san antonio college
One of the Alamo Community Colleges
Library
 |
Library Instruction
|
DEFINE TOPIC
This first part is designed to assist you in limiting or defining your research topic. These sources are some of the SAC reference materials that can be used to do general research.
Begin with general encyclopedias: |
||
| Ref AE5 .E333 | Encyclopedia Americana | |
| Ref AE5 .E363 | New Encyclopędia Britannica | |
Try specialized encyclopedias or handbooks: | ||
| Ref BL65 .P7 E53 2007 | Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion | |
| Ref BL312 .G64 2005 | Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology | |
| Ref DS822.5 .E516 2002 | Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture | |
| Ref KF3941.A68 U88 2000 | Encyclopedia of Food and Culture | |
| Ref HM626 .E53 2006 | Encyclopedia of Human Development | |
| Ref HV7436 .C76 2003 | Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights | |
| Ref JV6012 .I56 2005 | Immigration and Asylum : from 1900 to the Present | |
| Ref QC981.8.G56 J643 2006 | Global Warming in the 21st Century | |
| Ref QH360.2 .R53 2007 | Encyclopedia of Evolution | |
| Ref RC564 .G95 2006 | Encyclopedia of Addictions and Addictive Behaviors | |
| Ref TX370 .S63 2006 | Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food | |
Dictionaries: | ||
| Ready Reference | New Oxford American Dictionary | |
Specialized Dictionaries: | ||
| Ref BF31 .A65 2007 | APA Dictionary of Psychology | |
| Ref Q123 .A5178 2005 | American Heritage Science Dictionary | |
| Ref R121 .M894 2006 | Mosby's Medical Dictionary | |
Statistics: | ||
| Ref HA202 | Statistical Abstract of the United States | |
| Ref HA202 .H57 2006 | Historical Statistics of the United States | |
| Ref HA202 .K87 2004 | Datapedia of the United States : American History in Numbers | |
DEVISE STRATEGY
Once you have defined your topic, you will need to know where to search for additional information. The sources you use are often determined by the instructor or assignment. You will need to make a list of keywords to search the library catalog, databases, and the Web.
SEARCH SOURCES
Begin at the library's home page at http://www.accd.edu/sac/library/
Searching these sources can be as easy as using the index of a book or it may involve advanced searching methods used in the catalog, databases, or Web search engines. Use your list of keywords to search in the following:
Click on Books & Media to search the catalog for books, government documents, microforms, audiovisuals, and electronic/digital resources. You may search by author, title, subject, and keyword. On the keyword search page on the right are examples of boolean operators (and, or, and not) and wildcards (*) (**) (?).
Examples of keyword searches:
- advertising and wom?n
- fast food or junk food
- global warming or greenhouse effect
- gun control or fire arms
- japan* and culture
- myth* and encyc**
- stratificaion or (distribution and wealth)
To access eBooks go to netLibrary.
Click on Articles & Reference to search for magazine, journal, newspaper articles, reference, and more. The following databases may be helpful for your assignment:
If you have not selected a topic for your research, you may want to look at the following databases:
Full text articles may be emailed to your address, downloaded, or printed after purchasing a print card. If an article is not full text it may be available in another database or in paper or microfilm on the 4th floor. Check Journals by Title to see if the article appears in another SAC database, or do a title search in the catalog to see if the library subscribes to the journal you need.
Click on Web Guides to find additional sources on the Web. For example click on Hot Topics, Japan, or Writing & Research Guides.
© 2008 Susan Myers (smyers@mail.accd.edu)
Updated on:
September 10, 2008
URL: http://www.accd.edu/sac/library/faculty/susan/general.htm
San Antonio College Library, 1001 Howard Street, San Antonio, TX 78212
Office: (210) 785-6201 * Reference Desk: (210) 733-2477 * Computer Monitoring