English 106 ~ Fall 2003

Tina Kazan

 

Note:

If you are accessing this page from off campus, the links to most library databases will not work. To use these resources, go to the Library Web Page, where you can connect to Articles and Databases, Reference Sources, and Electronic Journals and Newspapers after providing your Elmhurst College technology account login and password. If you don't know your E.C. login or password, you'll want to see Computer Services, Room 107 CSTC. More help on accessing resources from off campus is available online.

Getting Started

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

    • Helpful Reference Books
      • The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Reference R031 B862N1991 ~ Look up your topic in the index to get started. Also available electronically.
      • Censorship, Reference R363.31 C396c
      • Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, Reference R364.03 E56
      • Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Reference R 394.120973 E56
      • Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology, Reference R 302.23403 E56
      • The Encyclopedia of Religion, Reference R200.3 E56
      • The Film Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. Reference R 791.43 K19F1994
      • 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
        • 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, trends, 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
      • The Official Guide to the American Marketplace: The Real Facts About How Rich, Well-Educated, Healthy, Family-Oriented, Hard-Working, and Diverse We Are, Reference R 380.105 R961O

    • Book Series
      • Current Controversies
      • Contemporary World Issues
      • Opposing Viewpoints
      • Taking Sides
        • These books discuss the pros and cons of a topic, and look at trends.
        • To find books in these series, simply do a search for the title of the series in Illinet Online. See below for more on Illinet Online.

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Finding Books

  • 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 divorce, type the word divorce (with or without capitals).
          • The word divorce can be anywhere in the description of the item, like the name of the publisher.
        • To do a more focused search on, say, the effects of divorce on children, select Boolean, and type in divorce and children.

      • 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:
          • Business ethics
          • Authority
          • Obedience
          • Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Hamlet
          • Weight loss -- Psychological aspects
          • Food habits
          • Obesity -- Social aspects -- United States -- History
          • Practice of law -- United States
          • United States -- Politics and government
          • Law -- Social aspects -- United States
          • Jury -- United States
          • Law reform -- United States
          • Urban folklore -- United States
          • African Americans -- Folklore
          • Folklore
          • Fairy tales
          • Information technology -- Social aspects
          • Interpersonal communication
          • Technology and civilization
          • Communication
          • Information society

    • 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.

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Locating Articles in Library Resources

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Internet Resources

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Topic-Specific Resources

  • What about some sources on our particular topics?

    • Business Ethics
      • The moral dimension of marketing: essays on business ethics, 174.4 D252m
      • Whistleblowers: broken lives and organizational power, 331.2 A389w
      • Competitive and ethical?: how business can strike a balance, 174.4 W976c
      • Business Ethics ~ a list of websites and online articles from a librarian and MBA
      • BusinessEthics.ca ~ a Canadian site for business ethics resources; also check out EthicsWeb

    • Weight Debate
    • Fairy Tales: A Closer Look at Cinderella
      • The vanishing hitchhiker: American urban legends and their meanings, 398.209173 B899V
      • From my people: 400 years of African American folklore, 398.208996 F931
      • Cinderella, a folklore casebook, 398.21 C574
      • Urban Legends Reference Pages ~ our modern day folklore is the urban legend that your uncle's cousin's friends swear by (so it must be true)
      • American Folklore ~ maintained by a librarian and freelance author
      • The SurLaLune Fairy Tales Site ~ created by a scholar, this site features annoted fairy tales with discussion of their history and information on similar tales

    • You, the Jury: The American Legal System
    • Good Take, Sweet Prince: Hamlet on Film

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Writing, Citing and Evaluating Resources

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Created 27 February, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines
Revised 8 October, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian
A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College