English 106/Philosophy 106:
Information Literacy

Getting Started

• I need background information on my topic -- where should I start?

  • Helpful Reference Books
    • The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Reference R031 B862N1991 ~ A good source of background information and bibliographies. Look up your topic in the index to get started. Also available electronically.
    • Censorship, Reference R363.31 C396c
    • The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America, Reference R323.1196 E56
    • Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, Reference R364.03 E56
    • Encyclopedia of Drugs and Alcohol, Reference R362.2903 E56D
    • The Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism, Reference R306.4460973 E56
    • The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Reference R781.6403 E56 1998
    • The Encyclopedia of Religion, Reference R200.3 E56
    • Encyclopedia of Television, Reference R791.4503 E56
    • Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East, Reference R956.003 E56me
    • Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations, Reference R327.73 E56F
    • International Encyclopedia of Communications, Reference R302.2 I61
    • Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women, Reference R305.403 R869
    • St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Reference R973.9 S143
    • Statistical Handbook on Violence in America. (1996) R 303.60973021 S797
    • Supreme Court Drama: Cases that Changed America. 2001 R 347.7326 B821s
      • How else can reference books help me?
        • There are often bibliographies at the end of their articles; these bibliographies can lead you to other useful books and articles.
          
          
  • Some Useful Databases
    • CQ Researcher ~ An excellent source for current hot topics. Each individual issue contains historical background, a timeline, current status, and potential future developments. The bibliographies are especially helpful in finding useful sources.
    • Lexis-Nexis Statistical ~ Search the Statistical Abstract of the United States and other resources for statistics; also available online
      
      
  • Statistics
    • Statistical Abstract of the United States, Reference R 317.3 U58S
    • A Statistical Portrait of the United States: Social Conditions and Trends, Reference R 306.0973 S797
    • Datapedia of the United States, 1790-2005: America Year by Year, Reference R 317.3 D96d 2001
      
      
  • Book Series
    • Current Controversies
    • Contemporary World Issues
    • Opposing Viewpoints
    • Taking Sides
      • These books discuss the pros and cons of a topic.
      • To find books in these series, simply do a search for the title of the series in Illinet Online. See below for more on Illine

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• How do I find books on my topic?

  • Use Illinet Online to find books held in the Elmhurst College library as well as books owned by 55 other Illinois libraries.
    • Quick Searches
      • A good way to start looking for books.
      • You can either look for particular items (such as a particular title), or you can do keywords searching.
      • Use the main words describing your topic.
      • For example, to find books about Babylonia, type the word babylonia (with or without capitals).
      • The word babylonia can be anywhere in the description of the item, like the name of the publisher.
      • To do a more focused search on, say, Babylonian history, select Boolean, and type in babylonia and history.
        
        
• Browse Subject Searches
  • A more precise way of searching.
  • Illinet Online uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (or LC subject headings) to arrange and organize information.
  • Subject headings are very specific; you can guess what they might be, but you can't make them up.
  • Some examples of subject headings:
    • Same-sex marriage -- United States
    • Trojan War
    • Philosophy, Confucian
    • Rap (Music) -- History and criticism

• Guided Keyword Searches
  • Allow you more flexibility.
  • Click the appropriate tab, and fill in the blanks as desired.
  • You can change your searching options to look for either some or all of the words you've typed in, and to look in different areas of the item's catalog record.
  • For example, select all of these and type violence media.
    
    
• Ordering books from other libraries ~ Illinet Online allows you to request books held by 55 other libraries in Illinois. 
  
  
• How do I get a book that is not available in the library?

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 Locating Articles in Library Resources

• What article databases should I use to find articles on my topic?

  • Academic Search Elite ~ A good place to start. Includes references to scholarly as well as popular periodicals.
  • Periodical Abstracts ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and some full text for magazine and journal articles.
  • WilsonSelectPlus ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and full text for a variety of magazines and journals.
  • Electronic Newspaper subscriptions ~ Search the full texts of the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal
    • This is only a description of an article -- where's the rest of it?
      • Search for the title of the journal or magazine in Illinet Online.
      • For example, search for the title Teaching Tolerance.
      • Click the link Check Availablility to get a listing of the volumes available.
      • If you don't find the periodical you need, take a look at the list, Full Text Periodicals Available Online. You can also call or email the library to inquire about a specific title or ask a question.
        
        

• Where can I find more articles?

  • Other databases that the library subscribes to.
    • How do I get an article from another library?
      • Articles can be retrieved via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). This process takes 7 to 10 days, so leave yourself plenty of time.
        
        

• How do I know whether an article is useful to me?

  • Learn how to critically analyzing information sources.
    
    

• Is this a scholarly article or a popular article?

  • How to distinguish between the two.

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Internet Resources

• Why should I evaluate web sites? Can't I just trust everyone's website?

  • Dissing the King ~ a cautionary tale detailing how websites are not always what they seem
  • The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources
    
    

• What should I look for in a trustworthy web site?

  • Evaluating Web Sites
  • Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources ~ links to various on-line articles on web site evaluation
    
    

• Where can I go for trustworthy sites that have already been evaluated?

  • Librarians' Index to the Internet
  • The Scout Report
  • The Best Information on the Net
  • Digital Librarian
  • Internet Public Library
  • BUBL ~ a selection of "Internet resources covering all academic subject areas"
    
    

• How can I find other web sites?

• Use a search engine to find sites on your topic.
  • Hotbot
  • Google
  • Dogpile ~ a metasearch engine, which searches multiple search engines simultaneously
• Others are listed on our Internet Tools and Sites page.
  
  

• Can't I just do all of my research on the Internet (I thought everything there was free and full-text)?

  • Despite what some would have you believe, not everything is available for free on the Internet.
  • Don't rely on the web as your only source of information.
  • Choose web sites carefully.
  • Use them to support your articles and books, not to replace them.

Writing, Citing and Evaluating Resources

• I've found all this stuff -- now what?

  • How to Evaluate the Information Sources You Find
    
    

• Who's going to help me write this paper?

  • Writing Center at Elmhurst College
    
    

• How do I do the citations at the end of my paper?

  • Writing and Citing Assistance: MLA at Elmhurst College

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Created 22 September, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines
Last revised 23 September, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian
A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College