Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Comics, Seriously

UN1001, Section R38, Marilyn Cooper

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

 

Contemporary Authors - PN 452 .C62 REF

Contemporary Literary Criticism PN 771 .C59 REF - The dark-blue, paper-cover index, arranged by author, refers to volumes containing biographical material on authors and critical material on their works.

World Encyclopedia of Comics PN 6710 .W6 REF

Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood P96.V48 S87 2006 REF

The New Encyclopedia Britannica AE 5 .E363 2002 REF

The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons NC 1766 .U5 L46 1990 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:

 

Academic OneFile

Scope: 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.

 

AHSearch (Arts & Humanities)

Scope: 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.

 

Art Abstracts

Scope: covers leading art publications from around the world and serves as a comprehensive record of art reproductions that appear in the indexed publications. Abstracts database records include abstracts and indexing information.

 

Article1st

Scope: contains bibliographic citations for items listed on the table of contents pages of over 12,600 journals in all subject areas.

 

Expanded Academic ASAP

Scope: from arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Provides access to scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers.

 

General OneFile

Scope: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily.

Access Note: General OneFile was previously known as InfoTrac OneFile.

 

General Reference Center Gold

Scope: a general interest database that integrates a variety of sources in one easy-to-use interface. Use to find articles from newspapers, reference books, and periodicals, many with full-text and images. Find the latest current events, popular culture, business and industry coverage, the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more.

 

HarpWeek

Scope: provides electronic access to Harper's Weekly, the illustrated 19th century "Journal of Civilization," for a 56-year period: 1857-1912. HarpWeek's electronic database makes it possible for you to discover the lively news stories, illustrations, cartoons, editorials, biographies, literature and even advertisements that shaped and reflected public opinion in this era.

 

Humanities Abstracts

Scope: covers English language periodicals in all areas of the humanities.

 

JSTOR (Arts & Sciences I & II)

Scope: 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

Scope: provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. List of titles, fact book, how to search (tutorials) and more information available.

 

Readers' Guide Abstracts

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

 

Wilson Select Plus

Scope: 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

Scope: comprehensive database--with over 52 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.

 

Suggested public websites

 

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.