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College English

October 31, 2007

Shirley Knight                                                           Professor Rocco Gratale
sknight@ramapo.edu                                                AENG 180-33

L-308, x7315

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

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

II. Finding Books at the Potter Library

• 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 "gangs" or "street gangs" 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 Subject, etc. 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

• Use the More Limits button to limit your search to Documents Without  Shelves to locate only United States government publications.

• OR

• Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress subject heading, for example:

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 Subject, etc. 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.

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:

CQ Researcher	Provides weekly publications on a wide-in-depth analysis of  the pros and cons of current ontroversial issues.
Opposing Viewpoints Series	H312 .O62..
Contemporary World Issues Series	H31 .C76 ...
Encyclopedia of Health and Aging	Ref RA 777.6 .E534 2007
State of the Animals III	Ref HV 4708 .S638 2005
International Dictionary of Artificial Intelligence	Ref Q 334.2 .R39 1999
Global Warming: a desk reference	Ref QC 981.8 .G56 J64 2002
Encyclopedia of Homelessness	Ref HV 4493 .E53 2004
Almanac of Renewable Energy	Ref TJ 8083 .G65 1993

IV. Electronic Resources

• Some useful Databases for your projects:

• 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.

Tips

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

V. Web Sources

• Use Subject Resources under  Education, Environment, Multidisciplinary, and Sciences to locate supplemental sources on your topics.

• Academic Info http://www.academicinfo.net
• Educator's Reference Desk  http://www.eduref.org
• EPA Topic: Pollution Prevention http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/pollutionprevention.html
• Genome Gateway http://www.nature.com.omics/index.html

VI.   Other Web Sites

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http:// www.epa.gov
• New Jersey Environmental Protection Agency http://www.state.nj.us/dep
• U.S. Department of Education http:// www.ed.gov/index.html

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

VII. Bibliographies

• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources for MLA citation style guidance.

 

• The Open Handbook Online / Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey

• Use QandA NJ: a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian.

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