University of Vermont  Bailey/Howe Library Information and Instruction Services

Choose a Topic and Begin Your Research:

CQ Researcher   [Remote Access - UVM only]
[Electronic]: UVM Libraries Home Page. Find Articles  & More -> Full-Text List of Databases -> CQ Researcher
Provides full-text in-depth analysis of a contemporary topic, balanced reports by journalists, pro and con arguments by experts, a chronology, and annotated bibliographies to guide additional research.

Opposing Viewpoints  [Remote Access - UVM only]
[Electronic]: UVM Libraries Home Page. Find Articles  & More -> Full-Text List of Databases -> Opposing Viewpoints
Provides information in a "pro and con" format on current popular topics. Sources include scholarly journals, magazines, primary sources, statistics, news, etc.

Find Books:

Select Library Catalog from the UVM Libraries Home Page.  
The Library Catalog lists books, government documents, audio-visual materials, journal and newspaper titles (not articles!), microforms, and computer software.

QUICK SEARCH

Title:  search for books when you know the title.
Author:  search for books when you know the author's name (even if it's just the surname).
Journal Title: check to see whether UVM subscribes to the journal and issue/volume you need.
Subject Heading: Use Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Example: To perform a Title search in the Library Catalog:

• Click on the "Quick Search" option
• Select "Title" from the menu below the Search for: box
• Type the title (or the first part of the title) of the book (omit the initial article,such as a, an, the, etc.)
• Click on the Search button
• In the list of results, click on the link for the title. While viewing the record, read the screen to see on what floor it is located

Guided Keyword Searching
Guided Keyword broadens your search by looking for occurrences of words anywhere in the Library Catalog record. NOTE: Not all the books may be exactly what you are looking for.

• Start with the "Guided Keyword" search option.
  Tip: Use ? to truncate: [environment? finds environment, environmental, environments, environmentalism ]
  Note:Truncation - in a keyword search, a word or root word followed by a symbol to retrieve variant endings, including plurals.
• From your list of results pick the book that most closely matches what you are looking for.
• View the item record for that book.
• Examine the list of subjects for the book you picked.
• Click on the most suitable subject for your research to locate similar books, OR
• Look at useful words in the subject headings and use those words to build upon your keyword search.

Location of Books in Bailey/Howe Library

Reference Books (encyclopedias, dictionaries, guides, atlases, directories, etc.)
Reference Collection is located on the main (1st) floor, behind the Reference Desk. Note: Reference books are non-circulating, which means they may not be checked out.

Books that may be checked out of the library (Bailey/Howe Books)
Call Numbers:  A - F1699   (2nd floor )     F1700 - Z   (3rd floor) 

Find Periodical (Magazine/Journal/Newspaper)  Articles:

What is a Periodical?

A periodical is an ongoing publication that comes out regularly. It is an umbrella terms for journals (scholarly/professional), magazines (e.g., Newsweek) and newspapers (e.g., New York Times).

How Do I Locate Magazine/Journal Articles? [what's the difference between a magazine and a scholarly/peer-reviewed journal?]

--An index to journal /magazine articles provides a way to search the journal literature by topic. It is a printed or electronic publication made up of citations to journal articles. When an index includes a brief article summary with the citation, it is called an abstract.
--Indexes may be broad and interdisciplinary (e.g., Academic Search Premier or Expanded Academic ASAP) and cover subjects in a wide range of disciplines, or they may cover one subject area in great detail (e.g., ATLAReligion).
--Use indexes and abstracts when you don't have a citation to a specific article, but you want to find articles on a subject, or by a specific author, or with a known article title. An electronic index/abstract is usually referred to as a database.
--Sometimes the index includes the full-text article in addition to the citation. An example of this type of index is Academic Search Premier.
--Use the databases listed under the category "Find Articles & More." The link to "Find Articles & More" is found on the UVM Libraries home page [http://library.uvm.edu]. Databases are listed alphabetically and by broad discipline (e.g., Religion).

What Kind of Information Will an Index Give Me?

An index to journal articles provides a list of articles on a topic you are researching. The index will provide a citation to an article, all the information you need in order to locate the article, including: author of article, title of article, title of journal, volume, issue, year, and page numbers.

Sample Citation

The Sufi Approach to Food: a case study of adab. Reynolds GS. Muslim World, 90 no.1-2 (Spr 2000) 198-217

Article title: The Sufi Approach to Food: a case study of adab. Article author: G S Reynolds. Journal title: Muslim World,  volume: 90 issue: 1-2 date: Spring 2000   pages: 198-217

How Would I Find the Actual Article?

After finding an article of interest, perform a "Journal Title" search (using the Quick Search option), in the Library Catalog [http://voyager.uvm.edu/] to determine if  UVM owns the journal and the year you need. Using the above citation as an example, you would type the journal name: muslim world in the search box (not the article title), and then select "Journal Title" from the menu below the search box.

From the UVM Libraries Home Page, select "Find Articles & More," then "Subject List of Databases," then "General and Multi-Subject."    Begin with:

Academic Search Premier [Remote Access - UVM Only]  
Popular magazines, selected newspapers, including the New York Times, and scholarly journals, many with full-text articles. [@1969-present, date varies by publication].

Expanded Academic ASAP [Remote Access - UVM Only]  
Popular magazines and scholarly journals, many with full-text articles. [@1980-present, date varies by publication].

Alt-Press Watch [Remote Access - UVM Only]  
(Mostly) full-text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals from alternative and independent presses. This interdisciplinary resource provides a source of viewpoints and perspectives to complement and challenge mainstream media coverage. [year coverage varies, depending on publication].

These three databases are multidisciplinary, covering many subjects. Please ask at the Reference Desk for assistance in choosing additional indexes which are subject specific.

Location of Periodicals in B/H Library

• Current issues and back issues of journals  are on the 2nd floor. NOTE: most journal holdings in paper copy before 1960 are housed in the Library Research Annex..
• Back issues: in the Bound Periodical Stacks, arranged alphabetically by journal title; or found on microfilm. The Microforms Room is on the 2nd floor. NOTE: most journal holdings in paper copy before 1960 are housed in the Library Research Annex.
• Current issues: on the 2nd floor in a separate section, arranged alphabetically by journal title.
• The journal record in the Library Catalog will tell you: which issues are considered  "current"; whether the back issues are on microfilm, in the Bound Periodical Stacks, or in the Library Research Annex; if the journal has an electronic version accessible for viewing online.

Find Newspaper Articles:

From the UVM Libraries Home Page, select "Find Articles & More," then "Subject List of Databases," then "Newspapers."   Begin with:

LexisNexis - Academic  [Remote Access - UVM only]
Provides full-text articles [dates vary by publication, 198?-present] from selected regional, national, and international newspapers (including the New York Times), and news transcripts from various news' services.

New York Times Online  [Remote Access - UVM only]
Provides full-text articles and images from the New York Times [1851-2004]. Use LexisNexis-Academic to locate articles (text only-not images) in the New York Times from the 1980s to the present.

Vermont Newspaper Index  Combined index to the Burlington Free Press and Rutland Herald [mid-1980s-present]. Articles are found on microfilm in the Microforms Room, 2nd floor of Bailey/Howe Library.

NOTE: Newspaper indexes covering earlier years are available. Ask at the Reference Desk for help.

Find Statistics:

From the UVM Libraries Home Page, select "Online Reference Shelf," then "Statistics & Demographics" to locate many statistics sources, including the following:

LexisNexis - Statistical    [Remote Access - UVM only]  Indexes statistics from the U.S. government as well as international intergovernmental organizations, state governments, and private sources. Full-text or links to the full-text are available for some of the indexed sources.  [year coverage varies, depending on publication].

Statistical Abstract of the United States (REF HA 202 .A1). Annual summary of social, political, and economic statistics gathered by agencies of the U.S. government. Copies of the current print edition are located on the "ready reference" shelves near the Bailey/Howe Reference Desk and in Government Documents. Note: electronic version is far more awkward to search than the print version.
Electronic: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

Find Web Resources:

Do not overlook the wealth of information available on the World Wide Web. However, approach this information with a critical eye; consider the source of the information, currency, point-of-view, etc.

Learn more about evaluating what you find:  The Web as a Research Tool [ http://library.uvm.edu/~pmardeus/webeval.html ].

Use your favorite search engines to look for information.

Visit the Library of Congress site: Alcove 9--Annotated List of Reference Websites [ http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/alcove9/ ], or the Librarians' Index to the Internet [http://lii.org/].

Remember - use the "help" provided with each search system to make sure you are using its full searching power.

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