Research FAQs

Try setting your password. When librarians created your account, we knew your username – that’s your my.HTU username – but we don’t know your password. Hit the “Set/reset password” button and follow the prompts. This will not change your my.HTU password. Still having trouble? Chat with a Librarian for in-person help.

A peer-reviewed article has been looked at by other experts in the field, who know how this sort of research works and have agreed that this article is worth being published. This ensures that the paper’s author does their research right and doesn’t make obvious mistakes. It makes sure a higher quality of work gets published – and that you get good information for your research.

To find a peer-reviewed article, check out any of our Research Databases and turn on the Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Journals filter. You can also explore our Databases Sorted by Subject to find the right database for your research.

All databases have filters. Narrow down your results to full text only, to scholarly/peer reviewed journals, by date range, by type of publication, or by adding or changing your keywords. This will help you close in on the perfect research source for your project.

Sometimes the databases know about articles we don’t actually own. Look for a “Full Text” or “Full Text Available” filter to remove these results. Is that the perfect article, just out of reach? Request it through Interlibrary Loan! A librarian will contact other libraries and ask for a scanned PDF of the article. Please be aware that Interlibrary Loan can take up to a week to get an article emailed and up to three weeks for a book request to be delivered.

A primary source is original work by someone who was there – think of it as eyewitness testimony. Primary sources can include diaries, interviews, speeches, scientific observations, memoirs, autobiographies, photographs, artwork, songs, census records, and personal statements. Not sure if it’s a primary source? Ask yourself, was this person there? Primary sources can be difficult to find, so start your search early! Librarians can help.

Yes, absolutely! eBooks have identical content to the print book version. When you read an eBook from the library’s collection, you will see a PDF version of the same book you’d find on the shelf. eBooks are a great resource!

We shelve books using the Library of Congress system. When you search for a book in the online catalog, you’ll see a location (“Main Stacks”, “New and Leisure Reading”, etc.) and a call number. This is the book’s “mailing address” on the shelf. Learn more here or take the call number to the main desk so a librarian can help you find it.

Maybe. Check the Course Reserves guide and look for your subject area.

That’s a big question. The internet is full of misinformation. Evaluate your online sources carefully! Why do you trust this source? Do you know who the author is? What do you know about the author? Who is paying for this site to be available, and what do you know about them? What does this page want you to feel, or do? Does it want you to be angry or afraid? Does it want you to buy something, or give money? Does it want you to click, and keep clicking? When in doubt, distrust.