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 brainstorm with a reference librarian in addition to checking the following:
Dictionary of Art R.R. N31.D5 1996. Use index, volume 34, for access. Good access to material on traditional European Cabinets of Curiousities.
Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture R.R. E169.1.G7555 2002
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture R.R. E 169.1.S764 2000
Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture R.R. E169.12.E49 2001
The Mythical West: An Encyclopedia of Legend, Lore and Popular Culture R.R. GR109.S53 2001
American Eras R.R. E169.1.A471979 1997 [Early Am civilizations to 1899]
American Decades R.R. E169.12.A419 1994 [1900-1999]
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 you wish to combine more than one idea. Then use the subjectlinks to follow the official subject headings.
World Cat: A catalog that provides records for materials owned by numerous libraries across the country. Use the same strategies as you used in Bridge. Because this is a much larger database you may have more success using subjects from Bridge rather than keywords.
INDEXES & ABSTRACTS
Given the plethora of indexes, you will need to consider whether you want broad, general indexes or specialized indexes.
General (Multidisciplinary) Index to both Scholarly and Popular Sources
Academic Search Premier
Covers the major journals of many disciplines. A good starting place.
Expanded Academic ASAP
Same as ASP but different journals, so worth searching both.
Other specialized indexes and databases:
Art Index
Music Index
America: History & Life -- the US and Canada
Historical Abstracts -- the rest of the world, covering events from 1450 to date
Women's Studies International
CURRENTS EVENTS & NEWSPAPERS
New York Times Index, 1851-2003 [RR AI21 .N45 ] is an indispensable starting point for primary source accounts of an event . For more recent years, use Lexis/Nexis , below, whichindexes back to 1980 as well and has full text.
ProQuest Newsstand Complete
A source for a variety of contemporary newspapers
Early American Newspapers Digital
Covers newspapers published from 1690-1922
RESOURCES ON THE WEB
LIBRARIANS' CATALOGS OF WEBSITES
Librarians' Index to the Internet Aimed more at public library patrons but still useful for many topics
Infomine Websites "collected" by academic librarians -- full descriptions and subject headings
Scout Report Reviews of web sites; searchable by keyword and Library of Congress Subject Headings
Web of Knowledge/Web of Science Do a subject search on your topic. On the results page, in the upper right hand corner, click on "Scientific WebPlus, View web results."
EVALUATION OF WEBSITES
Remember to critically evaluate Internet resources before using them in your research. 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?
Another useful checklist is available at: University of California, Berkeley, Libraries
CITATION GUIDES
St. Olaf Libraries Citation Guides and Style Manuals Page
