Humanities Resources in the J. Robert Van Pelt Library

David Bezotte, Librarian (Room 203; dbezotte@mtu.edu; Phone 487-3041)

Hans Kishel, Librarian, Instruction Coordinator (Room 205, hfkishel@mtu.edu, Phone 487-3118)

 

For Assistance

         For online library tours, guides, and tutorials, select Tours and Tutorials on the Librarys website at www.lib.mtu.edu.

         For lists of resources recommended for specific classes, select Course Guides.

         For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, visit the Reference & Information desk on 2^nd floor, phone 487-2507, or use e-mail or instant messaging by clicking Ask a Librarian on the Library's website.

 

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) To request material not available at the JRVP Library

To request books and articles from other libraries, complete an Interlibrary Loan Request Form, available by selecting Interlibrary Loan on the Library's website and logging into ILLiad.

 

Locating Books & Periodicals

Books are located on the Third Floor in the Main Collection, shelved by Library of Congress call number.

Periodicals in print format are shelved by Library of Congress call number in these locations:

CURRENT JOURNALS (1^st Floor): Recent issues kept here until bound or reissued in microfilm/fiche.

SERIALS COLLECTION (Garden Level): Older volumes in print format.

MICROFICHE & MICROFILM AREA (2nd Floor, west): Older volumes on microfiche or microfilm.

Electronic journals are found under E-Journals on the Librarys web page.

 

Reference Collection - 2^nd Floor

The Reference Collection is a good place to collect background information on an issue or start your research. The collection is arranged by subject, using the Library of Congress Classification System (LCCS) call numbers. An outline of the system is available at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html. The collection contains general and specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, standards, handbooks, etc.

Magazines for Libraries - Z 6941 .K2 REF DESK (Provides reviews and evaluations of over 6,850 periodicals.)

Ulrichs Periodicals Directory Z 6947 .U4 REF Desk (Refereed publications indicated with arrow (>) before title.)

 

Resources on the Web

USAsearch.gov: www.usasearch.gov - Portal to federal and state government information. All sites linked by USAsearch are evaluated for accuracy and authority.

 

Evaluating Information Sources - Consult these sites provided by other institutions:

Identifying Research Articles: http://gateway.library.uiuc.edu/lsx/tutorial/section3.html

Identifying Refereed Journals: http://gateway.library.uiuc.edu/lsx/tutorial/section3_1.html

Evaluating Web Sites: http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html

 

Citation style guides: http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/citations.html- A site on citation styles produced by Concordia University Libraries.

 

Resources on the Librarys Web Page - www.lib.mtu.edu

JRVP Online Catalog contains records of materials owned by the MTU Library.

Two search interfaces, Basic and Keyword allow the user to search for items by author, title, subject, call number, ISBN/ISSN, or keyword(s.) Catalog records include bibliographic and location information for items retrieved in your search. Use the Location, Status, Call Number information to find an item in the Library collections.

 

Databases (Periodical & Newspaper Indexes)

To find citations to articles from journals, conference proceedings, and other publications, go to the Librarys website and select Databases. The resulting screen offers four options for finding databases:

(1) "Search for Databases" to search database titles and/or descriptions,

(2) "Databases A-Z" to browse an alphabetical list by title,

(3) "Search by Subject Headings" to view databases grouped by subject, and

(4) "Search by Providers" to view databases grouped by publisher/provider.

 

Many databases include some articles in full text. If you're viewing an article citation from a database and see the Husky Fetch symbol , click on it for options for locating the article.

Here are some recommended databases:

 

ABI/Inform (1971-present)

Covers a wide range of business and management topics, including information on over 60,000+ companies. Citations to articles come from more than 1,500 U.S. and international periodicals. Some full text is available.

 

Academic OneFile (1995-present)

Premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources, with extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.

 

AH Search (Arts & Humanities) (1984-present)

This online equivalent of ISI's Arts & Humanities Citation Index provides complete indexing for more than 1,150 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals. It also includes relevant items from over 7,000 of the world's leading science and social sciences journals.

 

Alternative Press Index (1991-present)

Indexes nearly 300 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines. Interdisciplinary and international in scope. Includes selected abstracts, journal record information and hot links to publisher websites.

 

Alternative Press Index Archives (1969-1990)

Comprehensive index of alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines published from 1969 to 1990. Interdisciplinary and international in scope. Includes book, film and television reviews, interviews, obituaries and biographical information in addition to feature articles.

 

Article 1st (1990-present)

Contains bibliographic citations for items listed on the table of contents pages of over 12,600 journals in all fields.

 

Book Review Digest (1983-present)

Provides reviews of adult and children's books from American and Canadian periodicals and from selected journals in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, as well as library review media.

 

Books in Print

Information about all in-print, out-of-print, and forthcoming books published in North America.

 

Contemporary Womens Issues (1992-present)

Provides access to global information on women's issues, including health, human rights, the work place, legal status, and more.

 

CQ Researcher (1991-present)

Often the first source that librarians recommend when researchers are seeking original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news. Noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Earlier issues (1959- ) called Editorial Research Reports, are available in the Reference Collection under the call number H 35 .E2 REF.

 

Current Research @ Michigan Tech: Dissertations
Provides a searchable full-text database of dissertations submitted by Michigan Tech to UMI's Dissertation Abstracts database. Full-text PDF files are available for most dissertations from 1968. Also includes some theses.

 

Dissertation Abstracts (1861-present)

Includes citations to every doctoral dissertation completed in the U.S. at accredited institutions since 1861 and some master's theses and foreign language dissertations. Abstracts of dissertations are included since 1980.

 

Education: A Sage Full-Text Collection (1965-present)

Covers such subject areas as Adult and Continuing Education, Educational Administration, Educational Policy, Elementary and Primary Education, High School and Secondary Education, Higher Education, International Education, Leadership, Measurement and Testing, Multicultural Education and Diversity, Professional Development, Teaching and Instruction, Teaching Methods.

 

Education Abstracts (1983-present)

Indexes English language periodicals and yearbooks for items pertaining to all levels of education.

 

 

 

ERIC (1966-present)

Produced by Educational Resources Information Center, this database is a comprehensive guide to published and unpublished sources on educational topics, with information from RIE (Resources in Education) and CIJE (Current Index to Journals in Education).

 

Essay and General Literature Index (1985-present)

Cites essays and articles contained in collections of essays and other works published in the United States, Great Britain and Canada. Includes full bibliographic information for the titles in which the collected works are found. Focuses on humanities and social sciences literature.

 

Expanded Academic ASAP (1980-present)

Covers a wide variety of academic subject areas including the humanities, social sciences, science, and technology with full-text articles available from almost half the periodicals indexed. Provides access to scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers.

 

Humanities Abstracts (1984-present)

Covers English language periodicals in all areas of the humanities.

 

InfoTrac Custom Newspapers

A collection of newspapers from around the country and the world.

 

JSTOR (Arts & Sciences I & II)

Back issues of over 200 scholarly journals dated from with 2-5 years. Titles from a wide range of fields are included, such as African & African American Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture & Architectural History, Art & Art History, Asian Studies, Biological Sciences, Business, Classical Studies, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Economics, Education, Feminist & Womens Studies, Finance, Folklore, Geography, History, History of Science & Technology, Language & Literature, Latin American Studies, Law, Mathematics, Middle East Studies, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Psychology, Public Policy & Administration, Slavic Studies, Sociology, and Statistics.

 

Lexis-Nexis Academic

Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information in full text.

 

Media Review Digest (1989-present)

Covers approximately 100,000 mediagraphic items. Provides comprehensive review coverage of educational media. Includes reviews of entertainment resources.

 

Mind: The Meetings Index (Interdok) (2003-2014)

A database that allows free easy access to locate future professional events. Most listings are for conferences, congresses, meetings and symposia that eventually will result in published proceedings.

 

MLA International Bibliography (1963-present)

Indexes, serials, books, dissertation, etc., published worldwide in literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore.

 

New York Times

Provides full text of New York Times newspaper articles published within the most recent 12 months.

 

Newspaper Abstracts (1989-present)

Indexes and abstracts over 50 U.S. and regional newspapers, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and USA Today. The Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) is indexed beginning Jan 1, 1990.

 

PapersFirst (1993-present)

Indexes individual papers presented at conferences worldwide which have been acquired by the British Library since 1993. A companion to Proceedings.

 

Periodical Abstracts (1987-present)

A general reference resource which indexes and abstracts popular and academic periodicals. Also includes transcripts of more than 80 news-oriented television and radio shows.

 

Proceedings (1993-present)

Provides tables of contents of papers presented at conferences worldwide which have been acquired by the British Library since 1993. A companion to PapersFirst.

 

Professional Collection (2007-present)

A collection of educational journals picked for their relevance in the modern world for today's professional.

 

PsycFirst (2004-present)

The most recent three years of the PsycINFO database covering worldwide research in psychology and related fields. Contains citations and abstracts from all types of publications.

 

Readers Guide Abstracts (1983-present)

Indexes and abstracts popular periodicals from the U.S. and Canada for a wide variety of subjects.

 

SIRS Researcher (1988-present)

A general database of articles about social, scientific, historic, economic, political, and global issues. Articles are selected from domestic and international newspapers, periodicals, and government publications. Produced by Social Issues Resources Series, Inc.

 

Web of Science (1973-present)

Contains Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index.
The three citation databases contain the references cited by the authors of the journal articles they cover. You can use these cited references as search terms. A cited reference search enables you to use a published work that you know to find other, later works that cite it.

 

WilsonSelectPlus (1994-present)

A full text database comprised of articles represented by selected citations from Readers' Guide Abstracts, Social Sciences Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, General Science Abstracts, Education Abstracts, and Wilson Business Abstracts.

 

WorldCat (1000-present)

A worldwide library catalog with over 40 million bibliographic records including holdings information, for all types of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. This does NOT index periodicals at the article level.

 

Database Keyword Search Tips

For more databases, select Tutorials on the Librarys website.

Collection/ Database	Boolean	Proximity/ Phrase	Truncation/ Wildcards	Full Text	Retrieve Results
Thompson Gale accesses academic, general interest, news, and health science periodical indexes.	AND, OR, NOT	Wx - same order within x words of one another Nx - either order within x words of one another	* multiple-character   ! single-character   ? exactly one character	Some	E-mail, Disk, Print
FirstSearch accesses about 50 databases, including Humanities Abstracts, MLA International Bibliography, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index.	AND, OR, NOT Allows two ORs per search	Wx - same order within x words of one another Nx - either order within x words of one another	* multiple-character # single-character + singular or plural only (s or es) ? any number of characters	Some	E-mail, Disk, Print
Lexis-Nexis Academic accesses news, business, legal, medical, and reference information	AND, OR	Phrase is system default W/n - either order within x words of one another W/p - either order, same paragraph W/s - either order, same sentence PRE/n - first word precedes the second by n words	! multiple-character   * single-character	Yes	E-mail, Disk, Print
JSTOR accesses back issues of over 200 scholarly journals from within 2-5 years of the present, back to their beginnings	AND, OR	NEAR keywords occur in the same sentence (within 10 words) or in the same paragraph (within 25 words)	+ retrieves singular or plural in English only	Yes	Disk, Print,