Information Services DeWitt Wallace Library Macalester College
Course Guide
 

Course Research Guide for ANTH 194: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

 


Research & Computing Help

Research Help

 
  • What? Librarians will help with research questions related to choosing a research topic or question, finding background information, choosing and searching within Library catalogs and subscription resources, finding books and articles at Macalester, requesting materials from other libraries, finding statistics, evaluating research resources, etc.

  • When? Monday-Thursday 8am-9pm, Friday 8am-4:30pm, Saturday 1pm-5pm, Sunday 1pm-9pm. Librarians can also help through email, consultation sessions, and chat. See More Help in this section for additional information about these types of help.

  • Where? The Reference Desk is located just inside the main doors of the Library and to your right.

  • More Help

    Leslie Mollner
Reference & Instruction Librarian
mollner@macalester.edu
(651) 696-6502
  Rogan, Pete
Acad. Info. Assoc. - Social Sciences
rogan@macalester.edu
(651) 696-6180
 

Computing Help

 
  • What? CIT (Computing and Information Technology) staff members and student employees will help you with questions related to computer hardware and software, the network, email, printing, passwords and online accounts, etc.

  • When? Monday-Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday 8am-4pm, Sunday 4pm-10pm.

  • Where? The Computing Help Desk office is located in the Humanities Building, Room 310.

  • More Help

    • Find more information and help on the Computing Help Desk Web page.

    • Call the CIT (Computing & Information Technology) Computing Help Desk at x6525 [Off Campus (651) 696-6525] to speak directly to a consultant or leave a message.

    • Email the Computing Help Desk to report a problem or ask a question.

    • Use CIT Documentation, instructional handouts explaining systems and software, for help with computer, application, program, and network questions.


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Reference Resources

  • What? Reference materials include resources like dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, handbooks, statistical materials, etc.

  • When? Use resources in the Reference Collection to find background information on your topic area when you start your research projects.

  • Where? Reference Collection Library Map. Use the CLICnet Catalog to search for resources in the Reference Collection. Print books are shelved under Library of Congress Call Numbers, including both letters and numbers, based on their subject matter.


 

Selected Reference Resources for this Course

 

Countries and their cultures

Location: MAC Ref GN307 .C68 2001
Melvin Ember and Carol R. Ember, editors. New York : Macmillan Reference USA, 2001.

 

Encyclopedia of China : the essential reference to China, its history and culture


Location: MAC Ref DS705 .P47 1999
Dorothy Perkins. New York : Facts on File, c1999.

 

Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol empire

Location: MAC Ref DS798.4 .A88 2004
Christopher P. Atwood. New York : Facts On File, c2004.

 

Encyclopedia of world cultures

Location: MAC Ref GN307 .E53 1991
David Levinson, editor in chief. Boston, Mass. : G.K. Hall, 1991-1996. (vol. 9: Africa)

 

Europa world year book

Location: MAC Ref JN1 .E85
London, England : Europa Publications Limited, c1989-

 

Oxford Reference Online

All Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource Coverage: Current | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Electronic Reference Resource (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Oxford University Press
Description: Resource of reference materials including about 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. Provides database-wide searching, subject searching across sources, and individual title searching.

 

Political handbook of the world

Location: MAC Ref JF37 .P6
New York : Published for the Center for Comparative Political Research of the State University of New York at Binghamton and for the Council on Foreign Relations by McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1975-

 

Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life

Location: MAC Ref GN333 .W67 1997
Timothy L. Gall, Editor. Detroit : Gale, c1998.

 

Worldmark encyclopedia of national economies

Location: MAC Ref HC15 .W675 2002
Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, editors. Detroit : Gale Group/Thomson Learning, c2002.

 

Worldmark encyclopedia of the nations

Location: MAC Ref G63 .W67 2001
[Gale Group staff--Shelly Dickey, project editor ... Rita Runchock, managing editor]. Detroit : Gale Group, c2001.

 

New Resource Xreferplus

All Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource Coverage: Current | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Electronic Reference Resource (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Xrefer
Description: Resource of reference materials providing access to about 150 online reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations from a variety of publishers. Covers both general reference and subject-specific reference titles for a variety of disciplines. Allows cross-referencing across different books and provides a unique, graphics-based Research Mapper for topic exploration.


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Finding Books & More: Catalogs

  • What? A catalog is a record of items and materials owned, or subscribed to, by a particular library or group of libraries. Here at Macalester our online catalog is called CLICnet.

  • When? Catalogs are the primary research tool to use when you need to find books. A catalog will allow you to search by the title or author of an item and also provide you with different ways to find research materials by topic.

  • Where? Print books are shelved under Library of Congress Call Numbers, including both letters and numbers, based on their subject matter. See the Library's Locating Books at Macalester Web page for more information.


    • CLICnet - Books and other materials owned by Macalester's Library

    • MNCAT - Books and other materials owned by the University of Minnesota



    What if I want a book that is not available at Macalester?

    If the book is available at another school in the CLICnet Catalog: Use the red "Request" button that appears in the catalog near the top of the page in the record for the item.

    If the book is NOT available in the CLICnet Catalog: Submit an Interlibrary Loan request. Please see the Library's Interlibrary Loan - Borrowing Policy Web page for more information.

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Finding Articles & More : Indexes & Electronic Collections

  • What? Indexes are subscription databases, or a set of print volumes, that provide information about research materials by subject. Many indexes are multidisciplinary in nature, containing research information covering a variety of disciplines. The Library pays for Macalester community members to have access to these packages.

  • When? Use indexes when you need to find information about articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, and reference sources for you research projects. Many of these resources also include information about other research materials such as books, book chapters, government publications, working papers, conference proceedings, Web sites, statistical resources, etc.

  • Where? The fulltext of an article is sometimes available in a particular online index or we may subscribe to the print version of a journal you need. Use the Journal Finder Catalog to determine if the Library subscribes to a particular journal or other periodical either online or in print in the Library.




    What if I want an article that is not available in an online or print journal at Macalester?

    If the article is not available in print or online journal at Macalester: Submit an Interlibrary Loan request. Please see the Library's Interlibrary Loan - Borrowing Policy Web page for more information.

 

Selected Indexes & Electronic Collections for this Course

 

New Resource Academic Search Premier Electronic Library of Minnesota Resource

Partial Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource Coverage: 1975 - | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: EBSCOhost, EBSCO Publishing
Description: Provides full text for nearly 4,600 scholarly publications, including full text for more than 3,500 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1975.

 

Anthropological Literature

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: Late 19th Century - | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Anthropology, Humanities & Cultural Studies
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Tozzer Library, Harvard University, RLG, Eureka
Description: Comprehensive index for the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and related interdisciplinary research. Includes articles, essays in books, reports, commentaries, and obituaries.

 

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI)

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: 1975 - | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities)
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Thomson ISI, Web of Knowledge
Description: Multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. It indexes 1,144 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 6,800 major science and social science journals. A feature of this index is the inclusion of all cited references.

 

Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS)

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource Coverage: 1971 - | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Asian Studies, History, International Studies, Humanities & Cultural Studies
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: Association for Asian Studies
Description: Indexes Western language literature including books, chapters from books, periodical articles and pamphlets on Asian studies.

 

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)

All Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource Coverage: 1991 - | Search Help

Discipline/Topic Areas: International Studies, Political Science
Resource Type:
Ejournal & Etext Collection (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Columbia University Press
Description: Indexes articles, books, conference proceedings and working papers in the field of public policy and international affairs.

 

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)

Partial Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: 1966 - | Search Help

Discipline/Topic Areas: Education
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
U.S. Department of Education, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA)
Description: Index to journal articles, educational research reports, curricula, dissertations, conference papers, etc. in the field of education.

 

Historical Abstracts

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: 1954 -

Discipline/Topic Areas: History, International Studies, Humanities & Cultural Studies
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
ABC-CLIO
Description: Index to journal articles in the area of world history. Covers topics from 1450-present and currently includes over 2,000 journals published throughout the world. The U.S. and Canada are excluded from coverage, but are included in the America History and Life database.

 

JSTOR

All Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: Date Varies | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Ejournal Collection (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
JSTOR
Description: Large collection of core scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Fulltext back to their date of first publication to within the current 2-5 years.

 

LexisNexis Academic

Partial Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource Coverage: Date Varies | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
LexisNexis
Description: Fulltext articles from newspapers, trade magazines, legal resources, medical resources, and several reference sources.

 

PAIS International (PAIS/Public Affairs Information Service International)

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: 1972 - | Search Help

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
OCLC Public Affairs Information Service, Inc., OCLC FirstSearch
Description: Index to journals, books, government and international publications covering global public policy and social issues.

 

Project MUSE

All Electronic Fulltext Resource Electronic Resource Coverage: Date Varies | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type:
Ejournal Collection (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Johns Hopkins University Press, Project MUSE
Description: Searchable collection of fulltext journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences.

 

Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: 1985 - | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Social Sciences)
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Thomson ISI, Web of Knowledge
Description: Multidisciplinary database with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the social sciences. It indexes more than 1,725 journals spanning 50 disciplines, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals. A feature of this index is the inclusion of all cited references.

 

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

No Electronic Fulltext Available Electronic Resource SFX Enabled Resource

Coverage: 1975 - | Search Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: International Studies, Political Science
Resource Type:
Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor:
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA)
Description: Covers over 1000 journals that cover political science related fields including law, public administration/policy, and international relations.


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Web Research

  • What? The Internet is used to access information stored in files or documents on another computer. When you use the Internet, you retrieve documents, view images, programs, animation, and video, listen to sound files, speak and hear voice, via the World Wide Web. (From the UC Berkeley Library Web site)

  • When? Use the Web to start your research. Like Reference Collection resources, Websites can help with finding background information for your research project.

  • Where? Use a Web browser like Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Safari, Netscape, Avant, or Opera to access information via the Internet. No single search engine can claim to even come close to searching the entire Web. For best results, use multiple search engines.


    • Google - A great search engine to start with when surfing and searching on the Web.

    • Search Engine Watch - Access additional search engines. Also find information and reviews about these search engines.
 

Selected Web Resources for this Course

 

CIA - The World Factbook - Mongolia

Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Government

 

Mongolia - A Country Study

Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, U.S. Government

 

United Nations in Mongolia

United Nations



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Evaluating Research Materials

Evaluating research materials involves analyzing a resource to determine its usefulness and appropriateness with respect to your research project. Evaluation is important during all phases of a research project. You must select the best and most appropriate resources for your research.

Criteria to Consider When Evaluating Research Materials:

  • Accuracy

  • Author(s) or Creating Body

  • Authority

  • Bias or Point of View

  • Coverage

  • Criticism or Reviews

  • Currency or Date of Publication
  • Edition or Revision

  • Intended Audience

  • Level of Scholarship

  • Organization, Structure, and Design

  • Purpose or Function

  • Scope

  • Type of Material

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Borrowing Materials & Interlibrary Loan

  • What? Interlibary Loan, or ILL, is a DeWitt Wallace Library service that allows current Macalester students, staff, and faculty to request materials not available at Macalester.

  • When? If Macalester does not own, or subscribe to, the research material you need, you can ask the Library to try and borrow the item from another Library in the area.

  • Where? The Library uses a system called ILLiad that allows you to place requests for materials and track the status of these requested materials.



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Citing Your Resources

  • What? Giving credit to the ideas of other scholars when you use their work or research in developing your own project.

  • When? You must cite a resource whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to the work of another.

  • Where? Citing a source usually includes parenthetical documentation or use of a footnote within the text of your project as well as creating a works cited reference list at the end of your project using a specific citation style. See the Library's Citing Resources Guide Web page for more information.


    • RefWorks - Service that allows you to download, organize, annotate, and search citations you find during your research as well as create in-text citations and works cited bibliographies for your papers.

Common Citation Style Manuals

Chicago Manual of Style
Chicago : The Press, 1982-
MAC Ref Z253 .U69 2003

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
Joseph Gibaldi. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
MAC Ref LB2369 .G53 2003

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, c2001.
MAC Ref BF76.7 .P83 2001


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