Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Contemporary Southern Africa: Where Many Worlds Meet

UN1001, Section R25 and R54, Chipo Hungwe

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

 

Guide to the Library - http://www.lib.mtu.edu/about/MTU_Library_Guide.pdf

Answers your questions about the basics of using the MTU Library.

 

For Assistance

For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, visit or phone the Reference/Information Desk (487-2507), e-mail reflib@mtu.edu, or use the Ask a Librarian button on the Librarys web page.

 

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) access to items from other libraries.

Requests are made through ILLiad, the personalized online ILL account system.  After your initial registration is complete, use ILLiad to request books and articles.   ILLiad also allows you to track the status of your requests and cancel requests. 

ILL requests may also be made directly through most research databases such as WorldCat, CSA Metadex, and Compendex.  Follow the HuskyFetch menu options and select "Get Item from another Library via ILLiad."  Please be sure to check the JRVP Library holdings before submitting a request directly from a database.

Locating Books & Periodicals

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

Periodicals 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): Bound periodicals.

MICROFORMS AREA (2nd Floor): Microfilm & Microfiche cabinets located on west side of 2nd floor.

E-Journals: The Library subscribes to an increasing number of journals which provide electronic versions of their publications online. Access them through 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.

 

Suggested reference materials

Encyclopedia of Southern Africa. DT752 .R8 REF

Encyclopedia of world cultures. GN307 .E53 1991 REF

Routledge international encyclopedia of women : global women's issues and knowledge. HQ1115 .R69 2000 REF

The African political dictionary. DT30.5 .P47 1984 REF

The Europa world year book, D2 .E82 REF: Statistical and informational publication on countries of the World.

Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African writers : second series. PR9205.A52 T89 1993 REF

Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African writers. PR9205.A52 T88 1992 REF

 

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.

 

Journal, magazine, and newspaper article databases

 

Database Keyword Search Tips - http://www.lib.mtu.edu/reference/tutorials/databasekeyword.aspx

 

To find citations to recent articles from journals, conference proceedings, and other publications, go to the Librarys web page and select E-Resources & E-Alerts. The resulting screen offers four search options for finding databases or electronic journals: (1) Keyword search of database titles and/or descriptions, (2) E-Resources A-Z to browse an alphabetical list by title (3) Search by Subject Headings, (4) Search by Provider.

 

Here are some recommended databases:

 

AIDSearch

Scope: provides three database files providing information about Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and related topics. AIDSDRUGS is a dictionary of chemical and biological agents currently being evaluated. AIDSLINE includes citations from journal articles, government reports, letters, technical reports, conferences and other sources in a single file. AIDSTRIALS provides information about clinical trials of substances being tested for use against AIDS, HIV infection and AIDS-related opportunistic diseases.

 

CQ Researcher

Scope: 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.

 

Expanded Academic ASAP

Access to arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images.

 

Google Scholar

 

JSTOR

Contains scanned images of over 200 scholarly journals in a variety of academic disciplines covering African, African-American, Anthropology, Archaeology, Asian Studies, Classics, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, History, Latin American, Literature, Mathematics, Middle Eastern, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Slavic studies, Sociology, and Statistics.

 

LexisNexis Academic

Provides full-text documents from over 5,600 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications with a variety of flexible search options. 

 

Social Sciences Abstracts

Covers periodicals in anthropology, economics, geography, law and criminology, political science, social work, sociology, and international relations.

 

Windows Live Academic

 

Suggested public websites

 

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.Available at

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

 

http://hrw.org/

This is the webpage for Human Rights Watch.  It has a specific Africa section for breaking news across the continent.  You can also access HRW report on the Rwandan genocide at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/

 

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/

Columbia Universitys site, good gateway to African newspapers and other resources.

 

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_Page/Country.html

University of Pennsylvanias sitethis is the country specific page for Africa.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm

The British Broadcasting Corporationthe BBC, a good source for daily information on Africa.

 

United Nations: www.un.org. this is the official UN site, it gives you access to publications, news releases, and FAO publications.

 

CIA World Fact Book: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html General Facts put out by the CIA on individual countries. Includes a general map.

 

State Department Background Notes: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/. These are updated on a regular basis.

 

Africa: south of the Sahara: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/guide.html. This site is a listing of web resources on Africa compiled by Stanford University.

 

Public web sites suggested by instructor

For information on countries in Africa, you can sign up for E-mail updates from the United Nations official information service, IRIN. To do this, go to www.irinnews.org, click on subscriptions, and then choose IRIN Africa English Service. The subscription form will allow you to choose individual country updates or regional updates. Also recommended is the BBCs Africa coverage at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm. The website also offers radio for the BBCs two radio programs for Africa, Focus on Africa and Network Africa, which are listened to all over the world.

 

http://africanhistory.about.com

http://www.africahistory.net/

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Hornet/sd_machar.html

http://www.photius.com/wfb2000/countries

http://www.nationbynation.com

http://www.infoplease.com

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/standards/grades/?g=10

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/

http://hist.ucalgary.ca/courses/W2001/205L02LN5.html

http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/departments/isa/ninvest/imperial/scrambleafrica.html

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/Courses/EDTEC670/boardgame/BoardGameDesign1.html

 

AIDS and Africa www.aidsandafrica.com Provides wide-ranging information on HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA) www.cdc.gov Focuses on health and treatment-related issues and surveillance.

SAFAIDS www.safaids.org.zw Information Service on HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa.

UNAIDS www.unaids.org UN coordinating agency on HIV/AIDS

WHO www.who.org Health agency of the UN

UNIFEM www.unifem.org Works to promote gender equity and women's rights including HIV/AIDS.

World Bank www.worldbank.org Focus on tackling world poverty through economic development

 

 

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

Identifying Scientific Journals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_journal

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.