REFERENCE MATERIALS
For overviews of your topic, for initial bibliographies, and for the name of an expert in the field, it is useful to find scholarly, discipinary-based encyclopedia articles. Please consider brainstorming with a reference librarian in addition to checking the following:
Immigrant Experience:
American Immigrant Cultures [R.R. E184.A1A63448 1997]
Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America [R.R. E184.A1G14 1995 ]
Working Americans, 1880-2007, vol. 8, Immigrants [R.R. HD8066.D47 2000
]
Dictionary of Asian American History [R.R. E184.O6D53 1986]
Japanese American History [E184.J3J3355 1993]
Pioneers/Westward Expansion:
American Eras: Westward Expansion, 1800-1860 [R.R. 169.1.A471979 1997]
The Land:
Prairies and Boreal Forests [R.R. GF75.B5613 2000]
Reference librarians are here to help you [your tuition dollars at work!]: Sun 1:30-5, 6:30-10; Mon thru Thurs 9-5, 6:30-10; Fri 9-5, Sat 11-5.
LIBRARY CATALOGS FOR BOOKS, VIDEOS, ETC.
Bridge: (St. Olaf and Carleton, combined) will offer subject access to individual books and US government document materials on your topic (but not individual journal articles -- see below for that). Use a KeyWord search if you do not know the subject heading or if you wish to combine more than one idea. Then use the subject links at the bottom of the screen to follow the official Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). For instance:
Frontier and Pioneer Life -- [State]
[State] -- Description and Travel
[State] -- History
Norwegian Americans -- [State] -- History
Swedish Americans -- [State] -- Biography
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Hmong Americans -- [State] --
INDEXES & DATABASES
Given the plethora of indexes, you will need to consider whether you want broad, general indexes or specialized indexes. Also, you may be tempted to limit your search solely to full-text articles. This can be a trap. Many databases include full-text and our software will lead you to locations where you can access them. Also, St. Olaf and Carleton own many excellent journals in paper format which you may borrow. Interlibrary loan is easy and efficient as well. Remember to construct a precise search using the principles of Boolean Logic.
America: History and Life -- the US and Canada
Sociological Abstracts
Women's Studies International
General ( Multidisciplinary) Indexes to Both Scholarly and Popular Sources
Academic Search Premier
Covers the major journals of many disciplines. A good starting place.
Expanded Academic ASAP
Similar to Academic Search Premier but covers different journals and magazines
Disciplinary databases (stand-alone):
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) 1972 -
An index to public policy and political affairs around the world.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
EconLit
Historical Abstracts -- History for the rest of the world, covering events from 1450 to date
CURRENTS EVENTS & NEWSPAPERS
Proquest National Newspaper Database
Full-text coverage of Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Minneapolis Star Tribune . 1986-present.
American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900
New York Times Index [RR AI21 .N45 ] is an indispensable starting point for primary source accounts of an event . An online index for the years 1851-2005 is available at Historical New York Times . For West coast coverage, try the
Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986).
RESOURCES ON THE WEB
Catalogs of Websites
Infomine
Websites "collected" by academic librarians -- full descriptions and subject headings
Librarians' Index to the Internet
Aimed more at public library patrons but still useful for many topics
Scout Report
Reviews of web sites; searchable by keyword and Library of Congress Subject Headings
WebPlus from Web of Knowledge .
Do a subject search with their boxes. Look to the upper right of the journal article results list and
click on WebPlus.
Evaluation of Web Sites
Remember to critically evaluate Internet resources before using them in your research. First, determine if the page is the type of web site you need to evaluate using the attached criteria. If so, use the guidelines included in the " Evaluating Web Sites " section of the Library Web Sites:
- Authority: Can the author of the page be readily identified and are his/her qualifications for providing the page clearly stated?
- Accuracy: Are there any spelling errors? Is the source of factual information clearly documented?
- Objectivity: Is the information relatively unbiased? What is the viewpoint of the site? Who is the intended audience? Is the material from an academic (scholarly publisher or .edu site on the web) or proprietary source (commercial publisher or .com site) or an organization (.org)? Is it funded by a particular organization?
- Currency: When was the page written or last updated?
- Coverage: Is the topic explored in depth? Is there considerable content on the page? Are entire articles or items provided or just excerpts from larger works? Does it lead you to other sites?
CITATION GUIDES
Modern Language Association -- MLA Style
Chicago Manual of Style
