Ohrstrom Blog » Databases

The Library in Your Lap

Lura Sanborn — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:16 +0000

This phrase, coined by current senior, RG ’12, is such a great way of expressing the always available digital content purchased/subscribed to by Ohrstrom library.

When you are off the SPS grounds, such as during the upcoming Winter Break, simply visit vpn.sps.edu and log in with your SPS credentials. All of the library’s digital holdings will now become available, including:

Analog hungry? Stop by the library before the break to pick up a physical book(s). We will be happy to provide an extended due date.

Image courtesy of rogdorf under this Creative Common license.

eBook Collection Highlight: Study Guides & College Admissions

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:00:37 +0000

Read Ohrstrom’s eBook collections while away for the summer! Simply visit vpn.sps.edu & log in using your SPS user name and password.

Next, click on the library link and search the library catalog.

To retrieve only eBooks, use the advanced search feature to limit by item type ‘eBook.’

Preparing for college admission? Consider a subject search for “Universities and Colleges, Admission.”

Studying for entrance exams? Consider a subject search for “SAT, Study Guides.”

All of Ohrstrom’s eBooks can be read on a personal computer. No special e-reader is required. Happy e-reading!

E-Journal Finder: What is it?

Lura Sanborn — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:22:16 +0000

E-Journal Finder: What is it?

The library’s database collection provides access to tens of thousands of digital magazines, newspapers and journals.

The library’s e-journal finder is a master list of all these thousands of magazines, newspapers and journals housed within the library’s database collection.

Use the e-journal finder to determine if the library’s databases provide access to titles such as: the Concord Monitor, American Fern Journal or Western Folklore.

The e-journal finder will not only identify if and where particular titles can be found, it will also link to that same title as housed within the associated database(s).

New Research Guides

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:50:08 +0000

The end of term is near, as is the due-date for many projects. Three new guides were created in LibGuides to assist those working on projects in the following courses:

And as always, feel free to stop in and chat, or send an email for a person-to-person research consultation.

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.

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!

Research Process – The Fifth Form Paper

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:01 +0000

Below are a few tips offered to those of you approaching the Humanities V research paper. Consider consulting the Humanities V Research Guide for a more detailed list of research sources including: reference books, magazines, databases, journal articles, and the free web.

Recommended Research Process

Explore your topic in reference books for a helpful, instant grounding in the topic.
As you locate useful material, cite it. Consider using Noodlebib as your citation management tool.
Take note of special keywords that are specific to your topic. Use these keywords when searching the material described below.
Use keyword and subject searches in Ohrstrom’s online catalog to locate books on your topic.
Use JSTOR and ProQuest to find contemporary periodical articles on your topic.
Use the Times [of London] and the U.S. Historical Newspaper databases to search for primary source newspaper coverage on your topic.
Use American History in Video to search for U.S. newsreels on your topic.
Note: Research rarely goes exactly as planned. You may find you need to veer from, re-sort or revisit the steps listed here.

Most importantly: Please feel free to ask a Librarian for help at any step along the way.

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!