SIERRA COLLEGE LIBRARY/LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER

These are suggestions for researching a term paper using resources here at Sierra College. As you proceed in your research, remember to record the call number and bibliographic information for every source. For a book this would include the author, title, publisher, date and place of publication and specific page numbers.

1. Use the ONLINE CATALOG to find books that can be checked out as well as reference books and audio-visual materials that can be used in the library. For subject searching, the catalog uses subject headings from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), which may be consulted at the Reference Desk.

2. Use the RESEARCH DATABASES available on the computer statios near the reference desk or from your home computer, including:

PROQUEST RESEARCH LIBRARY for full-text magazine and journal articles going back as far as the 1980s. ProQuest can also be used as an index for citations to articles not available full-text in ProQuest but in print/microform at Sierra or other libraries. Check our periodicals list to find print and online periodicals available at Sierra.

PROQUEST NEWSPAPERS for full-text articles from national newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

SEARCH ENGINES for Internet searching.

3. Use REFERENCE BOOKS as fact finders, or for summaries, statistics, resource lists and articles on your subject:

CQ Researcher (R 070.412 E23)
Dictionary of Art (R 703 D554)
Encyclopedia of Bioethics (R 174.203 E56p)
Encyclopedia of Women and Gender (R 305.403 E56)
Famous First Facts (R031.058 F142)
Grizmek's Animal Life Encyclopedia (R590.3 G895)
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (R540.3 H236)
Handbook of Child Psychology (R 155 H236c)
Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (R 616.075 M555)
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (R 001.01 N532h)
New Grove Dictionary of American Music (R 781.773 N532)
Occupational Outlook Handbook (R331.702 O15)
Reader's Companion to American History (R 973.03 R285)
Statistical Abstract, U.S. (R 310 U58s)
Time Almanac (R 310.I43)
Wiley Encyclopedia of Energy and the Environment (R 333.7903 W676)
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life (R 305.8003 W927g)
...and others

4. Use BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES (R 920-929) to find out about the personalities within your subject:

Biography Index--for articles in periodicals and in books of individual and collective biographies.
Encyclopedia of World Biography (R 920.003 E56)
American National Biography (R 920.073 A512)
Contemporary Authors (R 928.1 C761)
Current Biography (R 920 C93)
Notable Black American Women (R 920.72 N899)
Notable Mathematicians (R 510.922 N898)
Who's Who is America (R 920 W62)
...and others

5. Use GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS for an overview of the topic:

Britannica (R 031 B852)
Encyclopedia Americana (R031 E56)
Hispanica (R 036 E56h)
World Book (R 031 W927)
...and others

6. Use ATLASES (see atlas and map cases) to relate geography to your subject:

National Geographic Atlas of the World (R 912 N277)
Firefly Atlas of the Universe (R 520 M823)
Oxford Atlas of World History (R 912 O980)
Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (R 912.38 B276)
Official Military Atlas of the Civil War (R 973.73 U58)
...and others

7. Ask a REFERENCE LIBRARIAN if you need more assistance.

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