Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Can We Read the Cultural Landscape? UN1001, Sections R15 & R16 W. C. Gale

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

 

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 American Cultural & Intellectual History - E 169.1 .E624 2001 REF

Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture - E 169.1 .G7555 2002 REF

Dictionary of Cultural Literacy - E 169.1 .H6 1988 (The 1993 edition is available electronically through NetLibrary in the JRVP Online Catalog

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.

 

MTU Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections

JRVP Library, Garden Level - E-mail: copper@mtu.edu Phone: 487-2505

Houses a wide variety of print, graphic and manuscript resources, including collections from the Quincy Mining Company and the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, an extensive collection of regional newspapers on microfilm, public records from six counties in the Western Upper Peninsula and the area's largest collection of local history books and magazine titles. Subject coverage includes University and campus life, towns and cities in the Keweenaw, and the companies, social organizations, events and personalities of the Copper Country and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Resources on the Web

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

Writing an Annotated Bibliography: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/annotatebib.html

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

FirstGov: www.firstgov.gov - Portal to federal and state government information. All sites linked by FirstGov are evaluated for accuracy and authority.

 

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

JRVP Online Catalog contains records of materials owned by the MTU Library.

Two search interfaces, Basic and Keyword 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 your search. Use the Location, Status, 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.

 

 

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:

 

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.

*Education Abstracts- encompasses all areas of educators, including administration, teaching methods and curriculum.

ERIC - a guide to published and unpublished sources on educational topics, with information from RIE (Resources in Education) and CIJE (Current Index to Journals in Education).

*Humanities Abstracts - Covers English language periodicals in all areas of the humanities.

*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.

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

Professional Collection A collection of educational journals relevant in the modern world for today's professional.

 

LexisNexis Academic: Provides full-text documents from news, business, legal, medical, & reference publications.

 

JSTOR - Back issues of over 200 scholarly journals dated from with 2-5 years covering a wide range of subject areas.