College English

AENG 180-17; Prof. M. Giacoppe
Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

October 16, 2007

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

 I. Library Homepage: http://library.ramapo.edu

  • Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

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II. Find Books

  • Catalog: use this to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles ), government documents, reserve items, music,and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.
  • Use the Basic Search to find material using Keywords
    • For example: search for fast food or marketing and food to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords
    • Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase so that the catalog system will treat it as a single word
    • When you find an appropriate title, click on the Related Records tab located at the top of a catalog record to see which Library of Congress subject headings are discussed in that particular book/DVD/periodical to get to more titles that deal with that subject
    • OR
  • Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress subject heading, for example:
    • Fast food restaurants
    • Food industry and trade
      • Click on to see scope note
    • Food--Marketing
       

Tips

    1. Start with broad searches. It is much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
    2. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Related Records tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
    3. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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III. Reference Material

  • The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).
  • Some useful materials for your projects:
    Dictionary of Marketing Communications Ref HF5412 .G68 2004
    Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia

    Ref  TX349 .F575 1994

    Handbook of Marketing and Society Ref HF5414 .H36 2001
    Hungry Planet: What the World Eats Ref TX353 .M43 2005
    St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (access online)

    Print edition:

    Ref E169.1.S764

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IV. Find Articles (Databases)

Useful Databases for your projects:

General BusinessFile

Provides business and industry content

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
Academic Search Premier

A multi-disciplinary database containing both full-text articles and citations.

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
Lexis-Nexis: Academic

Full text articles that cover news, financial, medical, and legal information.

 

Scholarly/Peer Reviewed/Refereed articles have been reviewed by a selected panel of experts in the discipline covered by that journal. Many of the databases allow you to limit your search to these articles.

    Tips

  1. Switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
  2. Use Boolean Operators--AND, OR, NOT and Quotation Marks when running a search. For Example: "fast food" and (health or diet).
  3. Always check your Spelling if the database results are zero.
  4. Use the Subject Terms or Thesaurus link, if available, to find the best terms to use in a database.

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V. Journal Finder and Interlibrary LoanI

  • Journal Finder: this provides information about where to find the full text of articles when available in the George T. Potter Library in print, microform, or through a full-text database. This feature also appears in many of our databases
  • Interlibrary Loan: allows studens to borrow a book or article that the George T. Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

Both of these links can be found under QUICK LINKS on the library's homepage.

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VI. Websites

American Experience and many other PBS programs are good sources of information

  • Use Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper.

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VII. Bibliographies

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  • Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574

.

  • Use QandANJ.org, a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian
 
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| 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah NJ 07430 | (201) 684-7575 |

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