This is a brief explanation of how to use MeL.org resource called General reference Center GOLD.

1.  
By: Whitney Niedzielski

2.  You can think of a database as an electronic filing
system. When you are on a database website you can
find data on a specific subject or keyword. You can also
search things like publication titles and entire
documents.

3.  When you are on this database website you can find
data on a specific subject and keyword. You can also
search things like publication titles and entire
documents. From there you can choose documents with
images, full text, or to peer-reviewed publications.
 There are 71,349,360 articles on General Reference
Center GOLD. This was updated on March 5, 2012. All
articles have been published between 1980 and 2012.

4.  Start by going to http://mel.org
o Which is Michigan’s eLibrary website.
o The home screen should look like this!

5.  Click on the side
link that say’s
“MeL Databases”.

6.  After clicking of the home screen you will be brought to a
new page that looks like this…
 Notice that all the
databases are now in
Alphabetical order and
have a short description as
to why you might use that
database. It lists specific
things to help you find out
which one you are looking
for.

7.  When you get to this point you need to figure out what
you are going to be looking for on a database. Once you
have figured that out find the data base that applies the
most to the topic, document or image you are looking for
or would like to find.
 Read this part
to help you!
 This is recommended
for: colleges and
universities.

8.  The topic we are going to use is Basketball and we are
going to search it using the General Reference Center
GOLD database.
 Click on the blue title:
General Reference Center GOLD

9.  Now you should be that the General Reference Center
GOLD database site and it should look like this.

10.  We are going to be searching Basketball as a subject.
 Click on subject.
 Then type it
into the open
space

11.  Basketball is a very broad topic so it is going to bring up
every magazine, article, book, academic journal, news
story, video, and audio that has basketball in it..
 You have a option to scroll
through all of these and find
something that is what you are
looking for or you can click on just
magazines, books, etc. (the
number next to each one tells you
how many it has).
 You also have the option to
narrow your search by clicking on
one of the related subjects.

12.  We are going to click on the content type: images, on the
left hand side of the screen.
 From there it will bring us
to a page that looks very
similar to the last one, but
when you click on one of
the individual results it
will bring up an image.
 You can go through and
read each title and where
the picture was posted like
UPI Photo Collection.

13.  Once you chose one that looks like it would be good go
ahead and click on it.
 I clicked on the one titled “Bulls Deng Shoots As Hawks Smith Defends In Chicago”,
but you can go to anyone.
 Notice at the bottom a source citation
is available if you chose to use it in
you work.
 If this is not what you want to find on
a subject press the back button at
the top left hand side of the screen
and begin clicking on other ones.
You may have to go to a different
content type like books to find better
information.

14. Go back to the images page:
Can you find a picture with Carmelo
Anthony in it ?
What team is he on in the picture?
Who is defending him?

15.  You should have found a page that looks like this:
 He plays for the New York Knicks.
 He is being defended by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and
Paul Pierce.
GOOD JOB!

16.  This was just an example of a subject search done.
 You can do this with any topic that you choose!
 You can find books to read, cool information through
audio, and many other things.
 I would begin experimenting with a topic and discover all
the different abilities these databases have in order to
help you.
Have fun and become more familiar with
you resources available at MeL.org