Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

Digital Culture UN1001, Sec. 44 M. Taaffe

 

Reference Collection First Floor

The Reference Collection is a good place to collection 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 is available at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html or http://geography.miningco.com/library/congress/bllc.htm .

 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Britannica - AE 5 .E363 2002 REF

Encyclopedia of Psychology BF 31 .E525 2000 REF

Encyclopedia of Sociology HM 17 .E5 2000 REF

Wests Encyclopedia of American Law KF 154 .W47 1998 REF

Encyclopedia of Education - LB 15 .E47 2003 REF

 

CURRENT EVENTS AND ISSUES

Facts on File D 410 .F3 REF

Contains summaries of articles from U.S. and Canadian newspapers.

Editorials on File D 839 .E3 REF

Contains editorials from U.S. and Canadian newspapers.

CQ Researcher H 35 .E2 REF

Contains reports of about 20 pages in length on current issues in a wide range of subjects, including computers and the Internet.

 

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

MTU 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. Catalog records include bibliographic and location information for items retrieved in your search. Use the Location,Call Number and Status information to find an item in the Library Collections.

 

E-Resources access to electronic indexes/abstracts, online books, e-journals and selected websites.

From the E-Resource menu select listings by alphabet, topic or collection (e.g. Lexis-Nexis or FirstSearch). E-Resources are also searchable by name or keyword(s.) Use the index databases to locate journal articles, newspaper articles, or reviews on your topic. Some indexes or collections of indexes especially useful for research in this course include:

 

InfoTrac

Expanded Academic ASAP Scholarly and popular research on a variety of academic subjects. Includes full text.

General Reference Center Gold Covers general, news, and business periodicals.

 

FirstSearch

WilsonSelectPlus Full text articles from over 1400 periodicals covering a broad range of subject areas.

Readers Guide Abstracts Indexes popular and news periodicals.

FirstSearch also includes databases covering the professional and scholarly literature in specific areas such as the arts, business, economics, the internet & personal computing, humanities, social sciences, education, science, and technology.

 

LexisNexis Academic

General News - Full text coverage of national and international newspapers.

Legal Research Includes full text coverage of legal news publications, law reviews, case law, codes & regulations, and international legal materials.

 

Quick Reference for Databases

http://www.lib.mtu.edu/reference/course/databasekeyword.aspx

Interlibrary Loan access to items from other libraries.

Request items using an ILL form available at the Circulation desk or online (Under Library Services menu, 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

Citation style guides: http://juno.concordia.ca/services/citations.html#chic - A guide to citation styles produced by Concorcia University Libraries.

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

Cornell University Libraries Research Skills: http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html -One of the best sites on evaluating information found on the Internet.

Internet Public Library: Subject Collections: http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/ Good starting place for a research-oriented approach to a variety of subject areas. IPL Emphasis is on education rather than entertainment.

 

For Assistance

For individual assistance or instruction from a librarian, visit or phone the Reference/Information Desk (487-2507), e-mail instrlib@mtu.edu, or complete an Individual Instruction Request form found under Reference & Instruction on the Librarys web page.