Working Americans. 9v. [RR V HD8066 .D47 2000]
v. 1. The working class -- v. 2. The middle class -- v. 3. The
upper class -- v. 4. Their children -- v. 5. Americans at war
-- v. 6. Women at work -- v. 7. Social Movements -- v. 8. Immigrants
-- v. 9. From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War.
American Decades. 10v. [RR E169.12 .A419 1994]
Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. 3v. [RR
HM671 .E53 2007]
Polling America: An Encyclopedia of Public Opinion.
2v. [RR HN90.P8 P645 2005]
American attitudes: What Americans Think about the Issues
that Shape Their Lives. [RR HN90.P8 A527 2005]
Dictionary of American History 10v. [RR E174 .D52 2003]
See also the series of reference books called Contemporary
World Issues. Each handbook provides a synopsis of an important
contemporary issue, such as censorship, capital punishment, defendant
rights, environmental justice, euthanasia, genetic engineering,
gun control, profiling, pornography, etc.
CQ
Researcher -- Provides in-depth coverage
of health issues, social trends, criminal justice, international
affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.
Includes overviews, pros and cons, and lengthy lists of other
sources.
Finding
biographical information:
Biography
and Genealogy Master Index : An index to biographical encyclopedias
and dictionaries.
Oxford dictionary of national biography, in association with
the British Academy, from the earliest times to the year 2000.
60v. [RR DA28 .O95 2004] Great source for biographies on British
people. We also subscribe to the online version of Dictionary
of National Biography.
In literature:
Contemporary
Authors
Provides complete biographical and bibliographical information
and references on more than 120,000 U.S. and international authors.
Current Biography. [RR
CT100 .C97] Most current volume for February 2009.
Catalog
Bridge
catalogs resources available at St. Olaf and Carleton
libraries. Use Bridge to search for books and periodicals, but
not chapters within books or articles within periodicals.
- Use a Keyword search if you do not know the subject or you
wish to combine more than one idea, e.g.["school* AND (computer*
OR internet)] Use asterisk (*) to search various endings (e.g.
"computer*" will retrieve "compuetr,computers,computerized"
etc.)
- Once you have found a key reference, explore the subject by
clicking on the link in the catalog.
- Use the limiting option to search for different types of material
(e.g. videos, DVDs, government documents), or specific publication
dates.
You may request materials housed at Carleton
directly from Bridge by clicking on the 
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. ..."
For help distinguishing
between popular and trade magazines and academic journals, see
the guide from Colorado State Univeristy Libraries at http://manta.library.colostate.edu/howto/poplr.html
Interdisciplinary:
Academic
Search Premier
A multidisciplinary database with access to over 8040 scholarly
and popular publications, 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
JSTOR --An index to and
full text of select, academic journals.
Project Muse -- An index
to and full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University
Press and other scholarly publishers.
Disciplinary:
Political Science/Sociology:
PAIS:
Public Affairs Information Service-- An
index to public policy and public affairs articles, books, conference
proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical
directories. Covers 1972 to the present.
Sociological
Abstracts -- An index to 2600 sociology
journals plus book abstracts and review citations. Covers 1963-present.
Worldwide
Political Science Abstacts -- This database "provides
citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials
literature in political science and its complementary fields,
including international relations, law, and public administration/policy."
History:
America:
History & Life -- An index to approximately 2,800 journals,
plus dissertations and books in North American History. Indexes
literature published from 1964 to the present. See Historical
Abstracts for coverage outsde North America.
Education:
ERIC
-- An index to education journals, plus
curricular material and reports gathered by the US Department
of Education.
Law:
LexisNexis
Congressional -- Provides access to full
text of Congressional documents, bills, and hearings, as well
as information on committees and members of Congress. Includes
public laws and legislative histories. See also LexisNexis
Academic for legal research.
Westlaw
Campus Research -- Provides access to primary and secondary
legal resources, news, and company information.
Newspapers:
LexisNexis
Academic
Excellent source for full-text articles in national and
international newspapers. Provides access to a wide range of
news, business, legal, and reference information.
ProQuest
Newsstand Complete
Full-text and abstracted newspapers, including New York Times
(1999-) and Wall Street Journal (1984- ).
New
York Times (1851 - 2003) -- 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."
Web Resources
Remember to evaluate each site critically
for authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
Authorship |
- Who wrote the page?
- Does the author have appropriate education, training,
or experience to write with authority (credibility)
on this topic?
|
Coverage |
- Is the topic explored in depth?
- Are entire articles or items provided or just excerpts
from larger works?
- Does the site point you to other sites?
|
Objectivity
|
- Is the presentation biased or does it acknowledge
the existence of opposing views?
- What reasons might the author(s) have for influencing
my opinion?
- Are the author's claims and arguments supported with
appropriate documentation? Does the author cite his/her
sources?
|
Purpose |
Why was the page put on the web? To
- Inform, give facts, give data?
- Explain, persuade?
- Sell, entice?
|
Currency
|
- When was the page written or last updated?
|
Recognition
|
- Do others recognize the value of this site, either
in reviews or by linking to it? [You can find out what
pages link to a specific site by using Google's Advanced
Search.]
|
Why Would
I Use This Page? |
- Is this as good as resources I could find if I used
the library or some of the web-based databases available
through the library, or other print resources?
|
A few good review sites
that evaluate web content:
Librarians' Index to
the Internet: "A searchable, annotated subject directory
of more than 14,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated
by librarians for their usefulness to users."
Infomine: Scholarly
Internet Resource Collections: "A virtual library of Internet
resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff."
The
Scout Report Archives: "A searchable and browseable database
containing critical annotations of carefully selected Internet
sites and mailing lists."
Any item not owned by St. Olaf or Carleton may be ordered through
Interlibrary
Loan(ILL) provided you allow enough time (a week on average).
