How to find the best resources for your research goals through SJSU's King Library OneSearch!
The following tutorials have been created to help you make the most productive use of our Library's OneSearch system - video tutorials are provided alongside each set of written instructions, for your convenience!
First, navigate to the King Library Website at https://library.sjsu.edu/ OR go directly to the King Library's OneSearch page at https://csu-sjsu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/
In the search bar, you may begin your search! Type in keywords or topics that you'd like to find resources on
The results will appear after you hit “enter”
a. At this point, if you haven't signed into SJSU One yet, please do. This will ensure the most accurate results for your query.
Are you having trouble finding resources on your specific research topic? You may want to try exploring this helpful Keyword/Subject Term method that OneSearch features:
Start your search with a keyword or phrase that captures the general idea of your research topic
a. If no results are available, keep it simple - try just a couple of words.
Once you yield results, select one of them
Scroll down to the box that says “Details”
Under this Details box you will find details such as: “Author; Title; Publisher. . . and Subjects” - Subjects is the section you want to pay attention to
Subjects will provide you with keywords that scholars who write on the topic you’re research have used; these are great to keep track of, when researching so that you know you’re using the correct terminology for the field
Once you have more precise keywords, you may find that you research queries yield more useful results
If, even after this method, you still have trouble finding resources, do not hesitate to contact a Librarian!
Another useful way to navigate OneSearch:
When you type a query in the OneSearch search bar you will see hyperlinked dropdown menu options appear
These are OneSearch’s suggestions for the types of materials you can search - each is a different “facet”
You can limit your search to one of the following facets:
“San Jose State Collections” will search items that SJSU’s King Library provides access for, whether physical, online, open access, or other types of resources!
“California State University Collections” will search for items not accessible from SJSU’s King Library, but that may be available for InterLibrary Loan physically or digitally!
“Articles+” searches for academic articles and other items directly related to your topic!
Of course, if these facets don’t help you find resources, please feel free to contact a Librarian.
To retrieve Peer Reviewed, scholarly articles (a research requirement of many college assignments) follow these steps:
On a Computer Browser (this is important for refining your search query as we need the full-screen view!) start by searching for your topic on the OneSearch search bar
To the left of the results you will see several Search-Refining options - locate where it says “Availability”
Under Availability, find the box next to “Peer-reviewed Journals,” and select it
A green button, that says “Apply Filters” should pop up - confirm this by clicking the green “Apply Filters”
At this point, the results list will refresh, and the results you see will now be Peer Reviewed items!
Does your research need scholarly articles from specific year-ranges? Here how you can refine your OneSearch query to retrieve those articles!
On a Computer Browser (this is important for refining your search query as we need the full-screen view!) start by searching for your topic on the OneSearch search bar
To the left of the results you will see several Search-Refining options - locate where it says “Publication Date”
Change the “From” year to your desired STARTING year of the research you’d like to retrieve, and change the “To” year to your desired LAST year of the research you’d like to retrieve. For example, if I wanted to search for articles from the past five years, I’d change the “From” to “2018,” and the “To” to “2023.”
Once you have changed the year dates, click “Refine,” to the left of the “To” year section
The results will automatically refresh, showing results that fit within your defined timeframe.
If, after automatically refreshing, the same results come up, and the listed resources’ years do not match your intended years, the King Library does not have any resources within this refined search.
When searching for resources, it may help to limit your search to physical resources or online resources - depending on what you’re looking for. To do this, follow these steps:
On a Computer Browser (this is important for refining your search query as we need the full-screen view!) start by searching for your topic on the OneSearch search bar
To the left of the results, directly under the title “Availability” you will see four options:
Available in SJSU Library: this means physical resources, that is, physical books, academic journals, etc.
Full-text online from SJSU: these are online resources that you can access through SJSU’s databases (just make sure you’re logged into SJSU One!)
Open Access: These are resources that are openly available online, which the King Library has made accessible to students on their King Library catalog.
Peer-reviewed Journals: These will be primarily online academic journal articles, which are frequently available to download as PDFs.
By determining what type of resource you’re looking for (detailed in the list above) you can narrow down the scope of resources you need to sift through!
Here are the steps you’ll follow to retrieve your online resource or physical item!
After searching for your topic and yielding results, select the resource that you would like to acquire:
ONLINE: If the resource you need says “Get PDF”; “Read Online”; or “Full text available,” it will be a digital, online resource.
We’d recommend selecting the “Full text available” option when it’s available, as these link to Academic Databases, which keep reliable, top-quality PDFs!
If this option isn’t available, though, “Get PDF” and “Read Online” will work just fine - you just may need to navigate to a third-party website to access the resource.
If you need help downloading and viewing PDFs, please refer to this tutorial!
PHYSICAL: If the resource’s location says “SJSU Library,” it is a physical item located at the King Library.
If the item is available (i.e. not checked-out) it will say “Available” in green font, and the call number will be listed beside it.
Staff at the library are always happy to help you find physical items in the library if you need assistance!
If a resource is listed as only available through InterLibrary Loan - as revealed through your standard OneSearch search results or through a facet search through the California State University Collections - follow these steps to request that item through InterLibrary Loan:
Click the Resource listing - underneath the title and details, you should see a box that says “Request a physical copy” OR “Need a Book Chapter?
For a Physical Copy:
On the listing of the Physical Item click “Request It”
Confirm the pickup location at the King Library
Lastly, click “Send.”
For a Book Chapter or Article PDF:
Click “Get It”
Specify which chapter from the book you need OR specify which Article you need if requesting a digital copy from an Academic Journal
Click “Send.”
Physical copies will be delivered to SJSU’s King Library for pickup.
Digital copies of book chapters or articles will be delivered via email within 24 hours (dependent on ILL staff turnaround time, as they will be physically scanning the requested chapters/articles and emailing you the digital file!).
You can check the status of your request by clicking on your name at the top right corner of the OneSearch screen, and selecting “My Requests.”
Item descriptions, which are summaries or abstracts, on OneSearch are extremely helpful when sifting through several potential resources! Find out how to find them below:
After completing a search on OneSearch, select a title that you would like to learn a little bit more about (before officially adding it to your To Be Read pile!)
Scroll down, past the item’s title and publication details, and find the “Description” section - this should look like a paragraph compared to the other data recorded in the item’s record
Read this section and take note of how focused the article/book/etc. is to your topic - is the search phrase/keyword that you used to find this resource highlighted in yellow numerous times in this summary/abstract? If so, it might be perfect! If it’s only mentioned in passing, it may not be extremely relevant to your research interests after all!
If you’re at the end of your research process and now need to cite all of your sources - dread not! - OneSearch has built-in citation tools for APA, Chicago, MLA, and Harvard citing styles! To use it follow these steps:
Locate the resource you’d like to cite (this can be an article, book, eBook, etc.) on OneSearch
To the right of the resource title, in blue font, you will see a Quotation Mark hyperlink - click this
A box will appear with citation entries - APA, Chicago, MLA, and Harvard are available - click the title of the style of citation that you need
The citation will be highlighted in a white box - you can now copy and paste this citation (CTRL+C to copy and CTRL+V to paste)
Lastly, be sure to proofread the citation - automated citations are not always 100% accurate, so be sure to consult a style guide!
If you couldn't find a Tutorial for the question or issue you're having, please let us know by reaching us at the Contact Info listed below:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
408-808-2000