Perspectives on Inquiry - MTU Library Resources

Comics, Seriously

UN1001, sections 11 and 44 - Marilyn Cooper

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.

 

The New Encyclopdia Britannica AE 5 .E363 2002 REF

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

Contemporary Authors (CA) PN 452 .C62 REF

Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) PN 771 .C59 REF (To use CA and CLC, consult the dark-blue, paper-cover index)

The World Encyclopedia of Comics PN 6710 .W6 REF

 

Resources on the Librarys Web Page - 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:

Comic books, strips, etc.

Graphic arts Political aspects.

 

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 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.

Periodical Abstracts A general reference resource which indexes and abstracts popular and academic periodicals. Also includes transcripts of more than 80 news oriented television and radio shows.

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

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

 

HarpWeek

HarpWeek provides coverage for the years from 1857 to 1889 of the highly popular illustrated magazine Harpers Weekly. 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.

 

JSTOR

A database specializing in the Humanities. Includes journals in Language & Literature.

 

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

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.