University of Connecticut |
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SOCI248:
Aging in American Society
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| The library has online subscriptions to the following reference sources: |
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.
-
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.
Sample Keyword Boolean Search: (aging or aged) and relig? (Note: truncate with "?" in HOMER)
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:
Ways of aging / edited by Jaber F. Gubrium and James A. Holstein HQ1061 .W368 2003 Older women's experience of spirituality : crafting the quilt / Cheryl Demerath Learn.
RC954 .L43 1996
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:
friendship and (teen? or adoles?)
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.
Clicking on
"text" for article #12:
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:
- eJournals to check if a magazine or journal is available online
- HOMER
to see what is available in the library; search by journal title
- 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:
| Aging Gracefully |
| Aging Resources: Aging and Spirituality |
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If you
have questions or comments, please contact:
sheila.lafferty@uconn.edu
Voice: 860.626.6820