Getting Started Using Library Resources: Electronic Reference Books Reference Works Books In-Depth Research Finding Articles The Difference between Scholarly and Popular Resources Searching the Internet Putting it all Together: Evaluating Resources Annotated Bibliography Citing Resources Elmhurst College Writing Center If you have problems using the new Off-Campus button link, click here Getting Started I need background information on my topic -- where should I start? Electronic Reference Books Xreferplus - An online collection of 150 reference books covering many disciplines. Click here for a list of titles. Gale Virtual Reference Library - an online collection of reference books, including Countries and Their Cultures, Dictionary of American History, Encyclopedia of Sociology, Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law, among other titles. 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. Print Reference Books - A Small Sample 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 Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education, Reference R 372.2103 E56 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 Sleep and Dreaming, R 154.603 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 Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia, Reference R 306.703 H918 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. How How can I find more reference books on my topic? Try browsing the Reference section. Browse the shelves around a particular book you like; call numbers tend to keep books on like topics together. Search Illinet Online using your search term combined with the word "encyclopedia" or "dictionary." return to top Locating Books in the A.C. Buehler Library 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 65 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 phonics, type the word phonics (with or without capitals). The word phonics can be anywhere in the description of the item, like the name of the publisher. To do a more focused search on, say, phonics and whole language learning, select Boolean, and type in phonics and "whole learning" . 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: Tattooing Titanic (Steamship) Sex on television Chicago Cubs (Baseball team) -- History Dreams Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 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 eating disorders treatment. Ordering books from other libraries ~ Illinet Online allows you to request books held by 65 other libraries in Illinois.  How do I get a book that is not available in the library? 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 Illinet Online. return to top  In-Depth Research - Article Databases Which article databases are good starting places for my search? 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 Academic Search Premier ~ 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. Where can I find newspaper articles? Wall Street Journal ~ full text from 1985 to present. 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. Lexis-Nexis Academic ~ 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. You can also call (630) 617-3173 or email the Reference Department to inquire about a specific title or ask a question. Use the Find It! button to help you look through our databases and catalog for an article. If you cannot find an article at Elmhurst, you can request it through our online Interlibrary Loan article request form. Inter library loan can take 7-10 days.   return to top Scholarly and Popular Articles: What's the Difference? Scholarly publications publish journals. Popular press publications publish magazines. Journal articles and magazine articles are very different from each other. Some of the differences are apparant in the following areas: Audience: Who was the article written for? Author: What kind of job job does the author have? What are the author's credentials? Language: How does this article sound? What educational level is the article written for? Content: What is being written about? Does the author write with bias? References: Where does the author get his/her information? Is the information quoted easy to find on your own? Look at other factors like: publisher editorial process advertising content of publication overall look of the print version (if available) Read this to learn how to distinguish scholarly journals from other periodicals. If you really get stuck and can't figure out if a publication is scholarly or popular using the criteria listed above, you can use use one of the three techniques listed below: Look at the reference book like "Magazines for Libraries" located at the Reference Desk Look at the publisher's or journals web site in the "About Us" (or similar) section Ask a librarian at the Reference Desk (Warning! The reference librarians will employ one or both of the two techniques listed above if we are really stumped!) return to top 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. return to top Putting it All Together What is an annotated bibliography? How do I write one? Please visit the Cornell University Libraries page for more information of annotated bibliographies. Each entry of the annotated bibliograhy is comprised of two parts -- the citation and the annotation. An annotation is a brief paragraph (3-7 sentences) that both desribes the scope or theme of the resource and explains the resources' relevance and/or importance in a given field of research. The annotated bibliography must exhibit: 1) knowledge of the subject material, 2) careful reading of the resource, 3) summary of the content, 4) authority/credentials of the author, 5) critical evaluation of the resource, 6) relevance of the resource within the field, 7) justification for inclusion in the bibliography. An example of an annotation using APA citation style is below: Rosen, J. (1992) Family studies on alcohol. The New Republic, 5(3/4), p319-338). Retrieved February 11, 2004 from PsycARTICLES. In this article, Jacob has analyzed previously written empirical studies in the area of the family alcohol matrix specifically the role of the family process in the etiolgy and the course of alcoholism. Jacob synthesized the results from these studies and recommended new ways of studying the alcoholism and the family including a examining the genetic/constitutional factors of alcoholism This article appeared in a professional publication that targets readers concerned with family psychology. 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? Elmhurst College Library MLA Style Guides Duke University Library A print version of the MLA Publication Manual, Sixth Edition, is available at the Reference Desk, R808.042 M685 2003. return to top   Created 20 October, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian Last revised 5 October, 2005 by Jennifer Paliatka, jenniferp[at]elmhurst[dot]edu, Assistant Reference LibrarianA.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College