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Origins

Welcome to the research guide for your course in Origins

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This course requires an extensive research project resulting in an academically rigorous treatment on a topic of your choosing. Your professor will work closely with you to define the topic. 

In the PHC Library catalog, you can search a variety of resources by title, author, keyword, or phrase, linking you to journal articles, ebooks, and print books in the on-campus collection. The more specific your search terms, the more specific the results will be.  For our Distance Learning (DL) students, excerpts from print items held in the on campus library can be provided on request.

If you are accessing electronic resources from off-campus and are required to log in, use your student portal user name and password to gain access. If you have difficulty with the website or accessing any resources, please let library staff know by email at askalibrarian@phc.edu or  library@phc.edu. 

Professional library assistance is available on campus, by phone at 540-441-8400, or by email at askalibrarian@phc.edu.

Assigned books and articles needed for your research and listed in your syllabus are available on reserve online or at the library's circulation desk.

Databases

  • JSTOR contains complete back issues of 241 scholarly journals in a wide range of disciplines. Issues from the most recent five years for each title are not included in the collection.
  • ProQuest and Academic Search Premier contain thousands of academic articles covering a wide range of disciplines. For most of your research requirements, you will want to use the "advanced search" option and limit your searches to scholarly and/or peer reviewed publications.

On-Campus Collection

Van Nostrand’s Concise Encyclopedia of Science / De Pree and Axelrod, editors (helpful in defining unfamiliar terms) - Ref Q121 .V25 2003

Earth Science / Woodhead, editor (multi-volume set with detailed information in every area of earth science) - QE 28 .E12 2001

Geology / Woodhead, editor -   QE 5 .G465 1999

You can browse additional helpful sources in the QE section of the library.

Subjects

You can search for any of the following Library of Congress subject term tags by limiting the search by "Subject":

Life--Origin.
Bible and evolution.
Bible and science.
Creationism.
Evolution (Biology)--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Internet Resources

Selected Journals

You can search journal articles by title, keyword, or author, or browse the following journals through the library's Periodical Listing.

  • American Journal of Science (Online, 2001-present)
  • Isis (Online, 1913 to 2004)
  • Journal of Biology (Online, 2002-present)
  • Journal of the Geological Society (Online, 1996-present)
  • Journal of Geology(Online, 07/2002-05/01/2006)
  • Journal of Paleontology (Online, 9/1997-present)
  • Science (Online, 1988-2005)
  • Scientific American (Online, 1846-1869, and in print, June 2001-present)

Research Tips

  • Citation help needed? Try OWL (Online Writing Lab) for Chicago/TurabianMLA, and APA styling formats. 
  • Search by subject: Once you have located one item in the catalog, you can click on the search term within the record to find other items on the same or similar subjects. Once you have located a helpful source, additional potential sources may be found in the item's bibliography.
  • Can't find what you need in the PHC collection? If you are unable to locate an item in the PHC collection, you may request resources through Interlibrary loan. ILL requests may be made directly in the library catalog.
  • Research assistance is available in the library or by email at askalibrarian@phc.edu

Created: Dr. David Lee/Thornhill, 2016.  Last update: Thornhill, 2022.

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