Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Hip Hop Culture, History & Politics

UN1001, Section R17 -- Michael Moore

Dave Lepse, Librarian (JRVP Library, Room 209, dlepse@mtu.edu 487-1443)

 

 

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.

Request items using an ILL form available at the Circulation Desk, or online by selecting Interlibrary Loanon the Librarys web page. Some index databases also allow ILL requests through their sites.

 

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

Magazines for Libraries

Z6941.K2 Reference Desk

Each title is reviewed by an expert in the field with the scope, special features, intended audience, ideological standpoints/editorial tone (left/liberal, center, right/conservative) described. Even peer-reviewed journals can have an ideological stance.

 

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.

 

Alternative Press Index

Scope: 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.

 

Article1st

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

 

Arts & Humanities Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index

Web of Science access to ISI Citation Indexes (Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts and Humanities Citation Index), which contains multidisciplinary, high quality research information from the world's leading science, social science and art and humanities journals. Only 3 simultaneous users at any one time are able to use this resource.

 

Communication Studies

Scope: includes the full-text of 19 journals published by SAGE and participating societies, some journals going back 23 years, encompassing over 5,000 articles. It covers such subjects as Journalism, Public Opinion, Political Communication, Mass Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Cultural Studies / Intercultural Communication, Television / Film Studies, Media Studies, Business Communication, Organizational / Management Communication, Written Communication, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies.

 

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.

 

Google Scholar

Web search engine designed specifically to locate scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports across broad areas of research.

 

Humanities Abstracts

Covers English language periodicals in all areas of the humanities.

 

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.

 

MLA (Modern Language Association) International Bibliography

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

 

NewsBank

Scope: The electronic editions of record for valuable local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers--all in one easy-to-search database. Each paper provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community. Paid ads are excluded.

 

Newspaper Abstracts

Scope: indexes and abstracts 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.

 

Readers Guide Abstracts

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

 

Social Sciences Abstracts

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

 

Wilson Select Plus

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.

 

 

Selected free web sites

Internet Archive

OAIster (Open Archives Initiative search)

 

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 and style guides

 

Summary of citation and style guides either available on the internet or in the library.

 

Many indexing and abstracting databases also have a feature for downloading a citation. Generally, youre asked to choose one of several commonly used formats.

 

You can also format a citation using Citation Machine. This web site provides very simple software that will format a citation for you. Simply enter the basic bibliographic information (author, title, date of publication, etc.), and then select the citation format you prefer.

 

The library has a license for EndNote Web and makes it available to all Michigan Tech faculty, students, and staff. Endnote Web can be used to format citations for your research papers, but its designed to do much more than that. With EndNote Web, you can import references from hundreds of online bibliographic databases and organize your own library of references. This is all done on the web, so no software