Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Life in Your Hometown UN1001, Sections R01 & R04 D. Janke Blau

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.

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

 

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. Allows the researcher to limit searches to scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed.

 

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.

*Applied Science & Technology Abstracts (ASTA): Covers professional, trade, and industrial and specialized subject periodicals in every area of science, engineering and technology.

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. Also includes current book reviews.

*General Science Abstracts: Indexes and abstracts English language periodical articles in areas such as astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, earth science, environmental issues, mathematics, medicine, physics, and zoology.

*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: Indexes peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources in the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.

Computer Database: Computer-related product introductions, news and reviews in areas such as hardware, software, electronics, engineering, communications and the application of technology.

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.

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.

 

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts

BioEngineering Abstracts: Provides access to international research on all aspects of biochemical and microbial technology as applied to bioengineering reported in journals, conference proceedings, directories, and other sources.

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.\

Mechanical & Transportation Engineering Abstracts: Indexes the serials literature in mechanical and transportation engineering and their complementary fields.

 

Compendex - Comprehensive access to the latest engineering research covering engineering and applied science, containing over seven million references and abstracts taken from over 5,000 engineering journals, conferences and technical reports.

 

IEEE Xplore - provides access to full-text articles from all journals published by IEEE and IEE (the Institution of Electrical Engineers). Full-text for all IEEE and IEE conference proceedings and standards is included as is select legacy content dating back to 1950.

 

INSPEC - Comprehensive database of bibliographic information and abstracts for published works in physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computing and control, and information technology. Covers scientific and technical journals, conference proceedings, books, reports, and dissertations.