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So Cited: Parentheticals

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:00:02 +0000

As the Humanities V research paper draws to a close, proofreading is in the air.

Consider using Noodlebib as a helpful guide when double-checking those parenthetical citations.

How?: When logged in to your Noodlebib account, click on your Humanities V list (what we would refer to as the paper’s bibliography) and find the citation being parenthetically cited. Follow that citation all the way over to the right-hand side, and click parenthetical reference to reveal Noodlebib’s suggestion.

What?: Parenthetically cite when you quote, paraphrase or refer to another person’s idea(s).

The Primary Source Hunt: OAIster

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Are you too looking for primary sources? Most Humanities V teachers are requiring at least two for completion of a successful research paper. If you’ve looked in all the usual places (such as those listed here in our primary source round-up), yet still aren’t finding quite what you want, consider OAIster.

What is it? OAIster is an online catalog of digitized sources. It is made available by OCLC, a company that provides many library-related services.

It might help to compare this to Ohrstrom Library’s catalog. The Ohrstrom Library catalog searches through the records of our 70,000 print titles. OAIster searches through the records of 23 Million digitized sources from over 1,000 contributors.

What might you find?

A copy of Redon’s journal, contributed by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Correspondence from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein regarding war contributed by I-Revues.
Sanitary Statistics of Native Colonial Schools and Hospitals by Florence Nightingale contributed by University of California Libraries.
An image of an Alice in Wonderland Float, from Mardi Gra 1938 contributed by the Indiana University Digital Library Program (see image above).
An abstract of a report from the National Program for Inspection of Non-Federal Dams regarding the St. Pauls School Dam contributed by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Repository.

Is it hard to use? The search function is very straightforward, offering a basic search or advanced search. As always, if you would like a little help using this resource please be in touch!

New Archives Online Exhibit: The Rectors of SPS

Lisa Laughy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:05:39 +0000

Ohrstrom Library is pleased to announce the addition of a new archives online exhibit: The Rectors of St. Paul’s School.

Since its founding in 1856, St. Paul’s School is fortunate to have enjoyed strong leadership in its Rectors. The Rectors exhibit in the Archives section of Ohrstrom Library’s website presents the succession of these leaders through photographs and short biographies, and serves as a brief introduction to the fascinating history of leadership at St. Paul’s School.

Much of the text and perspectives shared in the brief biographies that accompany photographs of the Rectors were drawn directly from two authoritative and well-loved volumes about St. Paul’s School: A brief history of St. Paul’s School, 1856-1996 by August Heckscher (located in Ohrstrom at: 373 Sa2H) and St. Paul’s School, 1855 – 1934 by Arthur Stanwood Pier (located in Ohrstrom at: 373 Sa2). In addition to reading these two volumes, you can find even more fascinating detail on each of the Rectors by searching the Alumni Horae digital archive, accessible online by clicking HERE.

Hopeful Romantics: Accessing the Romantic Poets

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:57:21 +0000

Humanities V students are hopeful about finding sources for their Romantic poets assignment. Here are helpful tips and research strategies for accessing just the right information at Ohrstrom Library, outlined in the following five easy steps:

1. Search the Library’s catalog to locate books:
To find books that can be borrowed visit the Library’s homepage and click on the catalog link – or click HERE:

Next, type in the name of your assigned poet. Be sure to search by subject:

Take down the call numbers and location of any items that are of interest to you.

Tip: Any call number beginning with “Biog” is a biography. All the biographies are located on the lower level of the library in the final stacks.
Tip: If your call number begins with 821, this is a volume of literary criticism. Literary criticism is located on the main level of the library, half-way through the stacks.

2. Use the database Biography Resource for biographical info:
The Biography Resource database is powerful tool containing hundreds of reference texts. To access this database visit the library’s homepage and click on the databases A-J link, and then select Biography Resource – or click HERE.

Next, type in the name of your assigned poet.

Select, read, save, and/or print any reference article(s) of interest.

3. Use selected sets from the printed reference collection for biographies and analysis:
There are four main selections in the reference room that are very helpful for this assignment. The sets are listed below in recommended order:

Ref. 920 Sco3 The Scribner’s British Writers series contains excellent articles on a variety of poets. These articles focus on biography and analysis. While the articles range in length, they are often about 20 pages long. The final volume of the set contains the cumulative index, which, as the articles are not arranged in alphabetical order, is really quite essential.
Ref. 821.9 M27 Magill’s Critical Survey of Poetry also contains biography and analysis. The last volume of this set does not contain the index, which is instead, trickily housed in volume 8.
Ref. 809.1 P13 World Poets is the library’s most current poet-related set. Articles are usually not much longer than five pages.
Ref. 920 J16 v. 5 Volume 5 of the European Writers set focuses specifically on the Romantic Century. Poets are listed in chronological order, not alphabetically, so the index in the final volume is once again essential.

4. Use ARTstor to locate an illustration:
Some assignments require an illustration representing the explicated poem. Try ARTstor as a means of locating this illustration.

To access ARTstor visit the library’s homepage and click on the databases A-J link, and then select ARTstor – or click HERE.

Next, search for images.

Tip: Try searching by title or subject/theme of poem. Searching by poet’s name will often return portraits.
Tip: To locate images created during the Romantic Era, use ARTstor’s advanced search to limit by date. Add keyword(s) related to the subject/theme of the poem being studied.

5. Use Noodlebib to complete the bibliography:
Noodlebib is an excellent tool designed to help both create and store citations. Click HERE for more information about using Noodlebib, or if you know your way around, simply visit the Noodlebib website HERE to begin creating citations right away.

Following these five easy steps will get you well along the way of gathering your research materials for a successful assignment.

New Database: American History in Video

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:00:31 +0000

Ohrstrom Library is pleased to announce its subscription to American History in Video. This database provides access to over 5,000 titles from the 1920s to 2008 including: newsreels, documentaries and government footage.

Every video includes a complete and fully searchable transcript, readable alongside the video.

Videos can be selected from the database by keyword searching, or by multiple categories, including: subjects, historical eras, years, historical events, people, places and topics. Consider browsing by year to locate primary source videos created during the time period you are studying.

Click HERE to access the database.

To cite this source, be sure to give credit to both the creator of the video and to the database.
Example:

Burns, Ken, dir. Civil War. Episode 3, Forever Free (1862). PBS, 1990.

American History in Video. Web. 12 Dec. 2009. .

Fourth Form Paper: Go with the Flowchart!

Lisa Laughy — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:00:20 +0000

You’ve received your assignment and had your class with Ms. Sanborn in the library, but where do you go from there? Go with the flowchart – the Fourth Form Paper Flowchart, that is.

The Fourth Form Paper Flowchart was developed as a companion to the Fourth Form Paper Research guide – as an easy way to visualize the process of writing your Humanities paper. The flowchart is available as a one page PDF document (click HERE) that can be downloaded, saved to your computer desktop, printed out for ready reference, and/or hung on the wall as a constant guide. Hypertext links have been embedded into the PDF for the online elements, making it possible to click through to the resource described. Following the flowchart step-by-step will help you see where you are in the research process and what still needs to be done – assisting with time management so you can avoid a last minute crunch.

Save it, print it, post it, bookmark it, or favorite it, just be sure to take advantage of this great new reference resource!

Ohrstrom Library on Facebook: Your New BFF!

Lisa Laughy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:13:47 +0000

Lisa Laughy – Library Web Sevices

Ohrstrom Library has a page on Facebook and you are invited to become a fan!

The Ohrstrom Library Facebook Page has been set up for a few months now and the number of fans is growing every day. If you spend time on Facebook, becoming a fan of the Ohrstrom Library page is a great way to stay in touch with library-related news and information. Links are added to new Ohrstrom Blog posts as soon as they become available. New links added to Ohrstrom Library’s Delicious account are posted as well. When you become a fan of Ohrstrom Library you will receive updated notices of these postings on your account’s Home page News / Live Feed. You will then be able to keep track of all of the great new reference books, reliable online resources, and the latest news from Ohrstrom Library. It is an effortless way to stay connected while networking on Facebook.

To become a fan of Ohrstrom Library, log into your Facebook account and type “Ohrstrom Library” into the search box. Look for the familiar Ohrstrom logo under the “Pages” heading. Or – click the link located further down in the Ohrstrom Blog sidebar where it says “Ohrstrom Library on Facebook”. Once you are a fan, invite your friends to join too!

New Research Guides

Lisa Laughy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:33:24 +0000

Lisa Laughy – Library Web Services

Three new research guides are now available through the Ohrstrom blog – just in time to help with current research projects.

Ms. Sanborn has put together research guides for Middle Eastern Voices, the Humanities V Renaissance Artists research project, and the Latin I class. The research guides contain helpful lists of Reference books, catalog search topics for finding circulating books, citation examples, and database search tips.

You can access the research guides through the links in the Ohrstrom Blog sidebar to the left of this post (see image above) or through the main menu of the Ohrstrom Library website (ie., Research > Research Guides > Latin I). Each research guide has a link to a PDF version of the guide for printing or downloading to your computer.

The New MLA Handbook is here!

Lisa Laughy — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:27:48 +0000

Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

This spring, the new, updated version of the MLA Handbook was released. Two important formatting changes of note: the MLA has moved from underlining titles to italicizing titles and also, most citations now include media type somewhere in the citation. Two examples are below (the red font color has been added for our example purposes only).

Stern, Robert A.M. “The Architecture of St. Paul’s School and Design of the

Ohrstrom Library.” Alumni Horae Fall 1992: 149. Print.

Weeks, Jennifer. “Buying Green: Does It Really Help the Environment?” CQ

Researcher 29 Feb. 2008: n. pag. CQ Researcher Online. Web. 2 Oct. 2009. .

There are two copies of the new MLA Handbook available at the Library’s front desk. Simply stop by and ask to borrow a copy for in-library use. If you have already purchased your own copy then take advantage of a new feature in the 7th addition - using the code located inside the back cover of the book to registered at the MLA website. This will give you full access to the book online anytime you need it.

The library has also updated its MLA guides to reflect the changes made in the 7th edition MLA Handbook. See a full list of MLA Citation Guides HERE.

Noodlebib also went through an upgrade this summer and now too, reflects the changes made in the new MLA Handbook. See the Noodlebib Citation Guide HERE.

And as always, you can ask anyone on the Library staff to help you with your citation questions.

Library Research at ASP

Lisa Laughy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:46:19 +0000

Lura Sanborn - Reference Librarian

Ohrstrom Library staff have put together research guides for several of the courses offered through ASP. Two guides are recently updated and reformatted, and can now be accessed through the sidebar links in the Ohrstrom Blog (on the left in the blue column, below the “Categories” links under the “Research Guides” heading). Check back for more updated guides.

These guides have been created to showcase library materials relevant to the Artificial Intelligence and Biomedical Ethics ASP research projects. Click on the screenshots below to access the guides, or find the links in the blog sidebar under the “Research Guides” heading. Each guide has also been converted to PDF format so they can be easily printed or downloaded for off-line access. The PDF links are located at the bottom of each guide.

Artificial Intelligence Research Guide

Biomedical Ethics Research Guide