English
106 ~ Spring 2003
Mary Sytsma
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
It is often useful to
gather background information on your topic. For example, if you're writing
about gun control, you might want to find information on the Second Amendment,
get more insight into gun control advocacy, or learn the history of the NRA.
Statistics on the number of gun owners in the United States can also be helpful.
The sources below can help you get started. The electronic resources can also
be found under the Reference Sources button on the library
home page. Here's how you can access
these databases from off campus.
Background
Information
- 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.
- 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.
Statistics
- Statistical
Universe ~ Search
the Statistical Abstract of the United States for statistics about
the U.S.
- 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
Helpful
Reference Books
Also look in subject encyclopedias
for information. These encyclopedia focus specifically on topics. Some examples
include:
-
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
-
Routledge International
Encyclopedia of Women, Reference R305.403 R869
-
St. James Encyclopedia
of Popular Culture, Reference R973.9 S143
Encyclopedias are especially useful
because they often have bibliographies at the end of their articles; these
bibliographies can lead you to other useful books and articles.
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to the Top
Finding
Books
Use
Illinet
Online to find books held in the Elmhurst College
library as well as books owned by 44 other Illinois academic
libraries. Illinet Online can also be accessed from the Books
button on the library
home page.
-
Try
these book series for good overviews on major topics,
including statistics and trends:
-
Opposing
Viewpoints
-
Taking
Sides
-
Current
Controversies
-
Contemporary
World Issues
Quick
Searches offer a good way to start looking for books in
Illinet Online. You can either look for particular items (such
as works by a particular author, or under a particular title),
or you can do keywords searching. Use the main words describing
your topic. For example, to find books about abortion, try
the following Quick
Search:
Type
the word abortion
The above
search yields items with the word abortion anywhere
in the description of the item; some of these may be
solely about abortion, and others may not. You can try
to focus your search on governmental views on abortion
by adding more search terms, as below:
Select
Boolean for your search type, and type in abortion
and government
You
can also do a browse subject search, which is a more
precise way of searching. Illinet Online uses Library
of Congress Subject Headings (or LC subject headings) to arrange
and organize information. Unlike keywords, you can't simply
make these up; you have to find out what the exact terms are
and enter them in Illinet as a subject search. Here are some
examples of subject headings:
- Acquaintance
rape
- Greenhouse
effect, Atmospheric
- Popular culture--United
States
- Doping in
sports
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.
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Finding
and Using Articles
Journal and Magazine Articles
(Elmhurst College users only)
Use article databases
to help you find articles (only some of the 70+ databases are listed below).
Some databases will give you the full text of the article, which you can then
go ahead and print, while others will require you to find out if we own the
journal where the article is published.
- Academic
Search Elite ~ A good place to start. Includes references to scholarly
as well as popular periodicals. Some of the magazines included
herein include Time, Newsweek, and the Economist.
- Periodical
Abstracts ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and some full text
for magazine and journal articles, including from the Economist, Redbook,
and Rolling Stone.
- WilsonSelectPlus
~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and full text for a variety of
magazines and journals, including Ebony, People, and Parenting.
Newspaper Articles (Elmhurst
College users only)
While you can often find some of
the text of newspaper articles from their online counterparts, such as the Chicago
Tribune, you often cannot get the full article, or access to older articles.
This is why it is important to remember that the library subscribes to a variety
of newspaper
sources.
- Wall
Street Journal ~ full text from 1985 to present. On campus access
only.
- New
York Times ~ full text back to 1999, with indexing available back
to 1990. For older articles, try ProQuest
Historical Newspapers: New York Times, which has full text articles
back to 1851. On campus access only.
- Chicago
Tribune ~ full text from 1985 to present.
- NewsIllinois
~ includes full text of selected AP and Tribune articles about or related
to Illinois. On campus access only.
- Academic
Universe ~ accesses a variety of news and business sources, many of
which are full text.
- Newspaper
Source ~ full text from more than 100 U.S. and international newspapers.
Includes sources such as USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer,
The (London) Times, and transcripts from NPR's Morning Edition.
Where Is It? (Or, Getting Your
Hands on an Article When It's Not in the Database)
- How do I get an article from
another library?
- If an article is not available
from our collection, it will 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?
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the Top
Internet
Resources
How can you find
good web sites and weed out the bad sites? There are several tools you can use,
some of which are below.
Evaluating Internet
Resources
Learn what to look for in a web site,
and find out what the red flags are.
Subject Directories
Subject directories
are collections of web sites organized by topic. These sites have been evaluated
by others, so that you can be assured of their quality.
When you feel comfortable
evaluating web sites on your own, you can use any of the numerous search engines
to find sites on your topic. Here are some popular engines.
-
-
-
Dogpile
~ a metasearch engine, which searches multiple search engines simultaneously
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 using the resources below, and use them to support your articles
and books, not to replace them.
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the Top
Writing
and Citing Sources
Writing/Research/Topic Development
Assistance
The below resources
can give you some assistance if you are getting frustrated or confused. If
you would like someone to look over a draft of your paper, the Writing
Center is available.
Why is it crucial
that you properly cite all the sources you use for a paper, be they articles,
books, web sites, or e-mail messages. Because if you don't properly credit a
source, you are engaging in plagiarism.
Whether you cut and paste text from an on-line article to your paper, or simply
neglect to use quotation marks when warranted, plagiarism in all its forms is
strongly discouraged. Write your paper with a clear conscience, and use any
of the below sources to help you cite your sources.
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More Information
Literacy Tools
Librarians often use a lot of technical
terms, such as "information literacy" -- but what do these terms mean?
The below web sites can help you figure this out and give you insight into the
importance of information literacy.
Created
27 February, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines
Revised 28 February, 2003 by Ayanna
Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian
A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College