able to track your circulation activity and see which books you have out, which might have fines, and the processing of any book requests you have made. In order to borrow books, you will need a BCC library card. You will also need to pick up your book at an academic library. (Not a public library).

In addition to BCC's Jonathan Edwards Library, and the CW/MARS member library catalogs, you can also search the Virtual Catalog, a state-wide catalog of libraries in all regions. This catalog includes the holdings of some of the University of Massachusetts campuses, as well as those of State Colleges such as Salem State and Westfield State College. To access the Virtual Catalog site, click here. You should use the Virtual Catalog only after a search has failed to yield results through the CW/MARS collections.

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