Spring 2003 - Ann Zulawski
reference contact: Pamela Skinner x2961

FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Use scholarly encyclopedias, such as those below, for an overview of your topic, a list of suggested readings, and (sometimes) a lead on related primary source material. Note that the list below is highly selective. Ask at the reference desk for other suggestions.

General:

FIND BOOKS

5 College Library Catalog

Note that the "correct" subject heading isn't always obvious. If a subject search doesn't work, try a keyword search to find a few relevant titles. Then click on the subject headings on those records to conduct a more comprehensive subject search. Remember that the catalog is split into two databases: 4-College and UMass.

For books on Cuba's history and its political, economic, social, and environmental conditions, click on Subject Heading and use these phrases:

Often there are multiple ways to search the same general topic:

Remember to search individuals as both authors and subjects:

WorldCat
Use WorldCat to expand your search for books beyond the Five-College area. Watch for items that are owned by only one library: such unique material is often not obtainable via interlibrary loan. If you plan to use interlibrary loan to request books and theses, please allow at least 2 weeks for delivery.

A SAMPLING OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Bibliographies list published research (and sometimes primary source material) on a topic. Watch for the words "bibliography," "indexes," or "abstracts" as you search by subject in the Five College Library Catalog. Examples:

General:

FIND ARTICLES & ESSAYS

Use the databases below to identify articles and essays on your topic. While these databases aren't completely full-text, they list thousands of scholarly articles you won't find on the Internet or in the smaller full-text collections such as J-STOR and ProjectMuse. Once you identify an article of interest, use the 5-College Catalog and the new Electronic Journal Locator to see if Smith has the articles either in print or electronic format. If you need to use interlibrary loan to requests articles, allow 1-2 weeks (though often the articles arrive within days).

The major Latin American history databases:

Historical Abstracts 1956+ [Covers non-US, non-Canadian history. Lists articles, books, collections, and dissertations, with links to some full-text.]

HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index 1970+ [Citations to articles and other materials from 400+ journals, on Central & South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, U.S.-Mexico border & U.S. Hispanics.]

Handbook of Latin American Studies 1935+ [ Lists books, essays, and journal articles.]

News:

CountryWatch

Cuba Free Press Project

Granma Internacional

Prensa Latina

Trabajadores

Lexis-Nexis Academic [select World News, then North/South American News Sources or Non-English Language News, then Spanish Language News]

Other possibilities:

America, History and Life [Covers US and Canadian history. Lists articles, book reviews, collections, and dissertations, with links to some full-text.]

Arts and Humanities Search [Covers history, religion, literature, etc.]

ATLA Religion Database [Contains some full-text.]

EBSCO Host [Trial subscription; no off-campus access; contains full text for 3,300 scholarly publications in all disciplines.]

Expanded Academic Index [Contains some full-text, with a mix of scholarly and popular articles in all disciplines.]

Humanities Abstracts [Covers the core history journals; contains some full-text.]

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences [Lists articles from 2,600 international publications in the fields of economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology.]

MLA Bibliography [Literature.]

Social Sciences Abstracts [Covers the core economics, political science, sociology, etc. journals; contains some full-text.]

Sociological Abstracts

Viva: A Bibliography of Women's History in Historical and Women's Studies Journals

Wilson Select Full Text [Contains a mix of scholarly and popular articles.]

Women's Studies International

Scholarly, Full-Text Databases:

Project Muse [Full-text articles from major history journals, among other disciplines; coverage limited to ca. current three years.]

J-STOR [Full-text articles from major history journals, among other disciplines; coverage lags ca. three years behind printed version of journals.]

LOCATING PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL

• In addition to the primary source material available in the Sophia Smith Collection and College Archives, there is an abundance of primary source material in Neilson Library.
• Use secondary literature for leads on primary sources.
• The form your primary source material takes will vary from topic to topic. It may be a diary, correspondence, or personal papers; newspaper accounts or editorials; or the records of an organization or religious body. It may be a law, treaty, court case, or other legal document, testimony at hearings on an issue, or debate on the floor of Congress. For some topics, there will be compilations of significant documents.
• As you search the online catalog, watch for the words "personal narratives," "interviews," "correspondence," "pamphlets," and "sources" as part of the subject headings. Other clues may be buried in the title, authorship, date of publication, etc.

Examples of Primary Source Material Available in Neilson Library

Internet

Avalon Project at the Yale Law School

LANIC: Latin American Network Information Center:

REFERENCE DESK HOURS

Weekdays:
Monday - Friday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (reference librarian)

Weekday Evenings:
Monday: 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. (reference librarian)
Tuesday- Thursday: 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. (reference assistant w/ reference librarian on-call)

Weekends:
Saturday: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. (reference librarian)
Sunday: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. (reference librarian)
Sunday: 7 p.m. - 10 p.m (reference assistant w/ reference librarian on-call)

CONTACT THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN

Contact Pamela Skinner, the instructor for your library session: pskinner@smith.edu

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