Catalog: use this to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles), 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 "human rights" or "human rights" and chile to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords

Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase so that the system will treat it as a single term, i.e., "public policy". When you find an appropriate title, click on the Related Records tab located at the top of the catalog record to see which Library of Congress subject headings are discussed in that particular book/DVD/periodical

Limit search to Online Material (one of the Quick limits) or to Documents Without Shelves to access government documents online

OR

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

Human rights--Latin America

*also see breakdown by individual country

[Name of country]--Politics and government

OR

• Go to Advanced Search

The Boolean search terms are built in for your use:

AND: you are commanding the system to search for material on both terms you've entered

OR: you are commanding the system to search for meaterial on either of the search terms you have entered

NOT: you are commanding the system to search for material on the first term you have entered and to exclude any material on the second term you have entered

The catalog system will provide more focused results

   Tips

• Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
• 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.
• You can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).

Some useful materials for your projects: 

Latin America
Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture	Ref F1406 .E53 1996
The Europa World Year Book	Ready Reference JN1.E85
G. K. Hall Bibliographic Guide to Latin American Studies	Ref F1408.Z99 B494 2002
Handbook of Latin American Studies	Print copy:                Ref Z1605.H23
Latin America and the Caribbean: A Critical Guide to Research Sources	Ref F1408.Z99L35
The Latin American Historical Dictionaries series: Historical Dictionary of…(Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, etc.)	Various call numbers
Human Rights
A Dictionary of Human Rights	Ref K3239.3.R67 1997
A Handbook of International Human Rights Terminology	Ref K3239.3.C66 1999
Human Rights	Ref K3240 .H846 1999
Human Rights: International Documents	Ref K3240.J6
The Human Rights Encyclopedia	Ref JC571.L523 2001
Human Rights Violations	Ref JC571.H783 2001
The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations       Part 6: Human Rights	Ref JZ4970.O93 2007
Yearbook of the United Nations	Ref JA51.U5

 

   Tips:

1. Use reference books to browse for project ideas and to get started on your research
2. Use the bibliographies at the end of articles, books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries to locate more material on your topic

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Find citations, abstracts, and/or full-text articles in periodicals (journals, newspapers, and magazines). In the databases which provide only citations or abstracts, click on the "check availability at Ramapo" link (terminology varies) to see whether we have access to the full text in print or through one of our other databases.

Some useful Databases for your projects:

JSTOR	Full text of more than 500 academic journals
Historical Abstracts     OR America: History and Life	Includes abstracts of articles and reviews in scholarly publications. TIP: If only an abstract is listed, click on the Primary Catalog link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection in print or through another database.
Academic Search Premier	Multidisciplinary database that contains many full-text articles and citations. TIP: When only a citation/abstract is listed, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection in print or through another database.
Lexis-Nexis	Covers top news, general news topics, news transcripts, foreign language news sources, and legal news. *Completely full-text.
Historic New York Times	Full text of The New York Times from 1851 through 2003
Country Watch	Provides political and economic surveys of 191 countries. Coverage is updated continuously.
Ethnic NewsWatch	A comprehensive full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press
Contemporary Women's Issues	A multidisciplinary, full text database that brings together relevant content from mainstream periodicals, "gray" literature, and the alternative press.

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

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• Interlibrary Loan: allows you to borrow a book or article that the George T. Potter library does not own. There is also a link from the Journal Finder page.
  • Find this link under Quick Links on the library's homepage

• Journal Finder: locate the full text of articles in specific periodicalss (journals, newspapers, magazines)to which we have access either in our print or microform collection or through a full-text database.
  • Find this link under Quick Links on the library's homepage
  • Useful journals for your research to which we provide access via a database and/or print copies:
    • NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America) Report on the Americas) (Latin American Research Review)
    • (Latin American Perspectives)
  • If you search for a journal to which we do not provide access, you will find a link to an Interlibrary Loan Request form for an article.

 

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VII. Preparing Bibliographies

• Citing Sources (Duke University) for examples of APA, ASA, Chicago, MLA, and Turabian citation styles

• Diana Hacker OnlineThe Open Handbook Online ( by Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey)Style handbooks are also kept on reserve at the Circulation Desk

• Always be consistent and follow the examples for the required style format

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

OR

Use QandA NJ.org, a 24/7 virtual chat reference service with a reference librarian