• GIL: The Library's Catalog and How to Use It
• GALILEO and Other Databases Available Through GSW
• Get the Galileo Password

GIL: The Library's Catalog and How to Use It

GIL is an acronym for GALILEO Interconnected Libraries.  It is also the name given to catalogs of most GALILEO libraries.  Each GIL can be used to locate books, documents, journal titles, microfilm/ microfiche, audio/video recordings, and other material that is owned by the respective library.  Records for an increasing number of electronic full-text books, electronic government documents, and web pages are also included in the catalogs.  GILcannot  be used to find articles, abstracts, or ERIC documents.

Choose the gil@gsw link under the blue bar on the GALILEO homepage or access it directly at http://gil.gsw.edu.

"Basic Guide to Library and Online Research" is a brief guide to using GIL and GALILEO.  A detailed tutorial for GIL is available athttp://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit06/index.phtml.  

In addition to author, title, and other publication information, the records that are returned from a GIL search (title results) will have the information necessary to find their physical location in the library.  

Like most colleges and universities, GSW uses the Library of Congress Classification System, an alphabetical/numeric filing system, for most of its collection.  The exceptions are journals, which are filed alphabetically by their title (i.e. Newsweek  is filed in the N section of periodicals), and government documents, which use a classification system known as Superintendent of Documents Classification System (SuDocs).

Items not available in JECL's collection are available to GSW students through Interlibrary Loan.

LOCATIONS

1ST FL-REF means that this item is in the Reference Collection which is located on the first floor of JECL.  Some items, including citation guides and the most recent issues of almanacs and Mental Measurements Yearbook, are in such frequent demand that they are shelved at the reference desk in front of the Reference Collection.  This will be noted on the item's record.  Reference books are not available for check-out.

A-V ROOM means that the item is located in the Audio-Video Collection.  The A/V Room is a small room on the second floor of JECL.   To access the room, go through the doors between the Jimmy Carter exhibit.  The room is to the left.  Most of these items are available for checkout.

BOUND PER means that a title is a bound periodical (several issues have been sewn together between hard covers) and can be found on the second floor to your right at the top of the stairs.  Bound periodicals are filed alphabetically by journal title.   Periodicals are not available for check-out.

ERIC ROOM is a small room on the campus-side of the first floor.  This room houses thousands of microfiche, almost two centuries of newspapers on microfilm, and numerous miscellaneous print indexes. 

FICHE PER is a microfiche periodical.  Microfiche periodicals are housed in filing cabinets on the campus side of the second floor of JECL.  

GALILEO netLibrary electronic book is an online full text book that is available for "virtual checkout" through the computer.  To access one of these books, click on the title in the GIL record, and again on the "an electronic book accessible through GALILEO" option at the bottom of the item's full record.  Choose "Browse this eBook online (borrow for a short time)" to view the book for fifteen minutes.  Choose "Check out and read online (add to "eBookshelf")" to use it for up to two hours.  You must register from an on-campus computer to use the copyrighted books to which GALILEO users have access.

GOVT DOCS is the abbreviation for government documents.  JECL receives hundreds of government documents every year.  These can be on almost any subject and can be a one page brochure or a multi-volume book set.  Most publications are available for checkout, although most reference items (such as the Congressional Record) are not.

GOVT FICHE is a government document available on microfiche.  Government microfiche are located in file cabinets at the end of the Government Documents Collection on the first floor of JECL. 

GOVT INET is a government internet site cataloged on GIL.  To access it, click the record, and then on the full record display page click the bottom E-Resource line.  All government web sites are free of charge and do not feature advertisements.

MAIN COL identifies the main collection of circulating books.  These books are shelved on the second floor of JECL.  They are all available for checkout.  (Some of these records specify MAIN COL-JUVENILE, but they are located in the same section at the end of the "L" classification.)

RARE BK RM items are found in the Rare Books Room on the Reference Collection side of the first floor.  Many books on local and Georgia history are shelved in the Rare Books Room.  The books in the Rare Books Room are available for checkout, the exceptions being those that are fragile or of particular value.

THIRD WORLD STUDIES items are located in a small room on the second floor of JECL .  They are available for checkout.  To access the room, go through the doors between the Jimmy Carter exhibit.

GALILEO and Other Databases Available Through GSW

A state legislature-supported consortium comprised of  most academic, school,  and many public libraries in Georgia, GALILEO is comprised of more than 200 databases.  In addition to several full text encyclopedia and other reference sources, there are hundreds of thousands of scholarly and popular articles available in full text through GEORGIA LIBRARY LEARNING ONLINE (GALILEO).  James Earl Carter Library (JECL) subscribes to several online full-text journals (ranging from the Journal of Nautical Archaeology to the Journal of Memory & Language) accessible through their web sites with the proper passwords.  Most must be accessed from an on-campus computer.

GALILEO can be accessed at http://www.galileo.usg.edu from any remote computer at the following address.

In order to use most of the databases off-campus, you will need to enter a password.  The password for GALILEO changes each semester.  You can get the current one by asking at the Circulation Desk, by calling (229-931-2259), or by emailing the library.  You have to be a registered student, and you will be asked for your name and ID number.  You may also enter your active library account number from the back of your GSW identification card in the "Home/Password" box on the GALILEO home page.

From the GALILEO home page, you can access gil@gsw, the library's electronic catalog of books, government publications, videos, and other material owned by the library.  Journal titles are included, but you can not search for specific articles in GIL.  

Which GALILEO databases will be the most valuable to you depends upon the assignment.  There are several ways of narrowing the selection to the most relevant, the quickest way being to enter a word or two in the "Find a database by name" box.  Choose the description-name radio button for a broader search.  This will identify databases that may be useful to your search.  Go ahead and try your search topic.  Type in one or two words.  If the topic is too narrow, you will need to broaden out your search for the appropriate database by entering terms such as sociology or literature.  You can also use the database category tabs that run across the top of the screen to find a subject that will then lead you to a list of suggested databases.

Not all GALILEO databases are accessible away from campus.  The most frequently used database to fall into this category is the LexisNexis database, which includes hundreds of thousands of full text newspaper articles as well as full text medical journals, almanacs, company reports, and other sources of information.  This database might be accessible through your local library, however.

Most GALILEO databases (including Academic Search Premier, ProQuest, and ERIC) work according to the rules of Boolean searching, similar to the search methodology for GIL.  Learning these techniques will assist you in finding relevant results from the thousands available.  See the "Basic Guide to Library and Online Research"  for instructions.  Librarians in Georgia have also prepared an official, in-depth GALILEO tutorial.  

Some of the most frequently used databases are:  

Academic Search Premier

Most users looking for periodical and newspaper articles consider Academic Search Premier the best starting point.  This database provides full text articles for about 3,300 of the 3,800 periodicals that are indexed.  The search  interface requires simple Boolean commands.  The search can be limited by date, periodical, full-text, or scholarly journals. 

AccessScience

AccessScience is an encyclopedia dedicated to all branches of science from astronomy to engineering to zoology.  In addition to reliable and concise scholarly articles, its "Student Resources Center" offers suggested topics for essays as well as Internet links and sample bibliographies by scientific discipline.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Perhaps the best known name in scholarly reference sources, the Encyclopedia Britannicais usually the best starting point on GALILEO for readers who need to quickly learn more about a topic before they can begin to research it in depth.  The licensed version available through GALILEO offers many features and much fuller articles than the free version available at http://www.britannica.com, including related Internet links at the end of each article chosen by experts in the field for reliability and objectivity. 

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)

This database is available from two providers on GALILEO (EBSCOhost and OCLC/FirstSearch) and is the most thorough database of education-related articles in existence.  Though none of the articles are available on ERIC in full text, the EBSCOhost version will link to full text sources if they are available on other EBSCOhost databases.  

LexisNexis Academic

Although this database is not available from your home computer, it may be available at a library near you.  Its features include indexing and full text of thousands of newspapers from around the world for the past twenty years and numerous full text medical journals.  In addition, the database provides access to business data such as corporate annual reports and tax law information.  For those students researching legal issues, LexisNexis is an important source of federal and state statutory and judicial full text information.  LexisNexisis an exceptional database in terms of content, but it can be difficult to use.  Please feel free to contact the reference librarians with any questions in using it.

MLA Bibliography

Produced by the Modern Language Association, MLA Bibliography indexes hundreds of literary journals and book chapters from 1963 to the present.  Although none of the articles indexed are available in full text,  they may be available in the JECL collection or requested through Interlibrary Loan.

Research Library (ProQuest)

Research Library  is not as large as Academic Search Premier, but it does provide full text articles as well as abstracts and indexing from many periodicals, scholarly and otherwise, not included in other databases.  It features an easy to use interface.  The user should note that the first search is only for 1999 to the present.  The search can be easily repeated in the backfiles using the drop-down menu.  Check GIL for JECL holdings.

WorldCat

WorldCat is an online catalog for the holdings of libraries throughout the U.S. and several other countries.  It contains several million titles and grows daily.  WorldCat does not contain full text or abstracts for its entries although note fields and other descriptive information is available on some records.  GSW students can use WorldCat to find books on a subject other than those in GSW or other Georgia libraries and then request the items through Interlibrary Loan.

Get the Galileo Password

Currently enrolled students and currently employed faculty and staff may obtain the GALILEO password for use on off-campus computers by:

Presenting their GSW ID card at the Circulation Desk in the Library to obtain the current password, or

Go to the Library's online catalog http://gil.gsw.edu .  Click on "Get GALILEO password".

On the next screen enter either your Patron Barcode (the barcode put on the back of your GSW ID card by the library) or your Social Security Number in the second box.  If you enter your social security number, be sure to select "Social Security Number" from the drop down menu.  In the third box, enter your last name.  Then click on "Logon to My Account".

On the next screen, follow the instructions to obtain the current password (click on "Request").  You can also check your Library Account for information such as "Items Checked Out" and "Requests Pending".