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English 102 - College Writing and Research
Spring 2006

Library Instruction Program - Research and Instructional Support
For more information about this topic contact Mary Boulanger

Table of Contents

  1. Tips and Strategies for Research
  2. Library Research Assistance
  3. Finding Resources at the UWM Libraries
    1. Library catalog [PantherCat]
    2. Indexes and Databases
    3. Religious Studies and Terrorism Related Internet Resources
  4. Using the Web Wisely

Tips and Strategies for Research

Constructing a Search

  • Write down research question and underline key concepts
  • Think of synonyms and alternate terms for each of the main concepts
  • Think broader, or narrower, depending on results of initial searches
  • Consult a thesaurus or index, if available, to narrow and focus the search

For example: What ethical questions are raised by embryonic stem cell research?

Sample searches:   embryo and stem cell and ethics                  embryonic stem cells and morality

Which to use: Catalog or Database?

  • Use a library catalog to locate books and documents in a library's collections. It will also say if the library owns specific journals. PantherCat, MadCat, and MarqCat are examples of library catalogs
  • A database, on the other hand, indexes the journals and is used to point to specific articles within the journals, articles on a topic or by a particular author. The full text of some, but not all, of these articles may be available online. BioMed Central, ERIC and Web of Science are databases.
  • Catalogs and databases do different things but work hand in hand to provide resources. Use one or more databases to find references to articles, then a library catalog to see if a library owns the journal where the article is published.
  • Find It! is a helpful tool for locating electronic or print copies of articles available at the UWM LIbraries.

Library Research Assistance

Proxy Server
This link allows UWM students, faculty, and staff with Internet access to connect to most of the Libraries' subscription databases and electronic journals from home (a few titles are licensed for on-campus or in-library use only).
AskaLibrarian
An email and chat service, AskaLibrarian provides a forum for questions at all hours. Check this web page for the various formats.
Electronic Reserve
E-reserve materials generally consist of scanned journal articles, book chapters, lecture notes, and sample exams. These printable materials may be accessed from off-campus computers using the proxy server [see above].
InterLibrary Loan
When materials cannot be found at the UWM Libraries, use this link to pursue the many options available.
Research Consultation
This is an in-depth advisory service about specific library research processes offered by librarians of the RIS Department to the students, staff and faculty of UWM. Use this link to find out more or to request an appointment.
Finding Resources at the UWM Libraries

The Library Catalog

PantherCat
Truncation symbol is ?    For example work? searches work, works, working, worked...
Types of searches include, title, author, keyword (and, or not). Use this guide for more tips in searching PantherCat.

Sample Search [using Keywords (and, or, not)]:   "family stress" and work?

Selected Indexes and Databases

On the UWM Libraries home page under "Find Articles", the Resources A-Z link leads to an alphabetical list of databases. Some index journals, magazines and newspapers from various subject disciplines. Others are collections containing the electronic full text of such journals. The ones listed below relate to the Life Sciences. They each have online guides.

Academic Search [EBSCOHost]
1984-present; indexes over 3,200 scholarly journals in the areas of business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science, education, and multi-cultural studies. Full-text is available for 1,850 journals starting with January 1990. Guide
Humanities Full Text
1984-present; more than 530 periodicals in archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, music, the performing arts, philosophy, religion, world history, and world literature. Full-text is available for 185 journals starting with 1983. Guide
JSTOR
Back to 1800; does not include most recent five years; full text, searchable backfiles of 343 core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
Philosopher's Index
1940-present. Indexing and abstracts from books and journals of philosophy and related fields. It covers the areas of ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, and metaphysic logic as well as material on the philosophy of law, religion, science, history, education, and language. Guide
Project Muse
Recent years; selected journals go back to 1993. Project Muse provides access to the full-text of over 220 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.

Religious Studies and Terrorism Related Internet Resources

There are many places to get information on the Internet. Deciding what is reliable, however, is a critical distinction in the health fields. The following resources offer a sampling of critiqued web sites.

Philosophy and Religious Studies Subject Guide
One of over one hundred subject guides created by UWM Libraries staff, this guide lists indexes, databases, other research guides, and selected web sites in various areas of the religious studies and philosophy fields.

Terrorism: A Select Guide to Information
The purpose of this Web page is to provide selected sources of current news about terrorist incidents; background information about international terrorism and domestic terrorism in the U.S.; and information about disaster assistance and response to biological or chemical warfare.

Using the Web Wisely

Though not specifically related to the health fields, the first three resources are Subject Directories to web sites evaluated by people (as opposed to "selected" by a search engines's web crawler). The other sites listed give some general guidelines to evaluating and citing web sites.

Librarians' Index to the Internet
Search by keyword or look through the directory - keyword can lead to directory sections to search further

Internet Scout Report
Subject directory maintained by UW Madison

Infomine - Scholarly Index Resource Collections
Contains over 20,000 well-selected and described links to scholarly resources on the Internet. Searchable. 

How to evaluate and cite Web Sites

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask (from University of California Berkeley Library)

Citing Web sites  (from Bedford / St. Martin's)

 

prepared for English 102, MK Haffey instructor, February 13, 2006