Ohrstrom Blog » American History

eReference @ Ohrstrom

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:00:31 +0000

Teacher says no Wikipedia allowed? Concerned about author credibility? Try searching Ohrstrom Library’s digital reference collections, available from the library’s eReference page.

These eReference collections will quickly provide essential background information, written by known experts and backed by an academic publishing house.

The Credo Reference product provides access to 500+ digital reference titles, all searchable simultaneously.

The Gale Reference product is being built title-by-title, and includes such classics as The Encyclopedia of Religion.

Please feel free to contact Ms. Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu) to discuss or review the library’s eReference products.

New Reference Book: A History of the U.S. Political System

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:00:20 +0000

A History of the U.S. Political System edited by Richard A. Harris and Daniel J. Tichenor, ABC-CLIO, 2010.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 320.973 H24

Divided in to seven major sections, this three-volume set discusses and describes the historical U.S. political system. Each of the seven sections includes supporting primary source documents.

Sections are titled as follows:

Foundations
Religion and American Politics
Cities, States and American Federalism
The Congress
The Presidency
The Federal Bureaucracy
The Courts

Helpful for: Humanities IV, U.S. History, Government Studies, Young Democrats, Young Republicans

New Reference Book: The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:00:11 +0000

The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History edited by Stanley N. Katz, Oxford, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 340 Ox21

This 6-volume set focuses on concepts and subjects related to international legal history from ancient times to the present day. Examples include:

Adoption – Ancient Greek Law
Doctors’ Commons
Gambling in Chinese Law
Land – Leases of Land in English Common Law
Punishment – United States Law
Succession – Hindu Law

Helpful for: Historical legal research, Global Studies, Humanities, Social Justice Club

Access the New York Times via Library Resource

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:07:06 +0000

Several folks have inquired recently about accessing the New York Times via library resources.

Presumably, this is due to recent changes in access-related policy at the New York Times.

The full archive is no longer freely available on the NYTs website. Currently, those with an existing print subscription have full access to online content. Personal digital-only subscriptions are also offered. Those without any subscription may view up to 20 articles per month.

The library’s Proquest Periodicals subscription will provide access to the NYTimes (East Coast edition). This is the fastest way to get there: Click HERE.

Although it does look/navigate differently than the old NYTimes.com interface, the article content is the same.

If you are off-campus & need access to this resource, please take the following steps:

Login in to vpn.sps.edu using your SPS username and password.
Click the Ohrstrom Library link.
Select Proquest Periodicals from the database menu (see below):

Once in Proquest Periodicals, use the Publications search tool to locate the New York Times:

Click and browse/search!

If you are an educator, you may be interested in the New York Times classroom edition program.

Please email lsanborn at sps dot edu with any questions about locating periodicals from library databases.

New Reference Book: The Disney Song Encyclopedia

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:00:06 +0000

The Disney Song Encyclopedia by Thomas S. Hischak and Mark A. Robinso, Scarecrow, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 780.92 D63S

An alphabetical list of Disney songs, from 1930 to the present day. Each song is briefly described and placed in it’s Disney context. Examples include:

Amigas Cheetahs
Cherry Tree Lane
Gummi Bears Theme
The Mickey Mouse Club March
Madagascar
1-2-Cha-Cha-Cha
Woody’s Roundup

Helpful for: Fine Arts, Music, Humanities, Popular Culture

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Play in Today’s Society

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:00:00 +0000

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Play in Today’s Society edited by Rodney P. Carlisle, Sage, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 790 C19P

A 2-volume set containing 450 articles focused on play, including: “games, toys, sports and entertainments found around the world.” (xii).

Examples include: Academic Learning & Play, Hide & Seek, Highland Games, I Spy, Mother-Child Play, Play & Evolution

Helpful for: Global Studies, Humanities, History, Social Studies, Sports, Anthropology

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Sports in America

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:00:12 +0000

Encyclopedia of Sports in America: A History from Foot Races to Extreme Sports by Murry R. Nelson, Greenwood, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 796 N33

This 2-volume set identifies and describes American sports, sporting events and key athletes from 1607 through the 2000′s.

Examples include: Auto Racing in the 1910′s, College Basketball in the 1930′s, Horse Racing in the 1950′s, The Houston Astrodome and Wayne Gretzky

Helpful for: Humanities, Humanities IV, American History, Sports History

New Research Guide: Humanities IV

Lura Sanborn — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:00:09 +0000

A new Humanities IV research guide is available for those writing the Humanities IV research paper. Use this guide to identify chronologies, recommended catalog searches, historical newspaper articles, newsreel footage and online primary source collections.

Please feel free to contact Ms. Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu)for a research consultation and/or to discuss any of the items in this guide.

New Reference Book: American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:14:42 +0000

American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade edited by Bob Batchelor, Greenwood, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 973.9 B21A

A four volume set presents decade-by-decade, articles related to specific areas of Pop Culture, including:

An overview of each decade
Advertising
Architecture
Books, Newspaper, Magazines and Comics
Entertainment
Fashion
Food
Music
Sports and Leisure
Travel
Visual Arts

Examples: Ragtime (1920′s), The Pentagon (1940′s), Fads of the 1950′s, Music Festivals of the 1960′s, Dungeons and Dragons (1970′s), Harry Potter Mania (2000′s).

Helpful for: Humanities, Humanities IV Research Paper, American History, Art

Project Muse @ Ohrstrom Library

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:00:48 +0000

Ohrstrom Library is pleased to announce the addition of 400 new journals to our digital holdings.

Project Muse contains the full-text of 400 journals covering research in the Humanities, Arts, Sciences, International Studies and Social Sciences.

A complete title list is available by clicking HERE, or browse a list of journals by discipline located HERE.

In most cases, articles are added to the Project Muse database before the corresponding print issue is even mailed.

To access Project Muse, please visit Ohrstrom’s website HERE and select Project Muse from the database menu:

Contact Ohrstrom Library with questions about Project Muse or any of the Library’s other digital research collections by clicking HERE.