Researching Library Sources

Writing the Modern Research Paper

Dees Chap. 4

Overview of the Chapter

• Researching Library Sources.

• Preparing the Working Bibliography.

• Using Bibliographies to Locate Sources.

• Using Indexes to Locate Sources.

• Reviewing Your Library Search.

A Review of the Library’s Resources helps the scholar. . . gauge the feasibility of his or her

topic.• If preliminary search turns up too many works

– a dozen books and twenty magazines articles-- • you will need to narrow your perspective.• If preliminary search turns too few works

– one encyclopedia entry and two magazine articles--

• you will need to broaden your topic.

Preparing the Working Bibliography (or a “Works Consulted List”)• List Sources on Cards on in a Computer

File• Record Needed Information for a book:

– Library Cat. Call number– Author (s), editor (s) and translators– The Title (underlined) and include the subtitle– Place of publication (city)– Publisher– Publication date– a brief note of the work’s content and

usefulness

Bibliographies• Location:

– At the end of books (or chapters), encyclopedia entries, articles, sometimes magazines, web sites.

– Exist as books themselves

• Types– Selective--Quick overview

– Annotated or descriptive--General content

– Evaluative--the scholar's judgment on content

– General--reference books describing the lists in other books.

If available become Familiar with General Bibliographies• Bibliographic Index--look up author or

subject to find other bibliographies• A World Bibliography of Bibliographies--

international in scope.• The New York Times Guide to Reference

Materials• Guide to Reference Books  MVNU Call #

Z1035.1 .G89 1996

Other Bibliographies

• Trade Bibliographies– Books in Print--gives a blip about the contents

and the audience.• Titles

• Authors

• Subjects

• Publishers

Using Indexes to Locate Sources

• Periodical Indexes– Some Magazines publish their own indexes: National

Geographic.

– Popular magazine indexes • The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature AI3 .R48

– Specific topic periodical indexes• Christian Periodical Index Christian Periodical Index AI3 .C5

• Index to Book reviews in Religion : IBRR : an aut AI3 .I53

Know the Difference between Periodicals:

• Magazines– They are aimed at general audiences and vary greatly in their

authority.

– However, articles in magazines may not bed for every kind of research. They are best used when the scholar needs current, non-technical information and opinion about a subject.

– When in doubt check with me.

• Journals– They are aimed at scholars or audiences with specifically

expertise in a subject.

Types of Journal Indexes

• Social Science Index

• Social Sciences Citation Index– The permute Subject Index– The Source Index– Number of times published

• MLA Bibliography

• Journal Abstracts

Newspaper Indexes

• New York Times Index

• The Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

Newspapers are especially valuable for current facts and opinions. They do not provide the studies or scholarly insights journals or magazine offer. But the are valuable for current information on economics , social trends, politics, sporting events, crimes and fashion (75).