Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Sustaining Humans UN1001, Section R37 D. Heikinen

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

 

For Assistance - For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, visit the Reference & Information desk on 2^nd floor, phone 487-2507, or use e-mail or instant messaging by clicking Ask a Librarian on the Library's website.

 

Guide to the Library - http://www.lib.mtu.edu/about/MTU_Library_Guide.pdf

 

Reference Collection - 2^nd Floor - The Reference Collection is a good place to find 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.

CQ Researcher (1959-present) H35.E2 REF

Reports on timely issues. Provides an overview, history, impact, positions and resources for further study. A comprehensive index is available at http://library.cqpress.com/researcher_index.pdf.

Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs & Cosmetics - QD 415 .A25 L48 1996 REF

Concise Encyclopedia of Bioresource Technology - TP 248.16 .C65 2004 REF

Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering - TP 368.2 .E57 2003 REF

Encyclopedia of Foods: A Guide to Healthy Nutrition - TX 349 .E475 2002 REF

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

 

Locating Books & Periodicals

Books are located on the Third Floor in the Main Collection, shelved by Library of Congress call number.

Periodicals in 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): Older volumes in print format.

MICROFICHE & MICROFILM AREA (2nd Floor, west): Older volumes on microfiche or microfilm.

Electronic journals are found under E-Journals on the Librarys web page.

 

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

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) To request material not available at the JRVP Library

To request books and articles from other libraries, complete an Interlibrary Loan Request Form, available by selecting Interlibrary Loan on the Library's website or visiting the Circulation desk.

 

JRVP Online Catalog Contains records of materials owned by the MTU Library, including books, periodicals, videos, CDs, maps, government publications, and microformat materials. Two search interfaces, Basic and Keyword, allow the user to search for items by author, title, subject, call number, ISBN/ISSN, or keyword(s). Use the Location, Status, and Call Number information to find an item in the Library collections. To search for a periodical article, search by Journal Title for the title of the periodical (sometimes called the "Source"), rather than searching by article title or author.

 

Evaluating Information Sources - Consult these sites provided by other institutions:

Identifying Research Articles & Refereed Journals: http://gateway.library.uiuc.edu/lsx/tutorial/section3.html

Evaluating Web Sites: http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html

 

Citation style guides: http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/citations.html

 

Government Information on the Web:

FirstGov: www.firstgov.gov - Portal to federal & state government information.

 

Databases (Periodical & Newspaper Indexes)

To find citations to articles from journals, conference proceedings, and other publications, go to the Librarys website and select Databases. The resulting screen offers four options for finding databases:

(1) "Search for Databases" to search database titles and/or descriptions,

(2) "Databases A-Z" to browse an alphabetical list by title,

(3) "Search by Subject Headings" to view databases grouped by subject, and

(4) "Search by Providers" to view databases grouped by publisher/provider.

 

For Database Keyword Search Tips such as using truncation and Boolean & proximity operators, go to http://www.lib.mtu.edu/reference/tutorials/databasekeyword.aspx or select Tutorials on the Library's website.

 

Many databases include some articles in full text. If you're viewing an article citation from a database and see the Husky Fetch symbol , click on it for options for locating the article. Most of these databases may be accessed by MTU students/faculty/staff from off-campus by entering your ISO/Husky Mail user ID and password.

 

Here are some databases recommended for this course:

 

ABI/Inform Covers a wide range of business and management topics. Some full text included.

 

FirstSearch

The Wilson indexes (marked with * ) allow a Reviewed Journal Phrase field search for peer-reviewed journal.

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

AGRICOLA:Covers all aspects of agriculture, including agricultural engineering, environmental pollution, forestry, soils, and water resources. Provides citations to journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, theses, etc.

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

*Biological & Agricultural Index: Indexes English language periodicals covering the entire range of sciences related to biology and agriculture.

Medline: A comprehensive database covering all areas of medicine.

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

*Wilson Business Abstracts: Provides complete and accurate indexing and abstracting of 345 leading business magazines

 

Thompson Gale

Academic OneFile: Premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals & reference sources. Extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, literature and other subjects.

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.

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

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

InfoTrac Custom 150 Full Text Newspapers:A collection of newspapers from around the Country and the World.

InfoTrac OneFile: A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics. Includes some full-text.

 

LexisNexis

Academic: Provides full-text documents from over 5,600 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications.

Congressional: An online resource from Congressional hearings, public issues, legislation, history, & legal research.

 

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts

Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology Abstracts: Covers agricultural products involving both plants and animals, new applications across the food industry, and wide-ranging environmental developments.

Biological Sciences: Interdisciplinary database that offers abstracts and citations to a wide range of research in biomedicine, biotechnology, zoology and ecology, and some aspects of agriculture and veterinary science.

Ecology Abstracts: Indexes information ranging from habitats to food chains, from erosion to land reclamation.

Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management: Deals withenvironmental science, including toxic hazards of chemical pharmaceuticals and other substances: air, marine and freshwater pollution as well as biochemical applications in water treatment and pollution are also covered.

Pollution Abstracts: Combines information on scientific research and government policies in a single resource. Topics of growing concern are extensively covered from the standpoints of atmosphere, emissions, mathematical models, effects on people and animals, and environmental action in response to global pollution issues.

 

JSTOR -Back issues of over 200 scholarly journals dated from with 2-5 years. Titles from a wide range of fields are included, such as Biological Sciences, Business, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Economics, Geography, History, Law, Political Science, Population Studies, Public Policy & Administration, and Sociology.