Where to Find Information How and Where to Find Information on Powerpoint

There is so much useful information being produced, disseminated, stored, collected every day. There is information in magazines, journals, books, reports, government publications, radio, television, videos and DVD's. Libraries collect information some of the kinds of resources listed above. There is also a huge amount of Information on the Internet. You, the college student, need to find information from time to time for your classes that you take in college. Where do you go to find information, and how to you know that the information that you find is good, quality information? This is what this document attempts to answer. This document will outline the kinds of information that you can obtain through a place that provides access to information, as well as stores and collects information, your college library. At the end of this document there will be some Internet resources that can be used.

Your college library is called the Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library. It contains many resources to help in answers to simple questions to providing information for a report or research paper. This paper will outline the main tools that use can use to pinpoint the exact resources that you need. Here at the Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library there is much useful information that is available in many different locations in the library and also in many different formats. This document will hopefully point you in the right direction in locating the right materials for your project, report, or paper.

SIRSI ILINK CATALOG

The Library is divided into many special collections. Here is a list of some of the more important ones:

Your can search all of these collections (with the exception of the Periodical collection) at once in the Library Catalog.

General Encyclopedias

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Compton's Encyclopedia
• Worldbook Encyclopedia
• Collier's Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia Americana

Subject Specific Encyclopedias

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968 (R 903 D56)
• Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. Oxford University Press, 1998. (R 111.8503 En1k)
• The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Macmillan Company & The Free Press, 1967 (R 103 Emle)
• Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy. Greenwood Press, 1997. (R 180.3 En1e)
• Encyclopedia of Human Behavior Academic Press, 1994.
• Encyclopedia of Sociology 2nd Edition. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000 (R 301.03 En1)
• Encyclopedia of Ethics. 2nd edition. Routledge, 2001 (R 170.3 En3)
• The Encyclopedia of Religion MacMillan Publishing Company, 1987 (R 200.321 En1)
• Encyclopedia of World Biography Gale Research, 1998 (R 920.02 W17b2)
• Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 2nd ed. Macmillan Reference USA, 2002 (R 364.03 En1)
• Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment Sage Publications, 2002
• Encyclopedia of Communication and Information Macmillan Reference USA, 2002

• Encyclopedia of American History Facts on File, 2003 (R 973.o3 En1n)
• Beachman's Encyclopedia of Social Change: America in the Twentieth Century Beachman, 2001 (R 306 B35k)
• The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Simon & Schuster, 1992. (R 970.015 C726be)
• Slavery in America: An Eyewitness History Facts on File, 2000 (R 306.362 Sch5s)
• Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000 (R 342.73 En5L)
• The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America Sharpe Reference, 1998 (R 323.173 En1b)
• The Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America Sharpe Reference, 2000 (R 324.273 En1n)
• The Encyclopedia of the Republican Party Sharpe Reference, 1997 (R 324.27303 En1k)
• The Encyclopedia of the Democratic Party Sharpe Reference, 1997 (R 324.27303 En1k)
• The Encyclopedia of Foreign Relations Oxford University Press, 1997 (R 327.73 En1)
• The Encyclopedia of American Economic History. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980 (R 330.973 En1)
• The Encyclopedia of American Social History. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993 (R 301.0973 En3)
• Encyclopedia of the American Military. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994 (R 355.00973 En1)
• Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Muze Schuster, 1999 (R 781.6403 EnL3)
• Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen and Outlaws. Paragon House, 1992 (R 923.64 En1)
• Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993 (R 970.02 En2)
• Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History MacMillan Library Reference, 1996 (R 973.0496 En1)
• Encyclopedia of Rural America. ABC-CLIO, 1997 (R 973.009173403 En1g)
• Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001 (R 973.503 En1f)
• Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996 (R 973.003 En1)
• Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. Simon and Schuster, 1993 (R 973.713 En3)
• Encyclopedia of the American West. MacMillan Reference USA, 1996 (R 978 En1)
• Encyclopedia of Japanese American History. Facts on File, 2001 (R 973.004956 En1n)
• Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social and Military History. ABC-CLIO, 2000. (R 951.904203 En1t)
• Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. ABC-CLIO, 1998 (R 959.704303 En1t)
• Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. (R 973.03 En1c)
• Encyclopedia of American Studies. Grolier Educational, a Division of Scholastic Incorporated, 2001. (R 973.003 En1k)

• Encyclopedia of Educational Research. Simon and Schuster, 1992 (R 370.78 En1a6)
• Encyclopedia of Special Education. John Wiley & Sons, 1987 (R 371.9 En1)
• Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education. Garland Publishing, 1992 (R 372.2103 En1)
• The International Encyclopedia of Education. Pergamon, 1994 (R 370.3In8h2)
• Deskbook Encyclopedia of American School Law. Center for Education and Employment Law, 2005 (R 344.7307 D46)

• Encyclopedia of Utopian Literature ABC-Clio, 1995. (R 809.93372 Sn5e)
• Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) Gale Research, 1973-present (R 809.46 R45c)
• Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC) Gale Research, 1978-present (R 809.04 T91)
• Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism (NCLC) Gale Research 1981-present (R 809.34 N62)
• Literature Criticism from 1400-1800 (LC) Gale Research, 1984-present (R 809.03 L71)
• Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism Gale Research, 1988-present (R 809 C56YM)
• Black Literature Criticism (BLC) Gale Research, 1992 (R 809.889 B56YD)
• Poetry Criticism (PC) Gale Research, 1991-present (R 811 P751YY)
• Short Story Criticism (SSC) Gale Research, 1988-present (R 809.3 SH8YH)
• World Literature Criticism Gale Research, 1992 (R 809 W89D)
• Encyclopedia of Rhetoric Oxford University Press, 2001
• Encyclopedia of the Essay Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997 (R 809.4003 En1c)
• Critical Survey of Long Fiction Salem Press, 1991 (R 809.31 C86YmL)
• Critical Survey of Short Fiction Salem Press, 1981

Current Events/Issues Sources

• CQ Researcher. CQ Press, a Division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc. 1991- (R 070.442 Ed4c)
  Also available online. (see below)
• Issues and Controversies on File. Facts on File, 1996. (R 070.442 IS7)
  ALso available online. (see below)

We use the Dewey Decimal System to Arrange our books in the library. The Dewey system arranges every subject under a number system, where each number in a 1,000 number classification scheme corresponds to a specific subject. Here are the ten main classes of the Dewey Decimal System:

The United States government publishes many materials each year. Different agencies of the government publish research, handbooks, how-to-manuals, periodicals maps, statistics and reports. Congress publishes results of Congressional hearings. These are all called Government documents. Our government documents are housed in a special room on Floor 2A of the library.

Many of the government publications are now available online. See the Internet Resources for the address of many online government documents.

MAGAZINES,JOURNALS, NEWSPAPERS

Unlike books, the contents of journals are not available in the SE library catalog. So where are they located? They are located in magazine and journal indexes. Magazine and journal indexes assign a subject to each article in each journal indexed in the magazine and journal index. Until the 1990's most magazine and journal indexes were in paper, now they are almost all on the Internet. Some of these journal indexes on the Internet index popular magazines, other scholarly, while others are devoted to one subject area, NO Journal Index indexes every journal that is published, so they are selective.

HOW TO FIND ARTICLES IN JOURNALS, MAGAZINES

Step One: Look in a Periodical Index

A periodical index is a publication that indexes the content of periodicals. There are many different periodical indexes, some general and some subject specific. One thing needs to be made clear: There is not any periodical index that indexes every single periodical being published today. So each index is selective in what periodicals it indexes. Periodical indexes tend to index the most important or most popular or most respected or well known periodicals.

PAPER PERIODICAL INDEXES

For many years periodical indexes were published in paper, like a book. They would usually come out every few months with an update, and then come out at the end of the year with an annual cumulation. Paper periodical indexes are cumbersome to use and take some take to look at every year, but they can contain information on many valuable articles written sometimes years ago, and paper indexes are valuable places to search for topics in music, drama, art, literature and history.

ONLINE PERIODICAL INDEXES

Why use online databases?

• It is much easier to use online databases, and you can search years of a database with one search
• You can also find the most recent articles on any topic because most online databases are updated daily or weekly

There is a disadvantage to online databases for those who are researching topics in history or literature

• Most online databases go back only to the 1990's or the 1980's, and so many potentially valuable articles in older magazines and journals can be missed if you search only in online databases.

Some Online Databases that the SE Library Has

1. Where the Databases are located
These databases are all to be found on the SE Library's Electronic Resources Page at: http://www.se.edu/lib/electres.htm

2. What EBSCOHost and FirstSearch are
The word EBSCOhost or FirstSearch to the right of the database name in the table above indicates the name of the database vendor where you can find these databases. If you look at the list of links on the ELectronic Resources page, you will see the links organized by the type of database that they are. You will find EBSCOhost and FirstSearch under the listing of databases called Periodical Databases. When you go down the list, you will see at least two links for both EBSCOhost and FirstSearch. The first link is for those that are on the SE campus. Click on that link, and you will be taken to the list of databases under EBSCOhost or FirstSearch. The second link is the off campus link. This link is necessary to use if you are off of the SE Campus. This link takes you to a page where you will be asked to type in a userid or authorization number, and a password. The userid or authorization number and password to gain access to EBSCOhost and FirstSearch is available at the SE Library Reference Desk, and also is on the proxy server.

Step Two: Check to see if the article is available online Full-Text

Step Three: Check to see if the article is available online Full-Text in another database

Step Four: Check to see if the the SE Library has the journal in paper

Step Five: Use InterLibrary Loan to obtain the article from another college library that has the journal that you want

1. Obtain an Interlibrary loan form from the circulation desk or go to an online InterLibrary Loan form at: http://www.se.edu/lib/illjournalreq.htm for a journal article and http://www.se.edu/lib/illbookreq.htm for Interlibrary loaning a book. 2. Fill out the form, take note that those fields of the form that have an asterisk in front of them are required fields that are needed to send the information via e-mail. Click submit after filling out the form. 3. The process of receiving something from InterLibrary loan takes about 4 days to two weeks, so if InterLibrary Loans are needed,

RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET

There are millions of Internet sites now. Each site has an address on the Internet. That address is called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). After each Internet history site mentioned in this list, there will be the URL, location, or address of the site on the Internet. When you want to access a site on this list, type in the address which appears after the letters URL. You must type in the address exactly as it appears. If you do not, you will not access the site. DO NOT TYPE IN URL.

• CQ Researcher Online
  http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
This database contains reports on topics of current interest


• Facts.com
  http://www.2facts.com/
This database contains unbiased news stories from the United States and around the world from 1940 to the present. It also contains a database called Issues and Controversies on File, which contains short reports on topics that are of national interest.


• The Digital Book Index
  http://www.digitalbookindex.com/search001a.htm


"Digital Book Index provides links to more than 105,000 title records from more than 1800 commercial and non-commercial publishers, universities, and various private sites. About 66,000 of these books, texts, and documents are available free, while many others are available at very modest cost."

• WorldCat
  http://worldcat.org
This is truly what the name implies: a world catalog. This is a "super" catalog of about 10,000 libraries around the world. It contains records on items that are up to three thousand years old. Contains records of books, journals, videocassettes, CD-ROMS, manuscripts, maps, pictures and more. Use this catalog when you are not finding anything in the SE catalog.


• Project Gutenberg
  http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/
"Project Gutenberg is the brainchild of Michael Hart, who in 1971 decided that it would be a really good idea if lots of famous and important texts were freely available to everyone in the world." The goal is to have the text 10,000 books digitized, and now there are over 6,000. Also, the books have to be copyright free, so there are not many books on here that are new.

• Google Scholar
  http://scholar.google.com/


Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web." This is an ambitious project to index and make available the entire collections of some of the biggest research libraries in the United States, and not just index them but make the full text of millions of books available to be searched through Google. Those items indexed in Google that have copyright restrictions will not be available to view, but there are still many that will be available.

• The Online Books Page
  http://www.digital.library.upenn.edu/books/


The Online Books Page is a project founded by John Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania. This projects provides links to full text content that is available free online. There are over 20,000 books here. There are also archives of full text content from many periodicals, including many that were published in the nineteenth century.


• Grove Music Online
  http://www.grovemusic.com


This is a continuation of the Dictionary of Music and Musicians that was begun by Sir George Grove in the 1870's. The fifth edition was published in 1954 (shelved in the regular circulating collection). The 1980 edition, was considered by the editors to be so changed from the 1954 edition as to be a completely new dictionary. The 2001 edition, called the 2nd edition of the New Grove, retains the the title of the 1980 edition and is called the New Grove. This set contains articles of composers and other music-related personages, terminology, cities and towns with significant musical traditions, musical concepts and heritage, etc.; also contains bibliographies at the end of each article. The focus is on European music, but there are many entries on non-western music, and there are entries on the music of every country in the world. The online version is much easier to search than the paper version, and contains the full text of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London, 2001), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie (London, 1992), and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition, edited by Barry Kernfeld (London, 2002). Articles that have been updated since their appearance in print are date-stamped in the upper right corner of the screen.


• Electronic Resources
  http://www.se.edu/lib/electres.htm
This page contains links to electronic databases that the SE Library subscribes to or free databases that were put on this page.


• Internet Resources by Subject
  http://www.se.edu/lib/search2.htm
This is a page that has been put together by librarians that contain a list of links to resources on the Internet by topic.


• Government Documents
  http://www.se.edu/lib/govdocs/govdoc%20home.html
This is a page of links to government documents, which are documents and databases published by the United States government on many different topics. There are many useful reports and statistics published by the government on the Internet.


• USAGov
  http://www.usa.gov/


• Alex: A Catalog of Electronic Texts
  http://www.infomotions.com/alex/


• NetLibrary
  http://www.netlibrary.com/

Evaluation of Internet Sources

• Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webcrit.html