REFERENCE

Reference materials are the place to begin your research. This is where you find general works on any topic that interests you. All items on this research guide that begin with the letters "R.R." are located in the reference room on the third floor of Rolvaag.

General background readings, short biographies, overviews:

Britannica.com -- An online version of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Includes all articles from the print version, plus links to reputable Web sites covering a wide variety of subjects. Print index in the Rolvaag Reference Room (R.R. AE5 .E56 2005)

Biographical and bio-critical sources:

Biography and Genealogy Master Index -- It will point you to biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries, many of which we own at St. Olaf.

Contemporary Authors -- Provides biographical and bibliographical information and references on more than 120,000 U.S. and international authors. Includes writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Print index in the Rolvaag Reference Room (RR PN451 .C6)

Other useful books in the Reference Room to provide biographies:

GENERAL

Current Biography [R.R. CT100 .C97]
A very good place to browse if you are looking for ideas. Comes out every month in booklet form.

American National Biography. 24v., 2 supp. [R.R. CT213 .A68 1999]

Encyclopedia of World Biography. 17v., 2 supp. [R.R. CT103 .E56 1998]

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 60v. [RR DA28 .O95 2004] Great source for biographies on British people.

Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century. [R.R. CT3260 .N5725 2004]

African American Lives [R.R. E185.96 .A446 2004]

Notable Latino Americans: A Biographical Dictionary [E184 .S75 M435 1997]

Distinguished Asian Americans: A Biographical Dictionary. [R.R. E184 .O6 D57 1999]

SPECIFIC

The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. Sports Figures. 2v. [R.R. GV697 .A1 S42 2002]

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. 2v. [Music lib Ref ML102 .P66 B35 2004]

The Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists [Science lib Ref Q141 .C128 2002]

ENCYCLOPEDIAS OF POPULAR CULTURE:

American Decades. 10v. [R.R. E169.12 .A419 1994]

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 5v. [R.R. E169.1 .S764 2000]

The Greeenwood Guide to American Popular Culture. 4v. [R.R. E169.1 .G7555 2002]

BOOKS

You will find many biographies in our catalog,

You may search Bridge by Title, Author, Keyword or Subject. Try combining relevant terms or concepts in Keyword search to focus your search (e.g. "lance armstrong biograph*"). Use asterisk (*) to truncate words (e.g. "biograph* will search for "biography," "biographies," "biographical,"etc.)

You may request materials housed at Carleton directly from Bridge by clicking on the red "Request" button.

INDEXES AND DATABASES

Unlike our on-line catalog, which searches for journal titles and book titles, indexes and databases allow you to search for articles within journals, essays within books, or conference papers within proceedings. Some indexes and databases are interdisciplinary, i.e. they include sources from many different disciplines or fields, some are disciplinary, i.e. specialized in a particular discipline. Information on all of the indexes is available from the Libraries' Home Page, under " Electronic Research Tools: Articles, Indexes, Encyclopedias & More... "

Academic Search Premier -- This database provides access to over 8040 multi-disciplinary publications, both scholarly and popular, many in full-text. Covers 1975 to present.

MasterFILE Premier -- A general multidisciplinary database to mostly popular publications. Includes biographies, reference books, primary source documents, maps and photos. Covers 1975 to present.

America: History & Life -- An index to approximately 2800 journals and books in North American History. Indexes literature published from 1964 to present. Companion site: Historical Abstracts (an index to articles on world history).

Sociological Abstracts -- An index to 2600 sociology journals plus book abstracts and review citations. Covers 1963 to present.

International Index to Music Periodicals -- An index to a wide variety of music periodicals. Abstracts are available for articles dated 1996-present.

International Index to Performing Arts -- performing arts journal resource with over 400,000 indexed articles, plus detailed abstracts from 1864 to the present, covering film, theatre, and dance.

Physical Education Index -- An index to articles about dance, health, recreation, sports, coaching, etc.

NEWSPAPERS:

ProQuest Newstand Complete -- Full-text and abstracted newspapers (1984- )

New York Times -- Offers "full-page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue."

LexisNexis Academic -- Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal and reference information. Excellent source for full-text articles in national and international newspapers.

WEB SITES

Using the Web

There is a lot of good information on the Internet but there is also garbage. If you use web sites in your research, it is important that you carefully evaluate the information you find and determine whether it is worthy of inclusion in a scholarly endeavor. The following table will help you ask the right questions as you evaluate sites:

Based on "Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask." UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops. 7 Jan 2005. 14 Feb 2005 and "Evaluating Web Sites." The Ohio State University Libraries. 14 Feb 2005.

HOW TO CITE

Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper . Includes thorough examples from Turabian, Chicago, MLA, and APA style manuals. Provided by Duke University Libraries.

Citation Guide from Purdue University by Jennifer Liethen Kunka and Joe Barbato. Provides examples and explanations of in-text citations and works cited in MLA format.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Rolvaag Reference Room [RR LB2369. G53]