Ohrstrom Blog

Lura Sanborn November 3rd, 2010

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:

• Latin I
• Introduction to Islam
• Modern Environmental Literature and Ethics

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

Tags: Databases, History, Introduction to Islam, Islam, Latin I, Modern Environmental Literature and Ethics, reference, Research, research guides

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Lura Sanborn September 30th, 2010

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.

Tags: American History, Databases, Global Studies, History, Humanities, Humanities V Research Paper, reference, Religion, Science, Social History

• Databases , General Works , History , Humanities , Language , Library News , Literature , Natural Sciences , Periodicals , Religion , Research , Social Sciences , Uncategorized
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Lura Sanborn May 20th, 2010

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!

Tags: Databases, Global Studies, Humanities, Humanities IV, Humanities IV Research Paper, Humanities V, Humanities V Research Paper, primary sources, reference, Research, Web Resources

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Lura Sanborn May 6th, 2010

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

1. Explore your topic in reference books for a helpful, instant grounding in the topic.
2. As you locate useful material, cite it.  Consider using Noodlebib as your citation management tool.
3. Take note of special keywords that are specific to your topic.   Use these keywords when searching the material described below.
4. Use keyword and subject searches in Ohrstrom’s online catalog to locate books on your topic.
5. Use  JSTOR and ProQuest to find contemporary periodical articles on your topic.
6. Use the Times [of London] and the U.S. Historical Newspaper databases to search for primary source newspaper coverage on your topic.
7. Use American History in Video to search for U.S. newsreels on your topic.
8. 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.

Tags: Databases, Humanities, Humanities V, Humanities V Research Paper, reference, Research

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Lura Sanborn February 18th, 2010

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.

Tags: Databases, Humanities, Humanities V, Literature, poetry, poets, reference, Research, romantic, Romantic Poets

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