Readings in the Humanities

Spring 2008


           Shirley Knight, Reference Librarian                                                                    Maria Molinari, Professor

      

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

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

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II. Find Books

  • 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 Kafkas methamorphosis 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 Subjects 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

  • Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress subject heading, for example:
    • Campbell, Joseph, 1904-
    • Kafka, Franz, 1883-1924--Criticism and Interpretation

    • Authors, Austrian 20th Century-Biography

    • Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and Interpretation

    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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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:
    Encyclopedia of Superstitions, folklore, and the occult sciences of the world, a comprehensive library of human belief and practice in the mysteries of life Ref BF 1407 .D35 1903a
    Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Ref  Ref PN 43.B65 1999
    Literature and Its Times

    Ref  PN50.L574

    1997

    Critical Survey of Short Fiction

    Ref  PN3321.C7

    2001

    Video:  
    Nabokovon Kafka: Understanding Metamorphosis Ref  PT 2621 .A26 Z716 1989
 

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IV. Journal Finder and Interlibrary LoanI

  • Journal Finder: Lets you know whether or not you have access to the full text of articles in particular periodicals through our library in print, microform, or via 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's a link from the Journal Finder page.
  • Both of these links can be found under QUICK LINKS on the library's homepage.
 

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V. Find Articles (Databases)

 

Literature Resource Center Provides access to biographies, critical analyses of authors from every age of literary disciplines. The database covers over 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, other writers, within in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most studied authors.
MLA International Bibliography

Access to more than 1.6 million bibliographic citations from 1963 to the present, with author biographies, critical essays and journal articles in every literary genre. When the full-text of the article is not linked to the citation, click on Check availability

This database is included in Literature Resource Center.

See Also:  
Academic Search Premier

A multi-disciplinary database containing both full-text articles and citations. You can limit your search to Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals.

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.

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.

   

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: "Gregor Samsa" AND Kafka.
  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.

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VI. Websites

           Online Literary Criticism Collection http://www.ipl.org/ar/ref/litcrit

Tips

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

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VII. Bibliographies

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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

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