Useful Eresources

Find links to these under the eResources 2.0 page

Remember that you can access all our databases off campus!

 

Primary Sources

 

                                African American Studies Resource Center

                                HarpWeek (1857-1912)

                                New York Times (1851-2003)

                                NewsBank (Coverage only goes back approximately 20 years)

                                Newspaper Source Plus (Coverage only goes back approximately 5 years)

 

Secondary Sources

                                Academic Search Complete

Biology and Genealogy Master Index

                                Humanities International Complete

                                JSTOR

                                Military and Government Collection

                                Project Muse

                                WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org)

 

      

Tips to Keep in mind while Searching

Databases

§  Use the Advanced Search options as ways to narrow or limit your search results

§  Explore the subject terms or thesaurus terms you can use instead of a normal keyword search. (They are standardized so you don’t have to worry about synonyms or homographs)

§  After finding a useful article check the subjects or keywords attached to it. This can lead you to more efficient search terms.

§  Remember that Periodical Locator can find the full text of articles in varying databases.

 

When you come across materials you need but we don’t have full text access, fill out an Interlibrary Loan request (just remember to allow a few days for delivery).

 

Search Tips that Span the Information Universe

§  Remember to use Boolean Operators

o    AND will produce results containing BOTH terms (e.g. birds AND bees)

o    OR generates results that  contain EITHER term (e.g. dogs OR canines)

o    NOT results will include the first term, but not the second (cats NOT musical)

§  Quotation marks will isolate that phrase: “natural selection” lists results containing only that specific phrase, but results for natural selection would contain natural AND selection somewhere, not necessarily side by side.

 

 

Web Sources

Check the library’s Delicious Page: http://www.delicious.com/clblibrarian (tag History)

Primary sources from digital archives like:

                Library of Congress- American Memory: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

                Duke Libraries- Digital Collection: http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/

                Life Photo Archive: http://images.google.com/hosted/life

 

 

Evaluation Criteria

Use these questions to tell whether a source is reliable

 

§  Who is the author of this information?

Does the author have any sort of authority regarding the topic? Why they are presenting this information? Be aware that the author might have some sort of bias or alternative goal of misinformation. 

 

§  When was the information published?

If the information is a book or article, check the copyright date to make sure that the information is up to date. A good website always indicates when the page was last updated. Out of date information is just as bad as information that is completely false.

 

§  Where was the information located?

Check the type of book, magazine, or URL. A scholarly journal or book has stricter standards than popular books or magazines. If the website is affiliated with a recognized academic institution or organization, then it will usually be more trustworthy than a personal site.

 

§  Is the information accurate?

Does the author(s) provide a list of where they got their information? These lists allow you to verify their research, along with providing you with additional resources pertaining to your topic.

 

 

Additional Information

Library’s website- http://www.bridgewater.edu/library

Library’s Blog- http://www.theunclassifiedlibrary.blogspot.com

Library’s Wiki- http://www.alexmacklibrary.pbwiki.com

*Check out the Wiki for “How Tos” outlining how to use a number of our library resources, and subject guides for the major disciplines.

 

 

 

 

 

Contacting a Librarian

Reference Desk: 828-5642 or reference@bridgewater.edu

My contact information: 828-5415 or cbiddle@bridgewater.edu