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• About the Library

Alan John Clark
 

October 10, 2007

Irene Kuchta

ikuchta@ramapo.edu

 x7577

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

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

II. Find Books at the George T. Potter Library::

Use the Catalog 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. The catalog takes a short while to load.

• Searching the catalog:

• In Basic Search, use the keyword default setting for a basic search to find material, for example:
  • search for " first amendment " or "Gay marriage" to locate materials the library has on these keywords
• Results will be ranked by relevance; you may then re-sort them by title, author, publish [=publication] date, or publish date descending
• 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

OR

• Use the Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress (LC) subject heading, for example:
  • Freedom of Speech
  • Same-sex -- United States

  OR

• Go to Advanced Search
  • The Boolean search terms are built in for your use
• The catalog system will provide more focused results 

Tips

Start with broad searches. It is much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.

1. 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.
2. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

III. Find Articles about the topics in Databases (Electronic Resources)

Some useful Databases for your projects:

IV.  Legal Databases

LexisNexis	Choose "Legal Research"  Includes some international coverage.
West Law Campus	Includes dynamic connections .

 

V. Journal Finder / Interlibrary Loan

 

• 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 you to borrow a book or article that the George T. Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder screen.

 

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

 

VI. Using websites

For Web searching, consult Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper

VII. Bibliographies

Use Citing Sources for guidance in preparing "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"

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

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