Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

The Powers of Myth UN1001, Sections R52 & R50 R. Freisinger

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

 

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 under E-Resources 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.

Encyclopedia of Philosophy - B 41 .E5 REF

Encyclopedia of Psychology BF 31 .E525 2000 REF

Encyclopedia of Human Behavior - BF 31 .E5 1994 REF

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics - BJ 63 .E458 1998 REF

Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics - BL 31 .E5 REF

Myth: A Handbook - BL 304 .D577 2004 REF

Mythologies - BL 311 .D513 1991 REF

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas - CB 9 .N49 2005 REF

Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture - E 169.1 .G755 2002 REF

Encyclopedia of World Cultures - GN 307 .E53 1991 REF

CQ Researcher (1959-present) H35.E2 REF

Reports on timely issues. A comprehensive index is available at http://library.cqpress.com/researcher_index.pdf.

Encyclopedia of Sociology HM 17 .E5 2000 REF

Encyclopedia of American Social Movements - HN 57 .E594 2004 REF

Encyclopedia of Drugs & Alcohol - HV 5804 .E53 1995 REF

West's Guide to American Law - KF 154 .W47 1998 REF

Encyclopedia of Education - LB 15 .E47 2003 REF

Encyclopedia of Bioethics QH 332 .E52 2004 REF

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

 

Resources on the Web

FirstGov: www.firstgov.gov - Portal to federal and state government information. All sites linked by FirstGov 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

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.

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.

 

Periodical & Newspaper Indexes

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.

 

To select the databases that best meet your needs, look at the database descriptions and consider

Topics covered (General news? Engineering? Social sciences? etc.)

Time period covered (1980-present? Most recent year? Last ten years? etc.)

Types of publications indexed (Periodical articles? Newspapers? Books? etc.)

Levels of publications indexed (Popular? Academic/research/scholarly? Trade/professional? etc.)

 

For Database Keyword Search Tips, go to http://www.lib.mtu.edu/reference/tutorials/databasekeyword.aspx or select "Tutorials" on the Library's web page.

 

Here are some databases recommended for this course:

 

ABI/Inform - Covers a wide range of business and management topics.

 

InfoTrac/Thomson Gale

Expanded Academic ASAP Scholarly and popular research on a variety of academic subjects. Includes full text.

Health Reference Center Academic Consumer health and allied health research. Includes full text.

InfoTrac OneFile - 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. Includes full-text.

 

FirstSearch

WilsonSelectPlus Full text articles from over 1400 periodicals covering research in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Business, Education and General Sciences.

Applied Science & Technology Abstracts (ASTA) - leads users to the latest findings in every area of science, engineering and technology. Covers trade and industrial publications, journals issued by professional and technical societies and specialized subject periodicals.

Article 1^st - contains citations for items listed on the table of contents pages of over 12,600 journals in all subject areas.

Medline - a comprehensive database covering all areas of medicine.

Art Abstracts - 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.

Education Abstracts - encompasses all areas of educators, including administration, teaching methods and curriculum.

ERIC - a guide to published and unpublished sources on educational topics, with information from RIE (Resources in Education) and CIJE (Current Index to Journals in Education); includes some full text of articles and reports.

Humanities Abstracts - covers English language periodicals in all areas of the humanities, including ethics.

PsycFirst - 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.

Social Science Abstracts - covers periodicals in economics, ethics, geography, law and criminology, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, and international relations.

Wilson Business Abstracts - provides complete and accurate indexing and abstracting of 345 leading business magazines.

WorldCat - a worldwide library catalog.

 

LexisNexis Academic Wide range of business, legal, medical, and current affairs information. Extensive U.S. newspaper coverage. Updated daily.

 

JSTOR - Back issues of over 100 scholarly journals dated from with 2-5 years.