Course Research Guide for AMST/SOCI 285-01 : Asian American Community and Identity

• Research Help
  
  
• Reference Resources
  
  
• Statistical Resources
  
  
• Finding Books: Catalogs
  
  
• Finding Articles & More : Indexes

• Web Research
  
  
• Evaluating Research Materials
  
  
• Borrowing Materials & Interlibrary Loan
  
  
• Citing Your Resources

• 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
  
  
  • Sign Up for a Reference Consultation Session with a Librarian using the Library's Ask Us service (Limited Hours).
    
    
  • Call the Reference Desk at x6618 [Off Campus (651) 696-6618].
    
    
  • Send an Email Reference Question using the Library's Ask Us service.
    
    
  • Chat with a Librarian using the Library's Ask Us service (Limited Hours).
    
    
  • Contact your Instruction Session Librarian.

• 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.
  
  
  
  • Electronic Reference Resources - Collection of subscription reference packages

Selected Reference Resources for this Course

American immigrant cultures : builders of a nation

Location: MAC Ref E184.A1 A63448 1997
Authors/Editors: David Levinson and Melvin Ember, editors in chief.
Publication Info: New York : Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997.

Asian American encyclopedia

Location: MAC Ref E184.O6 A827 1995
Authors/Editors: Editor, Franklin Ng ; managing editor, John D. Wilson.
Publication Info: New York : Marshall Cavendish, c1995.

Columbia documentary history of race and ethnicity in America

Location: MAC Ref E184.A1 C57 2004
Authors/Editors: Edited by Ronald H. Bayor.
Publication Info: New York : Columbia University Press, c2004.

Encyclopedia of world cultures

Location: MAC Ref GN307 .E53 1991
Authors/Editors: David Levinson, editor in chief.
Publication Info: Boston, Mass. : G.K. Hall, 1991-1996.

Encyclopedia of multiculturalism

Location: MAC Ref E184.A1 E58 1994
Authors/Editors: Editor, Susan Auerbach.
Publication Info: New York : Marshall Cavendish, c1994.

Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America

Location: MAC Ref E184.A1 G14 2000
Authors/Editors: Contributing editor, Robert von Dassanowsky ; edited by Jeffrey Lehman.
Publication Info: Detroit : Gale Group, 2000.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online

Coverage: Current | Help

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Reference Resource (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Description: Fulltext of the Encyclopaedia with links to Internet resources.

Oxford Reference Online

Coverage: Current | 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.

Xreferplus

Coverage: Current | 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.

• 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.

Selected Statistical Resources for this Course

County and city data book

Location: MAC Ref HA202 .A36 (and online via the Web)
Publication Info: [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census : [For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.], 1952-

LexisNexis Statistical

Coverage: Current | Help | Title List

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.

Statistical abstract of the United States

Location: MAC Ref HA202 (and online via the Web)
Authors/Editors: Prepared by the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department.
Publication Info: Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 1879-

We the People: Asian in the United States

Location: Web Resource
Publisher: United States Government, Census Bureau

• 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.

• 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 your 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.
  
  
  
  • Indexes & Electronic Collections by Title - Subscription databases and other electronic collections available at Macalester.

  
  
  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

Multidisciplinary Indexes

Academic Search Premier

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.

Alternative Press Index (AltPressIndex)

Coverage: 1991 - | Help

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: Alternative Press Center, OCLC FirstSearch
Description: International and interdisciplinary database that indexes periodicals covering cultural, economic, political and social change. Includes citation information for nearly 300 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers, and magazines. Abstracts are also provided for selected research journals.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI)

Coverage: 1975 - | 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.

JSTOR

Coverage: Date Varies | Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type: Ejournal Collection (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: JSTOR
Description: Large archival 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.

Left Index

Coverage: 1982 -

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: NISC BiblioLine
Description: Provides access to the diversity of literature on the left, with a primary emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. A secondary emphasis is on significant but little known sources of news and ideas. Topics covered include the labor movement, ecology & environment, race & ethnicity, social & cultural theory, sociology, art & aesthetics, philosophy, history, education, law, and globalization.

LexisNexis Academic

Coverage: Date Varies | 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.

MasterFILE Premier

Coverage: Date Varies | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index & Reference Collection (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: EBSCOhost, EBSCO Publishing
Description: Provides full text for more than 2,000 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1975. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also includes more than 350 full text reference books, 84,074 biographies, 86,132 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of 107,135 photos, maps and flags.

Project MUSE

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)

Coverage: 1985 - | 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.

Discipline-Specific Indexes

America: History & Life

Coverage: 1964 -

Discipline/Topic Areas: African American Studies, American Studies, History
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor Information: ABC-CLIO
Description: Indexes articles from journals, books, and dissertations in the area of American and Canadian history from prehistory to the present. Covers over 2,000 journals published worldwide.

Coverage: Date Varies

Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts & Humanities)
Resource Type: Electronic Image Collection (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: ARTstor Inc.
Description: Large library of approximately 300,000 digital images and descriptive data. ARTstor documents artistic traditions across many times and cultures and embraces architecture, archaeology, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture. This resource also provides software tools to enable active use of the images. These tools support a wide range of uses including analyzing images, saving groups of images online, and creating presentations.

Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS)

Coverage: 1971 - | 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.

Sage Race Relations Abstracts

Coverage: 1988 -

Location: MAC Reference HT1501 .S23
Discipline/Topic Areas: American Studies, History
Resources Type: Print Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Sage Publications, Institute of Race Relations
Description: Includes information about research covering race and ethnic studies.

Sociological Abstracts

Coverage: 1963 - | Help | Title List

Discipline/Topic Areas: Humanities & Cultural Studies, Sociology
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Sociological Abstracts, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA)
Description: Provides access to the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.

• 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
    
    
  • FirstGov - United States government resources on the Web
    
    
  • Librarians' Index to the Internet - Subject directory of sites selected and evaluated by librarians
    
    
  • Search Engine Watch - Access additional search engines. Also find information and reviews about these search engines

Selected Web Resources for this Course

Asian-Nation: Asian American History, Demographics & Issues

UCLA Asian American Studies Center Online

We the People: Asian Americans in the United States

White House Iniative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

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:

• 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.
  
  
  
  • ILLiad Login - Use to access an existing account in the ILLiad system.
    
    
  • Interlibrary Loan - Borrowing Policy - For more information about Interlibrary Loan and ILLiad.

• 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