• 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 Europe and social conditions and 20th century 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., "weimar republic"
  • When you find an appropriate title, click on the Subjects, etc. 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

 

OR

• Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress subject heading
• For example:
  • Germany--History--1918-1933
  • Europe--Politics and government--1918-1945
  • [Name of country]

    see breakdown of topics for each country

  • Avante-garde (Aesthetics)
  • Art and revolutions--Europe
  • Art and society--Europe
  • National socialism and architecture
• In the list of subject headings::
  • Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms
  • Click on to see scope note and suggestions for further searching in the catalog

OR

• Go to Advanced Search
  • The Boolean search terms are built in for your use:
    • AND: you're directing the system to search for material on both terms you've entered
    • OR: you're directing the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
    • NOT: you're directing 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

1. Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
2. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, 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. 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: 

Chronology of European History, 15,000 B.C. to 1997 (volume 3, 1898-1997)	Ref  D11.C57 1997
A Dictionary of 20th Century European History	Ref  D419.T74 1997
Documents on International Affairs (volumes 1928 through 1937)	Ref D442.S82
The Encyclopedia of Arms Control and Disarmament	Ref JX1974.E57 1993
Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe: From the Congress of Vienna to the Fall of Communism	Ref  DJK6.E53 2000
Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000	Ref  HN373.E63 2001
The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the    Holocaust	Ref DS135.E8 E45 2001
Encyclopedia of the Interwar Years: From 1919 to 1939	Ref  D727.G745 2000
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich	Ref  DD256.5 .G76313 1991
Ethnic Groups and Populatin Changes in Twentieth-Century Central-Eastern Europe	Ref HB3582.7 .A3 E2313 2003
European Political Facts, 1918-73	Ref  JN12.C64 1978
Historical Atlas of Central Europe	Ref G1881.S1 M32 2002
International Historical Statistics: Europe, 1750-2000	Ref  HA1107.M5 2003
A World in Turmoil: An Integrated Chronology of the Holocaust and World War II	Ref  D804.3.E34 1991
Art and Architecture
Art in World History (volume 2)	Ref  N5300.H674 2004
Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Architecture	Ref NA680.E495 2004

 

   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	Includes abstracts of articles and reviews in scholarly publications. TIP: If only an 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.
Historic New York Times	Full text of The New York Times from 1851 through 2003
Lexis-Nexis	Full-text database that covers top news, general news topics, news transcripts, foreign language news sources, and legal news. TIP: Retrieve radio and television transcripts
See also:
Humanities Full Text	Articles from English-language periodicals. TIPS: May limit search to Peer Reviewed [articles] When only a citation/abstract is listed, click on the Check for full text link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection in print or through another database.
Academic Search Premier and Expanded Academic ASAP	Multidisciplinary databases that contain 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.
Social Science Journals	Contains many full-text articles. TIPS: When the result is only a citation or abstract, click on Find a copy to see if the full text of hte article is available in our collectin in print or through another database. May limit search to Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed

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 europe. 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

   

  • For example, you want to see if you have access to the journal Central European History. Enter the title in the Journal Finder window, and you'll see the following results:

  Central European History		ISSN: 0008-9389
  available from EBSCO Host in EBSCO Academic Search Premier	find periodical	Full Text: 1975-03-01 - 2005-12-01

  In this case, you can access articles in Central European History from March 1, 1975 through December 1, 2005 in the database Academic Search Premier.

  • If you search for a journal to which we don't provide access, you will find a link to an Interlibrary Loan Request form for an article.

  For example, you search for London Times:

  London Times

  George T. Potter Library does not have fulltext with title matching london times.

  If you cannot find the article you are looking for and would like to request it from another library, click here

  In this case, we don't have access to the full text of articles in The London Times, but we have provided a link to an Interlibrary Loan request form so that you can obtain the article.

 

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VI. Preparing Bibliographies

• Citing Sources (Duke University) for examples of the Chicago or Turabian citation style. (Examples of APA, ASA, and MLA citation styles are included as well.)

• The Open Handbook Online ( by Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey)

• Style handbooks are also kept on reserve at the Circulation Desk

Tip

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

• Annotated bibliographies:

These websites guide you through the process of preparing an annotated bibliography:

• University of Toronto
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• The OWL at Purdue
• Roger Williams University

 

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VII. Websites

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

OR

Use QandANJ.org, a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian