Perspectives on Inquiry- Good and Evil in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Instructor: Debra Bruch: email dlbruch@mtu.ed

Librarian: Joan Goodbody: email; goodbody@mtu.edu: phone; 487-2698

 

MTU Library Catalog:

Use the catalog to find items that the library owns: Searchable by author, title, subject or keywords. Also after using an index to find a paper/article that you want, youll need to use this catalog to determine whether we have the journal that the article appeared in. Articles from journals we do not have or books we do not have can be ordered through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Many of the databases now have a direct ILL link.

 

Reference resources:

The reference collection is a good place to begin exploring an unfamiliar subject. The encyclopedias and dictionaries found here can give you definitions of terms and background information on your subject. Along with help identifying specific issues within your broad subject area to explore in more detail. In Science Fiction and Fantasy reference sources include:

Anatomy of wonder : a critical guide to science fiction PN 3433.8.A52 1981 REF

Fantasy literature : a core collection and reference guide.PR830.F3T9 REF.

Reference guide to science fiction, fantasy, and horror. PN3433.5.B87 1992 REF

Science fiction book review index, 1923-1973. PN3433.8.H36 1975 REF

Science fiction book review index, 1974-1979. PN3433.8.H36 1981 REF

Science fiction handbook for readers and writers. PN3448.S45E45 REF

Current Biography (1940- ) CT 100 .C9 REF

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism PN771 .G27 REF

Critical Survey of Drama PR 623 .C75 1994 REF

Twentieth Century American Dramatists PS351 .T9 REF

 

Databases:

 

FirstSearch: This database provides access to over 60 indexes. They include:

Worldcat, a comprehensive database for all types of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. This does NOT index periodicals at the article level;

Wilson Select Plus, 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.

MLA, This is an index for serials, books, dissertations, etc. that have been published worldwide that looks at literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore.

AHSearch (Arts & Humanities): 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: Indexes and abstracts the leading publications in the arts.

Infotrac: A comprehensive multi-index database including:

General Reference Center Gold (issues and philosophers): A general interest database that integrates a variety of sources in one easy-to-use interface. Use General Reference Center Gold to find articles from newspapers, reference books, and periodicals, many with full-text and images.

Expanded Academic ASAP:Gives access to arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images!;

E-Journals:

Many individual journals are available. A majority are science related but if the keyword Rhetoric or Communications is used there are many listings that might be helpful.. There are also databases with numerous journals. One of the multi-journal databases is:

JSTOR: is a searchable database containing scanned images of back issues of over 100 scholarly journals in a variety of academic disciplines. Titles currently available are from the fields of: African-American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, History, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Sociology and Statistics.

E-books:

There are a variety of databases with full-text books available through the libraries main page. They include:

The Internet Public Library: The IPL Books Collection (formerly known as Online Texts) contains over 20,000 titles that can be browsed by author, by title, or by Dewey Decimal Classification.

netLibrary:This database offers a comprehensive approach to eBooks that integrates the missions and methods of libraries and librarians.

 

Interlibrary Loan access to items from other libraries.

Request items using an ILL form available at the Circulation desk or online (Under Library Services menu, select Interlibrary Loans.) Many index databases also allow ILL requests through their sites.

Note The ILL process can take time (longer than 10 days in some cases.) Plan your research time accordingly.

 

Websites:

Firstgov.gov: www.firstgov.gov. This is the official government site that searches over 87 million sites. Can search for just federal, federal and a specific state, federal and all states, all states, or a specific state. Advanced search gives the most flexibility.

American Memory: http://www.loc.gov/. This is the main page of the Library of Congress. Click on American Memory to get to the search page. American Memory is a gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.

SFF World: http://www.sffworld.com/ The site describes itself as having more than 10.000 pages of SF and Fantasy  related content sffworld.com is one of the largest
 SF and Fantasy literature websites on the Internet today.

 

MLA (MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION)

Print version at the Reference Desk:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (5th edition)

Call Number: REF DESK LB2369 .G53 1999

Online MLA resources:

MLA (Modern Language Association) Citation Style Guide

http://www.bucknell.edu/img/assets/6535/mla.pdf

Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html

MTU Writing Center information page on Citations

http://www.hu.mtu.edu/wc/resources.html

 

For Assistance

For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, visit or phone the Reference/Information Desk (487-2507), e-mail instrlib@mtu.edu, or complete an Individual Instruction Request form found under Reference & Instruction on the Librarys web page at www.lib.mtu.edu.