NC LIVE

by Amanda Bosch Rowan Public Library

I’m taking an online course this semester and our professor has been asking us to contribute to online discussions with comments that are based on scholarly or trade articles.  I am one of the few librarians in the course and knew I could find articles using databases at Rowan Public Library but many other students enrolled in the course from a variety of states and countries had no idea where to begin their hunt for articles they could use in their comments.

I knew the first place to begin is with the public library. Rowan Public Library has an array of online resources via NCLIVE, a statewide consortium that provides database resources via the state to public libraries and colleges and universities. Many of my peers enrolled in the course simply used GOOGLE to conduct their searches and when it came to high quality resources, they were unable to find many resources  and wasted a lot of time checking out websites that had paid to be a top hit for the google term they were searching.  By using the resources that Rowan Public Library provides via NCLIVE, I was able to target my search and find articles from high quality sources that specifically met my needs.

How did I find these resources? I didn’t even have to leave my living room, which is where the majority of my research and class projects were completed! From the library homepage, I clicked Services and Support where I selected the NCLIVE link. From there I was able to choose the topic I was studying and link to an interface where I could search by keyword to find articles for my class. Since I was using the site from home, I did have to input my library card number and PIN to access the databases I had selected.

The amount of information that was immediately accessible was mind-boggling. Sorted alphabetically, I could select from databases for any topic I could imagine. And all for free – unlocked with the simplicity of a library card!