Find answers to some of our most frequently asked questions. Questions are organized by general theme accessible using the blue navigation buttons on this page.
CCC Library offers FREE access to many required textbooks, recommended textbooks, workbooks, and other course materials through our Course Reserves collection. Check if the library has your textbook at the Circulation Services desk, or search our library catalog. Use any photo ID to check out Course Reserves.
To purchase or rent a textbook, visit the CCC Bookstore.
Books.
Try searching for the title of the book or eBook in CCC Library’s Catalog. Refine your search results to print books and eBooks using the Refine my results menu on the left hand side of the results page
A library database.
Access library databases on our A-Z Databases page. Filter databases by subject (e.g., history) or by information type (e.g., streaming videos).
Articles from a library database.
There are multiple ways to do this.
If your instructor told you the name of a specific database to use (e.g., EBSCO), access the database on our A-Z Databases page.
Search multiple databases simultaneously via the CCC Library Catalog. Refine your results to articles. More information on how to refine your results is available on our Research Help page.
Peer-reviewed articles.
Peer-reviewed articles are scholarly articles that have undergone rigorous editorial review. Learn more about peer-reviewed articles.
To find peer-reviewed articles:
On the left hand sidebar of your search results page, you’ll see "Refine my results" and below that, "Availability."
Select the box to the left of "Peer-reviewed Journals" and click "Apply filters."
Your results should now only items articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
A book to read for fun!
Yay! CCC Library has a growing fiction and literary non-fiction collection. We have all sorts of recommendations for fun books to read. Choose by genre - like romance, history, “you saw the movie…”, and more. We also have books recommended by reading level.
A book or article CCC doesn't have; the full text of an article.
You can get nearly any book or article in the world through CCC Library, even if we don’t own it. Books
If you find a print book in CCC Library's catalog that CCC doesn’t own, we can order if for you through Summit.
If CCC Library's catalog does not have your book, we will special order (for free!) your book through Interlibrary Loan. Articles
If you find an article using CCC Library that does not have Online Access or Full Text Available, but instead says "No full-text," you can order the article through Interlibrary loan by visiting the request form.
A research topic.
Finding a good research topic that you are interested in and is researchable can be difficult. We have many resources to help you choose a topic that will suit your needs.
Search terms (keywords).
The best search terms are concise words or phrases that describe your topic. We call these keywords. Learn how to identify keywords.
A Permalink or Stable URL.
Permalinks are just that – permanent, unbreakable links to library database and catalog items. Learn where to find permalinks in the library catalog or in a library database.
Something non-library related.
This is just the FAQ for CCC Library services and resources, so if you are looking for information for another CCC department, try searching the main College website.
Pro-tip: Type your search term(s) into Google followed by site:clackamas.edu This search command tells Google to only look on CCC's website to find the answer to your question.
Something else!
If you aren’t seeing what you need listed on this guide, reach out to us with your question. Our contact information is available from the Get Help link at the top of every library webpage.
24/7 Live chat with a librarian. Any time of day or night, you can enter a question into the chat box and a librarian somewhere in the world will respond to you, usually in under a minute.
Email CCC Library at reference@clackamas.edu. We will get back to you within one business day.
Call us at the reference desk at 503-594-6042 during business hours. Leave a message for a callback.
