Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Hope A Global Perspective

UN1001, Section R48 C. Weber

Librarian: Mies Martin (miesmart@mtu.edu, Phone 487-2135, Library-Room 230)

 

Librarys Home Page

From the librarys home page you can access resources that the library physically has as well as resources the library has licensed

 

General:

Guide to the Library

Answers your questions about the basics of using the MTU Library.

 

Locating Books & Periodicals

Books: located on the 3^rd Floor in the Main Collection, shelved by Library of Congress call number.

Periodicals: shelved by Library of Congress call number in the following locations:

Current Journals: (1^st Floor) Recent issues kept here until bound or reissued in microfilm/fiche.

Serial Collection: (Garden Level) Bound periodicals.

Microforms Area: (2^nd Floor) Microfilm & Microfiche cabinets located on west side of 2nd floor.

Electronic Journals: accessible from the library website, under E-Resources & E-Alerts.

 

Reference Collection - 2^nd Floor

The Reference Collection is a good place to collect 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.

 

Assistance:

Ask a Librarian

For individual or group assistance and or instruction from a librarian, visit or phone the Reference/Information Desk (487-2507), e-mail reflib@mtu.edu, or use the Ask a Librarian link. PLEASE NOTE: Beginning this fall you can contact the reference desk by Instant Messaging.

 

HINT:

There are four ways you can contact the Reference Desk: in person, by phone, email, and now by IM. See the Ask A Librarian page for more information.

 

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Request items using an ILL form available at the Circulation desk, or online by selecting Interlibrary Loanon the Librarys web page. Some index databases also allow ILL requests through their sites.

 

HINT:

Please keep in mind that it can take up to one week to 10 days to receive an Interlibrary Loan.

 

Resources:

Suggested PRINT reference materials:

Encyclopedia of Psychology BF 31 .E525 2000

Encyclopedia of Human Behavior BF31 .E5 1994

 

Suggested Keywords / Subject headings

Hope

Social Change

Optimism

 

 

JRVP Online Catalog

Is an excellent way to discover what the library has on hand and what it has access. There are two search interfaces, Basic and Keyword, which allow the user to search for items by author, title, subject, call number, ISBN/ISSN, or keyword(s.) Catalog records include bibliographic and location information for items retrieved in a search. You will need the Location, Status, and Call Number information to find an item in the Library collections.

 

HINT:

The catalog is a great place to search for books, journals, government documents, etc in all formats both electronic and hard copy. If you are looking for articles on a topic then you will need to use the librarys licensed Databases, see below.

 

E-Resources & E-Alerts

Use for discovering articles from journals, conference proceedings, and other publications. This page is designed to provide as a one-stop place for locating electronic resources. From here you can select as well as search for databases or electronic journals; search for a full text version of a citation; get the latest updates on the electronic resources, and much more.

 

HINT:

To select a database that best meet your needs, look at the database record scope note and consider

Topics covered (General news? Engineering? Social sciences? etc.)

Time period covered (1980-present? Most recent year? Last ten years? etc.)

Types of publications indexed (Periodical articles? Newspapers? Books? etc.)

Levels of publications indexed (Popular? Academic/research/scholarly? Trade/professional? etc.)

 

Also for assistance in how to search some of the more common databases pleaase see our Database Keyword Search Tips for helpful suggestions on how best to search.

 

Here are some recommended databases:

* Academic OneFile: (1995 present)

Premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources. With extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.

* AHSearch (Arts and Humanities): (1984 present)

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.

* BasicBIOSIS: (2002 present)

a subset of BIOSIS Previews. A four-year rolling file, the database indexes and abstracts information on recent developments in virtually every life science discipline found in basic life science journals.

*Contemporary Women's Issues (1992 present)

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, the work place, legal status and more.

* ERIC: (1966 present)

produces the world's premier database of journal and non-journal education literature. The collection consists primarily of electronic bibliographic records describing journal and non-journal literature selected by ERIC.

* Expanded Academic ASAP: (1980 present)

From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Provides access to scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers.

* Social Science Abstracts: (1983 present)

covers periodicals in anthropology, economics, geography, law and criminology, political science, social work, sociology, and international relations.

 

Other:

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

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

Identifying Scientific Journals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_journal

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

 

Citation style guides: http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/citations.html- A site on citation styles produced by Concordia University Libraries.