Perspectives on Inquiry - MTU Library Resources

What Are People For?

UN1001, section 01 Bucky Beach

Librarian: Curt Allred - callred@mtu.edu Phone: 487-3041

 

Resources in the Reference Collection Second Floor

The reference collection is a good place to begin exploring an unfamiliar subject. The resources 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.

 

Facts on File D 410 .F3 REF

Facts on File Yearbook D 410 .F3 REF

The CQ Researcher H35 .E2 REF

The World in Figures HA155 .W66 1981 REF

Statistical Abstract of the United States HA202 .A1 REF DESK (located next to the Reference Desk on the Second Floor)

 

Resources on the Librarys Web Page - http://www.lib.mtu.edu/

MTU Online Catalog contains records of materials owned by the MTU Library. To use the Librarys Catalog, go to the home page and click the Catalog button.

Two search interfaces, Basic and Keyword, allow the user to search for items by author, title, subject, call number, ISBN/ISSN, or keyword(s).

Most books are located in the Main Collection on Third Floor.

Some possible Library of Congress Subject Headings to use in a Basic Subject search:

Environment

Ethnicity

Poverty

Statistics

 

Government Documents Collections - Multiple Locations

Government Documents are a valuable resource. This is a good resource for statistics regarding inner cities, demographics, poverty and population. Most government documents in the MTU Library are listed in the Catalog. There is a Core Collection of documents located on the second floor of the Library next to the Reference Desk. See the Government Documents section of the MTU Library page http://www.lib.mtu.edu/govdocs for additional information on government documents.

 

E-Resources

Access to electronic indexes/abstracts, online books, e-journals and selected websites.

To find citations to recent articles from journals, conference proceedings, and other publications, go to the Librarys web page at http://www.lib.mtu.edu/ and select Electronic Resources.

E-Resources are searchable by name or keyword using the box at the top of the screen, or by subject area or collection using the pull-down menus lower down on the screen. Here are some of the databases that may be useful for this course.

InfoTrac

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

 

FirstSearch

FirstSearch is a family of many databases. Suggested FirstSearch indexes include:

WorldCat International catalog of books, periodicals, papers, websites.

ArticleFirst Indexes over 12,000 journals. The drawback is that almost no articles are full-text.

Alternative Press Index Interdisciplinary and international in scope.

Contemporary Women's Issues Covers sources published by more than 100 organizations around the world. focuses on timely and relevant topics and meaningful issues for women, including health, human rights, poverty, the work place, legal status and more.

EconLit Includes citations, with abstracts, from more than 600 economics journals as well as books, dissertations, and working papers. Corresponding print sources are: Journal of Economic Literature, Index of Economic Articles, and Cambridge University Press Abstracts of Working Papers in Economics.

SIRS Researcher General database of articles about social, scientific, historic, economic, political, and global issues. Articles are selected from domestic and international newspapers, periodicals, and government publications. Produced by Social Issues Resources Series, Inc.

Social Sciences Abstracts Covers anthropology, economics, geography, law and criminology, political science, social work, sociology, and international relations from journals dating from 1983 to the present.

Wilson Select Plus Fewer journals than ArticleFirst, but almost all articles are full text. Also, each entry has subject headings which improves searching strategies.

 

Inter-Library Loan (ILL) - access to items from other libraries.

Request items using an ILL form available at the Circulation desk or online (From the MTU Librarys main page, 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.

 

Resources on the Web

UN Millennium Development Goals, include targets on eradicating extreme poverty, combating HIV and AIDS and malaria, and ensuring that every child receives primary education: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals

Information on evaluating information sources (from Cornell University Libraries): http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html

JRVP Library Michigan Technological University Sources for Citation Style Manuals: http://www.lib.mtu.edu/reference/tutorials/citationstyle.pdf

 

For Assistance

For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, contact the Reference Desk (487-2507), e-mail reflib@mtu.edu, or use the Ask a Librarian button on the Library's web page.