English 101 - Puterbaugh

Access articles and electronic books from the Library's subscription databases from off-campus! When you click on a database, you will be prompted for your user name (your student ID) and PIN (the two-digit month and day of your birth in MMDD format). 

Example for student with ID number 88-123-4567 born February 25th:

User name: 881234567
PIN: 0225

If you need help resetting your pin, please visit this page.

ProQuest is one of our most popular databases. It covers a wide range of disciplines with content from academic journals, magazines, newspapers and more. This would be a great place to search for current events information.

Use JSTOR to find scholarly journal articles on a variety of topics, including sociology, literature, political science, history and more.

Gale Virtual Reference Library consists of many specialized encyclopedias. It is ideal for finding a basic overview of topics. Information from encyclopedias is not updated as frequently as information from newspapers or magazines you'd find in ProQuest so it might not be best for the most current news but it's the perfect staring point for a general understanding of your topic. 

Below are some tips and reminders when you are searching in our databases:

• Use quotations around your search terms to search for your exact phrase(s).
• Use AND, OR, or NOT to connect your search terms. (see helpful image here)
• Narrow by date range and content type (scholarly articles, newspaper articles, magazine articles, reports, etc.)
• Use truncation to find variations of words. For example, “alcohol*” will search for and locate “alcohol”, “alcoholics”, and “alcoholism”.

Do you need more help? E-mail me to set up a research appointment! Or visit any Librarian at the Reference Desk during our operating hours.

Fall 2021 Library Hours

Monday: 9am-3pm

Tuesday: 9am-3pm, 5-8pm

Wednesday: 9am-3pm

Thursday: 9am-3pm

While West Los Angeles College Library is closed, learning online doesn't mean you have to study alone. Just invite fellow students and set a regular study time!

Create and use a free Zoom video conferencing account to meet with other students in a virtual study room (if you already have a LACCD Zoom account, you can skip this step).

How to Create Your Free Zoom Account:

1. Create a free Zoom account. (Free accounts provide unlimited 1-on-1 meetings and 40 minute meetings for groups.)

2. If you need help with setting up a Zoom account, visit: Getting Started with Zoom or Zoom Tutorials

Sign up for a Virtual Study Room!

While we can't replicate the nice, quiet study space you've used in the HLRC, here's an option for you to try: virtual study rooms. 

To reserve a study room, visit our Appointments page:

https://wlac.libcal.com/appointments/virtualstudyrooms

Select the date and time you want to reserve, then click Continue.