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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Jean Beccone
Reference & Instruction Librarian
beccone@macalester.edu
(651) 696-6398 |
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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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CHRONOLOGY OF WORLD HISTORY (REF D11.M39 1999)
H.E.L. Mellersh and Neville William, eds. Santa Barbara, CA:ABC-CLIO,
1999. 4 vols.
Each volume covers a different period of time (e.g. volume 1 is Prehistory-AD
1490: The Ancient and Medieval World). Each year (or time period)
includes a section on politics, government, and economics; science
and technology; arts and ideas; and society.
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THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF DISEASE (REF
RC41 .C365 2003)
Kenneth F. Kiple, editor, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Arranged by disease (e.g. "Diabetes", "Goiter",
"Plague of Athens", each entry includes the characteristics
and history of the disease and, where appropriate, the historiography
of the disease. A subject index is included at the end of the volume. |
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THE CAMBRIDGE WORLD HISTORY OF HUMAN DISEASE (REF R131
C233 1993)
Kenneth F. Kiple, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Lengthy articles, including bibliographies, covering the history of
disease and associated subjects such as medicine. The volume is arranged
in topical order, including such main topics as: "Medicine and
Disease: An Overview" (including histories of medicine in various
world regions), "Changing Concepts of Health
and Disease", "The History of Human Disease in the World
Outside Asia", and "Major Human Diseases Past and Present."
A subject index is included at the back of the volume. |
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DICTIONARY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (REFD114 D5 1982)
Joseph L. Strayer, ed. in chief. NY: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1982. 13 vols.; 1 supplement
This massive dictionary covers the years A.D.500-1500 and covers the
geographical areas of Europe, Asia Minor and Northern Africa. There
are nearly 5,000 signed articles with references. The articles, written
by scholars, are lengthy and include bibliographies. The supplement,
published in 2004, updates the study of medieval history and includes
an article on Islamic medicine. Volume 13 is an index to the entire
set; the supplement contains its own index. |
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ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAM. New Edition. (REF DS37 .E523)
Leiden: E.J. Brill; London: Luzac & Co., 1960-2002. 11
vols., 6 supplements, plus indexes.
Lengthy, scholarly articles are included, along with some bibliographies.
The very useful separate subject index lists the articles containing
information on particular subjects. |
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORIANS & HISTORICAL WRITING. (REF
D14 E53 1999)
Kelly Boyd, Ed. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers,
1999. 2 vols.
A guide to historians and hitorical debates, this encyclopedia contains
three types of essays: essays on individual historians, essays on
nations or geographical regions, and topical essays. Each essay is
signed and includes a bibliography. |
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AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD HISTORY (REF D21 L2.7 1972)
5th ed. William L. Langer, ed., 1972.
A survey of world history, featuring short entries written by scholars.
It is arranged chronologically and then divided into regions of the
world. Good for an overview of events, cultures and people. |
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A GLOBAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORICAL WRITING (REF D13
G47 1988)
D.R. Woolf, ed. NY: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1998. 2
vols.
This encyclopedia is a good place to start to find overviews of topics
on historians, national or regional historiographies and topical articles
on concepts and approaches to historiography. Articles are signed
and references are included. |
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WORLD BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SERIES (Check area: REF D-F)
This series provides an annotated bibliography for individual countries
covering such topics as politics, the economy, culture, history, social
organizaiton and much more. We have bibliographies for most countries
of the world. |
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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Coverage: 1959-2002 |
Discipline/Topic Areas: Classics
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Societe Internationale de Bibliographie
Classique, American Philological Association, Database of Classical
Bibliography, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, National
Endowment for the Humanities
Description: Includes coverage for over 1,500
periodicals with citations of all known scholarly work published
in any language anywhere in the world concerning the areas of
ancient Greek and Latin language and linguistics, Greek and Roman
history, literature, philosophy, numismatics, papyrology and epigraphy,
and concerning the time period from the second millennium B.C.
to roughly 500-800 A.D. Also includes coverage of research collections
and conferences.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts
& Humanities, Social Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Modern Language Association, Thomson
Gale/InfoTrac
Description: Index covering literature from
all over the world including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe,
and North and South America. Folklore is represented by folk literature,
music, art, rituals, and belief systems. Linguistics and language
materials range from history and theory of linguistics, comparative
linguistics, semantics, stylistics, and syntax to translation.
Other topics include literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts
(film, radio, television, theater), and history of printing and
publishing.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Arts
& Humanities, Social Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Subscription)
Publisher/Vendor: Chadwyck-Healey, ProQuest Information
and Learning
Description: Index to over 4,300 international
journals in the fields of humantities and the social sciences
from the first date of the journal's publication through about
1991.
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Discipline/Topic Areas: Multidisciplinary (Sciences)
Resource Type: Electronic Index (Free Web)
Publisher/Vendor: National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NBCI), National Library of Medicine
Description: Free government Web database of
citations and abstracts to over 3900 journals in the field of
medicine and related areas. Includes access to the Medline database.
There are links to fulltext for some citations.
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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.
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Selected
Indexes at the University of Minnesota Wilson Library
To do adequate research for topics within this course you may need
to use the resources at the University of Minnesota. To use these
indexes you will need to go to the University. Some computers in
the Reference area of Wilson Library are set aside for public use.
If you need assistance while at the University, please ask for help
at the Reference Desk.
Before taking the bus, ask the driver if it is possible to be
dropped off at Wilson Library at the University of Minnesota.
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| History of Science, Technology,
and Medicine
Science, 1976 - present; Technology, 1987 - present;
updated annually.
Society for the History of Technology, the History of Science Society;
published by the University of Chicago Press.
Indexes articles, books, proceedings, reviews, and dissertations
on the history of science and technology.
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IMB: International Medieval
Bibliography
1967-present
Leeds, England: University of Leeds. 1967-.
Indexes articles on medieval subjects in journals, Festschriften,
conference proceedings, and collected essays. Covers all aspects of
medieval studies within the period 450 to 1500 for Europe, the Middle
East and North Africa. Citations classified by date, subject and location.
In addition to English, the IMB indexes articles published in foreign
languages with characters not found in English. In order to view and
print diacritics the user will need to download the special fonts
from the "Select Database" page.
Location: Wilson Reference D111 .I56x |
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Index Islamicus
1906 - present
Index Islamicus indexes worldwide literature in European languages
on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. It covers all aspects
of Muslim life - history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages
and literatures. Over 2,500 journals are monitored for inclusion in
the database, together with conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored
works and book reviews. Journals and books are indexed down to the
article and chapter level.
The bibliography covers numerous disciplines such as bibliography,
history of the Islamic book, education, religion and theology, philosophy,
science and mathematics, architecture, music, theater and drama, geography
and ecology, anthropology and sociology, archaeology, cookery, epigraphy,
economics, history, political thought, politics and current affairs,
and the languages and literatures of countries and regions worldwide.
Periodicals devoted solely to the fields of Islam are indexed completely.
Other journals are indexed only for articles on Islamic subjects. |
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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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