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April 20, 2007

                  Shirley Knight                                                                            Monica Pelaez, Professor

                  sknight@ramapo.edu, x7315                                                  ENGL 180-08

 I. The George T. Potter Library Homepage

• Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, course reserves,interlibrary loan forms and more.

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 "Cuba world politics" 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

• Use the Basic Search option to locate a title by using the Title Phrase, for example: search for "The Origin of Paul's Religion"

                               OR

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

• Animal Rights
• Animal Rights -- Moral and Ethical Aspects
• Crimes against humanity-- History- 20th Century
• Totalitarianism
• Korea (North) -- Politics and Government
• Cuba--Foreign Relations--United States
• World Politics--Twenth Century
• King, Martin Luther,Jr 1929-1968
• Paul, the Apostle, Saint

•  

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. You 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:

IV. Electronic Resources

• Some useful Databases for your projects:

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.

• Journal Finder: indicates whether full-text articles in the George T. Potter Library  are in print, microform, or through a full-text database. This feature also appears in many of our databases

• Interlibrary Loan: allows students 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. 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: "animal rights and ethics"
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.

V. Web Sources

• Use the following  Subject Resources under History as well as Newspapers and Electronic Media to locate supplemental information on your topics.
• Academic Info: African American History
• BBC
• ABYZ

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

VI. Bibliography

• Academic Integrity:   Avoid plagiarism. Give credit where credit is due.  

• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources for "Works Cited" citation style guidance
  • Follow the examples given for the MLA citation style

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

Course Reserve: need either Ramapo ID (R#) or bar code (provided by the library)

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