Research & Computing Help
Research Help
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- 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
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Leslie Mollner
Reference & Instruction Librarian
mollner@macalester.edu
(651) 696-6502 |
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Beth Hillemann
Reference & Instruction Librarian
hillemann@macalester.edu
(651) 696-6704
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Computing Help
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- 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.
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Selected Reference Resources for this Course |
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Columbia gazetteer of the world
Location: MAC Reference G103.5 .C645 1998
Edited by Saul B. Cohen. New York : Columbia University Press,
1998.
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Location: MAC Online Reference Resource, Oxford
Reference Online
Susan Mayhew. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
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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.
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Location: MAC Online Reference Resource, Xreferplus
Keith Lye. Philip's, Octopus Publishing Group, 2001.
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Ward's motor vehicle facts & figures
Location: MAC Reference HD9710.U5 M63a 2002
Southfield, Mich. : Ward's Communications, c1999-
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Worldmark encyclopedia of the nations
Location: MAC Reference G63 .W67 2001
Gale Group staff--Shelly Dickey, project editor ... Rita Runchock,
managing editor]. Detroit : Gale Group, c2001.
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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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Statistical Resources
- What? Use statistics
to support your research question. Be specific about the type
of statistics you seek. Keep in mind that the more variables involved
(e.g. statistics for multiple countries, statistics for multiple
ethnic groups, statistics covering a long period of time, etc.)
the more complex your search may be.
- When? Finding
statistics can be a complex and lengthy process. Start searching
for statistics as soon as possible if you know that you will need
them for your research.
- Where? Use the
CLICnet
Catalog to search for resources in the Reference
Collection or ask a Librarian to help you find relevant Reference
resources to help you with your research. Sometimes statistical
information is available via the Internet.
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Selected Statistical Resources for this Course |
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Location: Web Resource
U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Government
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts
& Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Reference Resource (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Congressional Information Service,
Inc., LexisNexis
Description: Comprehensive index to statistical
information from Congressional Information Service, Inc. The service
allows users to search summaries of statistical publications,
then link to the full-text of selected publications on Statistical
Universe and government Web sites. Includes some international
statistics.
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Location: Web Resource
United Nations
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National transportation statistics
Location: MAC Reference HE203 .T76a
Prepared by Research and Special Programs Administration, Transportation
Systems Center, Transportation Information Division, Statistical
Information Reporting Branch.
Pub info Cambridge, Mass. : The Branch ; [Washington, D.C. : For
sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.
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Location: MAC Ref HA202 (and online via the
Web)
Prepared by the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department.
Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 1879-
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Location: Web Resource
University of Michigan Documents Center
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Transportation statistics annual report
Location: MAC Reference HE202.5 .T747
Washington, D.C. : Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Dept.
of Transportation, 1994-
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Location: Web Resource
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation,
U.S. Government
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Finding Books & More: Catalogs
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Finding Articles & More : Indexes & Electronic
Collections
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Selected Indexes & Electronic Collections
for this Course |
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Geography Indexes |
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Chemistry, Environmental
Science, Geography
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: National Agricultural
Library, U.S. Department of Agriculture, OCLC FirstSearch
Description: Index to agricultural sciences including
aspects of environmental issues related to agriculture.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Environmental Science,
Geography, Geology
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: OCLC FirstSearch
Description: International index to the literature
of geology, geography and ecology. Coverage includes journals,
books, monographs, conference proceedings, and reports.
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Geographical Abstracts. Human Geography
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Coverage: 1989 - |
Location: MAC Reference G1 .G474
Resource Type: Print Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Elsevier Science Publishing
Company, Geographical Abstracts
Description: Indexes articles and books covering
research published in economic geography, social geography, and
planning studies. Includes a subject and author indexes. Earlier
editions of Geographical Abstracts are divided into 6 subject
areas and can be found in the Reference Collection under REF G1
.G47 (Date Coverage Varies). For Physical Geography, see Geographical
Abstracts. Physical Geography at REF G1 .G478.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Geography
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: American Geographical Society Library
Description: Online geography index for the print
publication, Current Geographical Publications. Searching is available
for issues back to 1985 and users can browse the most current
issue of the print publication.
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Transportation Indexes |
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Coverage: Date Varies |
Location: Web Resource
Publisher/Vendor: Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
U.S. Department of Transportation
Description: Repository of technical, research
and policy documents provided by federal, state, local, tribal
and other government agencies. Links are to government and other
significant websites and documents, especially USDOT and state
sites.
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Coverage: Date Varies |
Location: Web Resource
Publisher/Vendor: National Transportation Library,
FirstSearch
Description: Transportation-related books and
other materials held in government, university and other transportation
libraries.
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Coverage: |
Location: Web Resource
Publisher/Vendor: Northwestern University Transporation
Library
Description: Contains bibliographic and location
information for magazine articles, conference papers, and other
material on transportation and law enforcement topics. Coverage
in the online file generally extends back through 1979 and for
scholarly journals generally back through 1976. Other articles
on topics of current interest, e.g., the third Chicago Airport
or articles issued through the Transportation Center or the Center
for Public Safety (nee, The Traffic Institute), published prior
to 1979, have been added to the file.
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Coverage: 1976 - |
Location: Web Resource
Publisher/Vendor: National Transportation Library,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Trasportation
Description: Contains almost half a million records
of references to books, technical reports, conference proceedings,
journal articles and on-going research in the field of transportation.
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General & Multidisciplinary Indexes |
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts
& Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: 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.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Economics
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: EBSCOhost, EBSCO
Publishing
Description: Provides full text for nearly 3,800
scholarly business journals, including full text for more than
1,100 peer-reviewed business publications. Coverage includes virtually
all subject areas related to business. This database provides
full text (PDF) for more than 350 of the top scholarly journals
dating as far back as 1922.
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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.
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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.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (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 sciences. It indexes more than 5,700 major journals across
164 scientific disciplines. A feature of this index is the inclusion
of all cited references.
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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.
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Selected Web Resources for this Course |
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Location: Web Resource
Department of Tranpsportation, United States Government
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Location: Web Resource
Hofstra University, Centre for Research on Transportation of Université
de Montréal, Industry Canada
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Location: Web Resource
Northwestern University
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Location: Web Resource
National Academy of Science, National Academies
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Location: Web Resource
United States Government
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Location: Web Resource
United States Government
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Location: Web Resource
American Public Transportation Association
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Evaluating Research Materials
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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
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- 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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