ENGL 198: Analytical and Research Writing in the Humanities (Abartis)

Tips for Finding Books

• Academic libraries contain materials that support the curriculum, or what is taught and studied at the college or university.
• Most academic libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) Call Number System to organize their physical items.
• When you search for books, videos, or other materials in the library catalog (MnPALS), you find information about each item. This information is displayed in what's called a "record." For instance, a record for a book looks like this:

To find the book, you must look for it in the library using its Call Number and its location. In our example, we can see that the item is Available and is in the Main Collection - Basement. The call number, LC67.62 .M58 2010, translates to...

• Subclass LC -- “Special aspects of education” -- Shelved in alphabetical order
• 67.62 -- “Social aspects of education. Economic aspects of education.” -- Shelved numerically as a whole number, sometimes with a decimal
• .M58 -- (a.k.a. the Cutter line) author’s last name, “Mullen” -- Shelved alphabetically by the letter, then numerically as a decimal
• 2010 -- the year the book was published -- Shelved in chronological order

All topics:

• Academic Search Premier (all topics) from EBSCO
  Full-text articles in biology, chemistry, education, engineering, humanities, physics, psychology, religion and theology, sociology, etc. Tip: Click the check box to limit to Academic (Peer Reviewed) Journals.

 

• LibSearch
  Search the library's physical collection (books, movies, music, government publications, etc.) along with online journals and e-books to which the Library subscribes -- all in a single search.

 

• JSTOR
  Provides access to scholarly journals in anthropology, ecology, economics, education, general science, history, literature, mathematics, political science, philosophy, and more. Some journals have "moving wall" access that does not include the most recent 2-5 years.

 

• Project MUSE
  Full-text access to more than 150 scholarly journals and eBooks in all disciplines published by Johns Hopkins University and several other university presses.

Topics related to history:

• Historical Abstracts
  Search over 2,000 scholarly journals covering the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
   
• America: History & Life
  Search 2,000 scholarly journals on the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present (the rest of the world is covered in Historical Abstracts).

 

• Search by concepts, taking out common words like effect, affect, good, bad, etc.
• Using AND focuses or limits your search (you get fewer results). Using OR broadens or expands your search (you get more results).
• Use * to search for different word endings (child* searches child, child's, children, children's but also childbirth) and plurals.
• Use quotation marks around phrases.
• Try the Advanced Search. Change the "field" you are search using the pull down menu (for example, search for keywords only in the "Title" of an article, especially helpful in Project Muse and JSTOR).

As you continue your research, I would be happy to meet with you for a research consultation. Research consultations are intended to give you in-depth assistance in identifying and locating the resources most useful for your project. Please complete the form on our Ask a Librarian page to schedule a consultation.

View instructions and get help with troubleshooting.

Student Study Rooms
Reserve student study rooms for group work, available on the second and third floors of the Library.

Equipment Check Out
VIsit the Circulation Desk to borrow digital cameras, camcorders, projectors, and other equipment.

Write Place
Make an appointment with a writing tutor.

Building Maps

• First Floor
• Second Floor
• Third Floor
• Basement

Citation Styles Old
Choose a citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian ...) and follow the guidelines for formatting your paper and references.

Direct link: https://youtu.be/jaZUAHxSb9k

Scholarly vs. Popular Materials Guide (NCSU)
Guide to distinguishing between scholarly journals, popular magazines, and trade journals/magazines.

Before searching the library databases, spend a few minutes brainstorming keywords and considering synonyms that describe the individual concepts within your topic. Developing a search strategy in this way can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your search results.