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Research 101 for First Year Students

This guide from Reeves Library is built to support the specific research needs of first-year students!

Searching in the Library Catalog

The library catalog, Locate, is how you can find books and other items housed at Reeves Library. Below are instructions in how to successfully search through Locate. 
 

  • Access Locate through the Reeves Library website or by going directly to https://westminster.searchmobius.org/search 
  • Use the search bar on the main catalog page to search by keywords, title, or author.

    photo of locate search homescreen with drop down of search options showing. Options are keywords, title, author, isbn, and issn
     
  • Once you have searched, you will see the results page. For our example, we have searched by title: 

    photo of locate title search for After Apollo: Cultural Legacies of the race to the moon.
     
  • Since Reeves Library has this exact title, it brought us directly to the record. This is where we can see that the book is listed as available, and the location is WC Reeves New Books. This also lists the call number, so we can easily find it on the shelf. If the book is checked out, it will be listed as Unavailable. 
  • If we want to search by keywords, instead of title, our search results page will look more like this: 

    locate search by keyword. Keyword in search is "space travel" and it is listing off the book titles
     
  • From here we can click on individual titles, or easily place a hold on items that are owned by Reeves Library. 
     

Searching for Ebooks

Ebooks are a great way to access entire texts or just a chapter at the tap of a button. Reeves Library has access to thousands of great titles that can be easily accessed through our basic Discovery Search! 

Follow the example below to learn more about searching for ebooks at Reeves Library. 

  • Ebooks can be accessed by searching in Discovery on the Library homepage (library.westminster-mo.edu) 
  • Type in your keywords, or specific titles into the search bar. 
  • Once you are on the search results, limit your search to Ebook using the Souce Type filter on the left-hand side 

Ebook filter under Source Types in the Discovery Search

Accessing Ebooks

Once you have found an Ebook you are interested in reading, you will want to access the content! You can read it in the browser without having to do anything else, but you can also download specific chapters as PDFS, or even the entire text for a limited amount of time.

To quickly access the PDF or EPUB, simply click on the PDF or EPUB icon on the left side of the record. Both options will take you to where you can download more content, or read it in the browser. 

Mental Health ebook record. PDF on the left side column to access book online.

Interested in Ebooks and Audiobook? Sign up for Libby!

Libby is a free app that all Westminster Students, Faculty, and Staff can access. Download popular fiction and nonfiction in ebooks and audiobooks. Titles check out for 14 or 21 days! Signing up is simple, just follow the directions below!

  • Install the Libby app from your device's app store, or online at libbyapp.com. 
  • In Libby, follow the prompts to find your library. 
    • Select YES, you DO have a Library Card
    • Search for Westminster College, and select MOBIUS Consortium
  • Log in with your WCMO email and password (this is your library card for Libby!) 
  • Browse Libby and borrow a title. 
  • Borrowed titles appear under Shelf>Loans and download to the app automatically. You can also have ebooks put onto your Kindle or Kindle app.

Borrow Ebooks & Audiobooks with Libby