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Subject Databases


InfoTrac

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Anthropological Literature

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More Helpful Web Sites:

Citing your sources

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Plagiarism

Writing Center

Library Online Tutorial

Evaluating Resources

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Remote Access
Having a UConn Proxy Account gives you access to most of the databases
on the UConn Library web site
Click here for instructions

For Technical Assistance call the UITS Help Desk at:
(860) 486-HELP.

 



ANTH 246: Illness and Curing

Instructor:Prof. Kat Khorramzadeh
Librarian: Sheila Lafferty


Contents:


Research Strategy

Subject: Childbirth practices in other cultures using nurse midwives or lay midwives

Library of Congress Subject Headings: Childbirth--Cross-cultural studies; Midwives--Education; Midwifery--History; Childbirth--Social aspects--United States; Birth customs--United States.

 

1. Explore the reference collection in the library for background information about your topic. If you don't know much about your topic, start off with a general encyclopedia. In addition to basic information about your topic, encyclopedia articles may provide you with references to other articles within the encyclopedia, suggestions for further reading, and even web links. Look up your keywords in the indexes to subject encyclopedias.

Reference books in the Waterbury Campus Library:
Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Ref. GN 307.E53 1991)
Marriage, family and relationships (Ref. GN480.B76 1994)
Encyclopedia of multiculturalism (Ref. E184.A1 E58 1994)
The library has online subscriptions to the following reference sources:
eHRAF Collection of Ethnography

2. Brainstorm a list of keywords relevant to your topic so that that your search is not too broad or too narrow. List leaders, events, and any keywords that are related to your topic. Knowing terminology, subject headings, and the basics of Boolean logic will to give you greater flexibility when you search for books and articles on your topic. Terminology changes over the years. For example, "homelessness" in current times was referred to as "vagrancy" and "hobos." in the 1960s. To learn more about keywords, subject headings and Boolean logic click here.

3. Keep track of your resources so that you may cite them accurately in your bibliography and works cited pages. To learn more about citing sources with the MLA or APA, click here.

  • For books, make note of the title, the author, the publisher, the date, city of publication, and the page number(s) of any information you intend to use in your paper.
  • For articles, make note of the title of the article, the author, the title, the series number, the volume number, the date of the publication, and the page number(s) of any information you intend to use in your paper.
  • For Internet sites, make note of the author, the title of the document, the title of the complete work, the date of publication or last revision, the URL, and the date that you accessed the site.
4. Learn to use your library home page at . The libraries' many resources are available at the library home page. These resources include a vast array of electronic databases; thousands of full text journals, magazines and newspapers and numerous other resources and library services. The following are linked under "Online Resources" on the home page.
  • HOMER to find books and journal titles held by the libraries.
  • Research Databases to find resources that will direct you to articles.
  • eJournal Locator to track down journals that are available online.
  • Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan (DD/ILL) to request books and articles that are not available to you on your campus library
  • Fulltext Resources
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Searching for Books

HOMER provides access to the University of Connecticut Libraries' collections on the Storrs and regional campuses, through the UCAT catalog. The Simple Search is your quickest way to search HOMER. Type in your search terms in the box labeled "Search Terms" and choose the type of search you wish to perform using the "Type of Search" option box. Use limit to in HOMER (UCAT) to locate books in your own campus library. Limits will not apply to Author, Subject Heading, Call Number, or Prolific Author/Composer search types.


To view How to do a Simple Title Search click here.

Keyword--Relevance Searching allows you to:

  • truncate, by using the ? : astron? finds astronomy, astronomical
  • mark essential terms, use +: +music +rock
  • mark important terms, use *: *critic? +music +rock
  • search phrases, by using quotes: "domestic violence"

To view a Keyword Relevance Search click here.

Some titles on your topic available at UConn Libraries:

Title
Call Number
Childbirth in the global village : implications for midwifery education and practice RG950 .H54 2003 (Babbidge)
Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge GT2460 .C37 1997 (Babbidge)
Who's having this baby? : perspectives on birthing GN482.1 .W48 2002 (Babbidge)

Click here to learn more about How to Use HOMER UCAT.

To find books not listed in HOMER, the online UConn Catalog, try WorldCat, the bibliographic database of the world's libraries. The database offers advanced searching for more precise searching, EASY online ordering (ILL) and more.

 

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Locating Articles

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers are all generally referred to as PERIODICALS (or serials) because they are issued at regular periods To located specific articles on your topic, access databases from the library home page. UConn subscribes to over 240 Web-Based, databases. Full Text databases include: InfoTrac, WilsonWeb OmniFile, ABI/Inform Global, InfoTrac Health & Wellness Resource Center, LexisNexis Academic, Factiva, Issues & Controversies.

From the Online Resources page, click on Shortcuts to access several popular databases, such as InfoTrac

InfoTrac SearchBank-Expanded Academic Index
This database is very easy to use and indexes journals and magazines covering various disciplines, including the humanities and social sciences.   
  • Has journal citations, abstracts and many full text articles.
  • Limit by full text only, or remove limits to search entire database for more information.
  • Limit by refereed journals (academic and scholarly journals).
  • Truncate with * example: recycl* retrieves recycles, recyclable, recycling, etc.
  • Try subject search first, but remember to also use Advanced Search.
  • Articles that are not full text in InfoTrac may be in the library, or elsewhere online check the eJournal Locator.
  • Clink on LINKS to view the database subject headings; construct a new search using keywords from the subject headings
  • Email, download or print your citations, abstracts and full text articles.

    Sample searches:
    Transcultural medical care; Midwives; Midwives--International Aspects

Using Keyword search:
Type in your keywords.

Set parameters if you wish, such as full text and/or refereed journals, and click enter.
InfoTrac keeps a history of your searches at the bottom of the search screen. You can retrieve and modify previous searches from your session by clicking on them. 

If you don't find enough resources in the Keyword search, or if you find too many, click on Advanced search in left frame and try searching again.  It is easier to narrow or broaden a search in the advanced mode.

Below are the results for the search. Email or print the article using the links at the bottom of the article. Or you can mark them to save to a separate list.  To view marked list, click on View mark list in the blue frame. From this list you can email, download or print out articles after formatting.   If text is available, the full text will be emailed to you, if InfoTrac only has an abstract, only the abstract will be emailed to you



You can view articles by clicking on the link. Clicking on Text is the quickest way to retrieve the full article.

At the bottom of each article is the following screen, use this for printing and emailing.

Other Databases: To access more specialized databases click Databases for your subject.
For information on the difference between journals and magazines try: Journals & Magazines: How to Tell the Difference.

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Tracking Down Full Text Materials

If only an abstract or extended citation is available, locate the full text of the article by clicking these options and then searching for the title of the publication:

  1. eJournals to check if a magazine or journal is available online
  2. HOMER to see what is available in the library; search by journal title
  3. DD/ILL to request an article or book that is not available in the library
    Be sure to submit requests well in advance. The standard time for material to arrive is about seven to fourteen days after it is submitted.
    Remember, use DD/ILL after you've checked eJournals and HOMER (use Journal Title Search) to confirm that the article is not available online or in print at your campus library.
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Web Resources

The Internet offers a wide range of information --from primary documents that have been digitized and are available online to an abundance of sources whose accuracy, currency, accountability may be questionable. Keep in mind that full text articles from peer-reviewed journals are not readily available on the web and can only be accessed through UConn databases. To learn more about primary vs. secondary sources.

When using Internet web pages as resources for research papers, evaluate whether the information is reliable, if a reputable organization or expert is behind it. Question the URL domain (.edu, .com, .org, .gov, etc). Is the page a tool for advertising; if so information might be biased. Scrutinize the design and purpose of the page, noting whether the information seems valuable enough to cite in your research. To learn more about evaluating web sources.

Sites related to your topic:

International Confederation of Midwives www.internationalmidwives.org
Midwifery Today: www.midwiferytoday.com/
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If you have questions or comments, please contact:
sheila.lafferty@uconn.edu
Voice: 860.626.6820