Perspectives on Inquiry MTU Library Resources

What is Scientific Knowledge? UN1001, Sec. 17 C. Plummer

 

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.htmlor http://geography.miningco.com/library/congress/bllc.htm .

 

HISTORY OF SCIENCE

Readers Guide to the History of Science - Q 125 .R335 2000 REF

Breakthroughs: A Chronology of Great Achievements in Science and Mathematics 1200-1930 - Q 125 .P327 1985 REF

Dictionary of the History of Science - Q 125 .D45 REF

 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Britannica - AE 5 .E363 2002 REF

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology - Q121 .M3 2002 REF

Other encyclopedias are available for specific areas of science & technology. Here are some examples:

History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia - QB 15 .H624 1997 REF

Macmillan Encyclopedia of Physics - QC 5 .M15 1996 REF

Encyclopedia of Bioethics QH 332 .E52 1995 REF

 

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Dictionary of the Middle Ages - D 114 .D5 REF

The New Larned History - D 9 .L3 1922 REF [Contains a chapter on inventions]

American Eras - E 169.1 .A471979 1997 REF

International Directory of Company Histories - HD 2721 .I57 REF

 

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Dictionary of American Biography - CT 101 .D5 REF

Encyclopedia of World Biography - CT 102 .M27 REF

American National Biography - CT 213 .A68 1999 REF

Dictionary of Scientific Biography - Q 141 .Z9 D5 REF

Many other scientific biography sources are available in the in Q 141 area.

Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology - T 39 .B49 1996 REF

 

CITATION STYLE GUIDES (See also page 2 - Resources on the Web)

Chicago Manual of Style Z 253 .U69 1993 REF DESK

(Turabian) A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations LB 2369 .T8 1996 REF DESK

 

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. FirstSearch or InfoTrac.) 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.

WorldCat A worldwide library catalog useful for finding out what books have been published on a particular subject.

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

JSTOR A searchable collection of back issues of journals in electronic format. Includes journals in History.

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. Includes sites giving examples of the Chicago style.

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.