Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College

Library Services

Find real sources fast, check them, cite them, and get a human to help when you are stuck. Everything on this page is free to Eastern students, and almost all of it works from your phone or laptop at home.

Find Sources Now Get the Free State Library Card Ask a Librarian

Update, October 2026: Eastern's EBSCO databases (Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete, Applied Science & Technology Source, and the eBook Community College Collection) are no longer available through the college. This page now points you to free routes that do the same job, including Academic Search Complete at no cost through the West Virginia State Library card. Questions? Email Curtis.Hakala@easternwv.edu.

Find Sources

Pick your task and get the two or three best free tools for it, with a one-line tip for each.

Use the source finder »

Eastern's Databases

Issues & Controversies, Bloom's Literature, American History Online, and nursing videos through Southern WV CTC.

Open the databases »

State Library Card

Free for every West Virginia resident. Unlocks Academic Search Complete and about 75 other databases.

Request a card »

Ask a Librarian

A professional reference librarian and Eastern's library contact will help you one on one, by phone or email.

Get help »

Source Finder: What Do You Need?

Start with the kind of source your assignment asks for. Every tool here is free. If a tool asks you to sign in, a free account is all it wants; nothing on this page costs money.

I need peer-reviewed journal articles

  • Google ScholarSearch like Google, but only scholarly work. Watch the "Cited by" number and look for the [PDF] link on the right.
  • Directory of Open Access JournalsPeer-reviewed journals that are free by design. Every article opens in full.
  • COREThe largest collection of open-access research papers; good when Google Scholar only shows an abstract.
  • Academic Search CompleteFree with the West Virginia State Library card (3 to 4 weeks to arrive, so request it in Week 1).
Start here for most papers

I need both sides of a debated issue

Argument papers and speeches

I'm writing about a story, poem, novel, or author

  • Bloom's LiteratureEastern's database through Southern: critical essays, author biographies, and character studies. Use its Cite or Share link for a permalink.
  • JSTOR (free account)Literary criticism is JSTOR's strength. A free personal account lets you read 10 articles every 30 days; copy the Stable URL, not the address bar.
  • Project GutenbergThe full text of most pre-1929 literature, free, no account. Search inside the text for the quotation you need.
ENL 204 and literature papers

I need nursing, health, or medical sources

Nursing and allied health

I need business, company, or career sources

Business and workforce programs

I need history or primary sources

History and genealogy

I need statistics or data

Evidence for any argument

I need a book, e-book, or audiobook

Reading and textbooks

I need to cite it or check that it's real

  • Purdue OWL: MLA and Purdue OWL: APAThe free reference for every citation question.
  • ZoteroBibPaste a URL, DOI, or title and get a citation in MLA or APA. Proofread it; generators miss things.
  • doi.org and CrossrefPaste any DOI. If it does not open the exact article, the citation is not real.
Every paper, every time

I need tutoring or study help

  • TutorWVFree live tutoring for every West Virginian, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, in 200+ subjects. Ask your public library or email wvlcref@wv.gov for the passcode.
  • BrainfuseFree 24/7 tutoring and a writing-review service where a real person reads your draft. Open it from the Brainfuse link inside your Brightspace course.
  • Khan AcademyFree lessons and practice in math, science, and writing.
Before the deadline, not after

AI Research Tools, Used the Right Way

AI search tools are good at one job: finding and summarizing real papers so you can decide what to read. They are not a source, and they sometimes invent citations that look perfect. Use them to find, then open the real article yourself, and follow your course's rules about disclosing AI use.

  • Consensus

    Searches peer-reviewed papers and shows what the research says on a yes-or-no question, with the studies behind each answer. The free plan covers basic searching and a monthly allowance of AI summaries; check their site for current limits.

    Free plan

  • Elicit

    Finds papers, pulls out what each one found, and lines them up in a table. The free Basic plan includes unlimited paper search and summaries; sign-up required.

    Free plan

  • Semantic Scholar

    Free AI-assisted search of more than 200 million papers, with one-sentence summaries and citation graphs. No account needed.

    Free, no account

Do

  • Use AI tools to find candidate sources and to understand hard articles.
  • Open every source the tool names and read the real abstract and conclusion.
  • Cite the article, never the AI tool, and keep the conversation link if your course asks for it.
  • Check the date, the journal, and the author before you trust a finding.

Don't

  • Paste an AI citation into a paper without opening it. One invented source can fail an assignment.
  • Let a tool write your paragraphs; AI-generated writing is not allowed in Eastern courses that require your own words.
  • Paste your professor's unpublished assignment sheets or other students' names into any AI tool.

Check a citation in sixty seconds: paste the DOI at doi.org; no DOI, search the exact title in quotation marks on Google Scholar; still nothing, search the journal's own website. If the article is not at any of the three, treat it as invented and leave it out.

Eastern's Databases Through Southern WV CTC

Eastern provides these databases through its partnership with Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. They are free to Eastern students and work from anywhere with the login below.

Access all four directly: Infobase Learning direct link · Username: southernwvctc · Password: library

  • Issues & Controversies

    Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture, presenting both sides of each issue clearly and without bias.

  • American History Online

    Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience.

  • Bloom's Literature

    Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.

  • Films on Demand (Nursing Collection)

    Thousands of full-length nursing streaming videos and clips, many exclusive, from acclaimed producers.

A link that still works tomorrow: inside any database, use the entry's own Cite, Share, or Permalink button. The address in your browser bar expires when your session ends, and a dead link is a source your professor cannot check.

Free State Library Card: Academic Search Complete and 75 More

The West Virginia State Library (formerly the West Virginia Library Commission) gives every West Virginia resident a free library card that unlocks its research databases from home, including Academic Search Complete, the general scholarly database most college assignments expect. It takes three to four weeks to arrive, so request it the first week of the semester.

  1. Request the card online

    Fill out the State Library Card Request form. You need a West Virginia mailing address. Your card number arrives by email in about three to four weeks, and a physical card follows in the mail.

  2. Open the database list

    Go to the State Library A-Z Databases page and choose Academic Search Complete, MasterFILE Premier, Oxford Reference, NewsBank, PressReader, or any of the others.

  3. Sign in with your card number

    When the sign-in screen appears, the institution shown should be the West Virginia State Library (Library Section, Reference Library). Type your card number in the Barcode box.

  4. Need it sooner?

    While you wait, Google Scholar, DOAJ, CORE, and a free JSTOR account cover most assignments. Questions about the card go to wvlcref@wv.gov or (304) 558-2045.

Statewide Databases: WVInfoDepot

WVInfoDepot.org is a free collection of databases for every West Virginian, provided by the state's Library Section. No library card is required. If a database asks you to log in from home, your local public library will give you the current username and password; it changes once a year, so the page does not post it.

The ones Eastern students use most

  • Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition

    Nursing and allied-health journals plus a drug guide. The closest free match to CINAHL.

  • Business Source Elite

    Business magazines, journals, and company profiles for business and management courses.

  • Points of View Reference Center

    Pro and con essays on current social issues, with supporting articles.

  • Newspaper Source and Explora Magazines & Newspapers

    Full-text newspapers and magazines, including West Virginia regional papers.

  • Legal Information Source

    Plain-language legal reference for criminal justice, business, and personal questions.

  • LearningExpress Library and Job & Career Accelerator

    Free practice tests for nursing-school entrance exams and many trade certifications, plus resume and interview tools.

  • TutorWV

    Live tutoring from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily in more than 200 subjects.

  • GreenFILE and TOPICsearch

    Environmental topics, and a quick way to find articles on current events for speeches and papers.

Your public library in Eastern's service area

Call or stop by to ask for the WVInfoDepot login, a library card for WV Reads, and the TutorWV passcode.

Interlibrary Loan: Borrow Books Through Southern

Need a physical book or other print material? Eastern students can borrow from Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College's collection in four steps.

  1. Find your material

    Search Southern's Online Library Catalog for the item you want to borrow.

  2. Send the request

    Email Curtis Hakala the material's call number, author, and title, or call (304) 434-8000 ext. 9238.

  3. Pick it up at Eastern

    Within about a week, your requested material is mailed to Eastern. Contact Curtis Hakala to arrange pickup.

  4. Return it early

    Return materials seven days before the due date. Eastern handles return shipment, and returning early avoids overdue fines. You are responsible for late fees, special mailing fees, and replacement costs; a hold is placed on your student record for past-due materials.

Prefer your public library? Any West Virginia public library can request a book for you from another library through the state's interlibrary loan system; ask at the desk.

For Eastern Students & Faculty

OER & AI Research Hub

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials, from full textbooks to videos, modules, and courses, that are openly licensed so anyone can use them for free. Eastern builds its courses on OER so that students pay nothing for textbooks. Combined with responsible use of AI tools, OER opens up research far beyond a paywall.

Retain

Make and own copies of the material, forever.

Reuse

Use it in your class, on a website, in a video.

Revise

Adapt, adjust, or translate the content.

Remix

Combine it with other open material to make something new.

Redistribute

Share copies, original or revised, with others.

Where to Find OER

These are the major, trusted OER repositories. All are free and require no login to browse.

OpenStax

Peer-reviewed, openly licensed college textbooks from Rice University, including titles already used in Eastern courses. Print copies available at low cost.

Textbooks

OER Commons

A public digital library of tens of thousands of OER items, searchable by subject, education level, and license, including curated AI literacy collections.

Everything

Open Textbook Library

More than 1,800 open textbooks with faculty reviews, supported by the Open Education Network at the University of Minnesota.

Textbooks + Reviews

MERLOT

A curated collection of free and open teaching and learning materials from the California State University system, peer-reviewed by discipline experts.

Course Materials

LibreTexts

One of the world's largest open textbook platforms, with deep collections in the sciences, math, humanities, and workforce fields.

STEM Strength

Directory of Open Access Journals

Peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journals across every discipline; a strong free complement to subscription databases.

Journals

Using AI to Find OER, Responsibly

AI tools are good at locating OER: they can search enormous amounts of information quickly using discipline-specific terms, sparing you the work of learning each repository's search quirks. But responsible use matters. Whether you are a student hunting for a free study resource or a faculty member redesigning a course, follow these guidelines.

Do include in your AI prompts

  • Field- and subject-specific terminology
  • Paraphrased or summarized course descriptions, learning objectives, and assignment details
  • Published author names or keywords from recommended reading lists
  • The license types you need (e.g., CC BY) and format preferences

Never include in your AI prompts

  • Names of Eastern students, faculty, or staff, or anyone's contact information
  • Course numbers or links that lead to course content
  • Copy-pasted syllabi, assignment sheets, or other unpublished course documents
  • Information about internal college tools or platforms

Student starter prompt

I am looking for open educational resources (OER) for a community college course in [subject area]. The course covers [paraphrased topics/learning objectives]. Please suggest openly licensed textbooks, modules, or videos from repositories such as OpenStax, OER Commons, the Open Textbook Library, MERLOT, and LibreTexts. For each suggestion, include the title, author or publisher, license type, and a direct link, and briefly explain how it fits the course topics. Only include resources you can verify actually exist.

Faculty prompt template (course design)

I am a [your role] at a community and technical college, designing or updating a course in [subject area] for [academic level] students. The course covers topics such as: [brief paraphrased description]. It supports the following learning outcomes: - LO1: [learning outcome #1] - LO2: [learning outcome #2] - LO3: [learning outcome #3] I need a list of live, direct links to open educational resources (OER) that meet the following criteria: - Focused on [subject/topic] - Preferably published within the last [X] years - Format: [e.g., textbooks, multimedia, assignment modules] - Suitable for [academic level] - Relevant keywords: [discipline-specific terms] - Accessibility: [e.g., screen-reader compatible, mobile-friendly] - License: [e.g., CC BY, CC BY-SA] Group the resources by learning outcome or keyword. Do not include course design tips or general advice.

Remember: you are responsible for what you submit and what you teach. Evaluate every AI suggestion for accuracy, rigor, and bias; verify that links are real; and cite OER materials just like anything else. An open license does not remove the need for citation.

This guidance, including the faculty prompt template structure, is adapted with appreciation from Fairmont State University Library's guide AI for OER Discovery, an excellent deeper resource on prompt building and responsible AI use.

Ask a Librarian

Stuck on a topic, a search, or a citation? Email your research question and what you have tried, and a real person will point you to sources that fit your assignment, usually within a day or two. There is no such thing as a question too small.

Curtis Hakala

Library Services Contact & Interlibrary Loan, Eastern WV CTC

Kimberly Maynard

Director of Library Services, Southern WV CTC

West Virginia State Library Reference Desk

State library cards, WVInfoDepot logins, TutorWV passcodes

About this page. Last reviewed October 6, 2026. Links are checked each semester. Found a broken link or a resource that should be here? Email Curtis.Hakala@easternwv.edu.

Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. © 2026 Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College. All rights reserved.