Latin American Culture and Society - Recently Updated Pages

Latin American Culture and Society Home

Cregan — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:33:30 CST

Choosing a Topic and Starting Research Reference Books Use the Internet	Find Books George T. Potter Library From other libraries Forgot how to search for books at Ramapo? Try this tutorial
Articles Databases: places to find journal articles (from Potter Library) Other places to locate scholarly articles Google Scholar getCITED Journal Finder: locate a journal TITLE that we have in full-text Forgot how to use the library databases ? Try this tutorial	Web Resources For a variety of Latin American Studies websites Latin American Studies Websites For a variety of websites in spanish on Latin American Studies Latin American Studies Websites en espanol Forgot how to evaluate websites? Try this tutorial
Avoiding Plagiarism Get help with citation styles Forgot about citation styles? Try this tutorial	Additional Help Contact Me: Leigh Keller Email: lkeller1@ramapo.edu Phone: 201.684.7316 Go to the reference desk! Hours: Mon-Thurs 9-10pm: Friday 9-5pm: Sat. 10-2pm: Sunday 2-10 pm Call the reference desk 201.684.7574 Ask your question online QandA NJ 24/7 online reference service Having technical problems Call 201.684.7777 Using Interlibrary Loan? Forms for Articles and Books

Find Journal Articles

Cregan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:57:05 CST

The library subscribes to several databases that include hundreds of journal articles.

Here are some that maybe be useful for your research:

These databases are for finding journal articles
They are available 24/7 ONLY to Ramapo students
Off campus use requires login: Ramapo email and password
A list of all the library Databases

Some suggested databases:

General Databases
Project Muse	A multi-disciplinary database containing all scholarly articles. Tip: Click "Link to JSTOR" to link to articles that may also be in JSTOR.
Academic Search Premier	A multi-disciplinary database containing both full-text articles and citations. Tip: When only a citation is included, click on the "Check availability at Ramapo" link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
Expanded Academic	Another multidisplinary database that contains many full-text articles. Tip: If your search results include citations or abstracts (not full-text articles), click on the Check availability link within each citation to see if you have access to the journal being cited.
Wilson Omnifile Mega Full-Text	Over 4,000 journals. Coverage back as early as 1982 ensures that every search is as deep as it is broad. Users have access to information on virtually any subject. Tip: Use the Find Article link to locate full-text
Proquest Central	ProQuest Central is the largest multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text.
History Databases
America: History and Life	History of the United States and Canada from pre-history to the present. Tip: When only a citation is included, click on the "Check availability at Ramapo" link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
Historical Abstracts	Tip: When only a citation is included, click on the "Check availability at Ramapo" link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
JSTOR	Tip: entirely full-text. Cannot email articles-email yourself the stable url. Do not print from browser print button. Use the JSTOR print option
Current Newspapers and News Articles
Lexis-Nexis	Entirely full-text. Includes news and articles from mainstream papers as well as papers from all over the world.
Historical Newspapers
Historical New York Times	full-text of the entire NY Times from 1851-2004 Tip: Use the Page Map link (upper right hand side of screen) IN a record to view the entire front page of paper OR from the search screen click on MORE OPTIONS then DOCUMENT TYPE: FRONT PAGE
Historical Wasington Post	Full text of the entire paper from 1877-1991 Tip: Use the Page Map link (upper right hand side of screen) IN a record to view the entire front page of paper OR from the search screen click on MORE OPTIONS then DOCUMENT TYPE: FRONT PAGE
Historical Christian Science Monito	Full text of the entire paper from 1908-1994 Tip: Use the Page Map link (upper right hand side of screen) IN a record to view the entire front page of paper OR from the search screen click on MORE OPTIONS then DOCUMENT TYPE: FRONT PAGE
Historical Wall Street Journal	Full text of the entire paper from 1889-1990 Tip: Use the Page Map link (upper right hand side of screen) IN a record to view the entire front page of paper OR from the search screen click on MORE OPTIONS then DOCUMENT TYPE: FRONT PAGE
Other
Biographies Plus	With coverage of newsmakers and figures of prominence from a wide range of fields Tip: entirely full-text

Strategies for searching the databases

Always go back and revise your searches! Look at using different terms and synonyms.
Always switch to the Advance Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
Always use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT when running a search. For Example: spanish and conquest and mexico
- AND: narrows your search ex: spanish and mexico
- OR: broadens your search ex: (christopher columbus or cristobal colon)
- NOT: eliminates ex: "Mexico" not "New Mexico"
Always check your Spelling if the database results are Zero.
To look for full-text use the: check availablity at Ramapo, Find Article, primary catalog, or check availability links in the databases
Use the Subject Terms or Thesaurus link in databases to find the best search terms to use

Forgot what I showed you? Refresh your memory with a quick tutorial!

Beginning Research : Finding Articles
This tutorial is designed to help you find articles using a database.

Use the Internet to Search for a Topic

Cregan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:46:36 CST

Use google or any search engine to search around for topic ideas.
I did some simple searches for things like, "historical figures latin american"
and "history us-latin american relations"

Be smart about your results. I found a fantastic wikipedia site TO USE AS A STARTING POINT.
This SHOULD NOT be the basis of your research. I also found lots of great sites connected
to other colleges/universities. (I put a Yale site in the websites section of this guide.)

Historical Figures Examples:
This site has a good list of historical figures
Here's another one with brief bio information on historical figures

US-Latin American Relations Examples:
Here is the wikipedia site. Use it wisely! Check out the bibliography.

Latin American Studies

Cregan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:26:33 CST

The following websites may be useful to your projects. They are reliable sources of information.

LANIC: Latin American Network Information Center

Handbook of Latin American Studies

The Latin American Studies Collection from Yale University offers tremendous websites

Latin American Collection Yale

Check Subject Resources links under Countries

Library of Congress Country Studies

Internet Resources for Latin America Compiled by Molly Molloy and New Mexico State University Library

Border and Latin American Information

Political Database of the Americas

Websites in Spanish

Cregan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:43:07 CST

For information on writers and a selection of works:

For useful links and great pictures

William and Mary

Current Affairs in Latin America

CNN en espanol

Books from Other Libraries

Cregan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:57:22 CST

Good researchers need to be creative!

Find and Borrow books from other New Jersey State Colleges

Catalog: use this link to locate material at other NJ academic libraries.
Several NJ College libraries participate in a reciprocal borrowing program
You can go to any participating library and borrow the book
Just visit our reference desk first to get a form before you go!

Here is a list of catalog's for the closest libraries:

William Paterson: Cheng Library

Montclair University: Sprague Library

Rutgers University: Iris and other catalogs

Seton Hall University: SetonCAT

Find and Interlibrary Loan any books/articles you find

You can use any library or web catalog you come across
For Example: Open WorldCat is a catalog of thousands of books/material and tells you who owns it
Don't worry about where it's coming from. WE WILL TRY AND GET IT FOR YOU!
Use Interlibrary Loan to request the material (remember to give yourself time!)

Avoiding Plagiarism

Cregan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:18:42 CST

Merriam-Webster defines plagiarism as: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source. To commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

Get help from the following sites:

CitingSources for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"

MLAStyle Help: from OWL

Need a print copy of the MLA?

Ask at circulation for: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Call Number: LB2369 .G53

Circulation has copies of all the style manuals. Here are the call numbers: CitingWebsitesandPrintSources

Forgot about citing sources? Use the tutorial below as a refresher!

Citing Sources

This tutorial is designed to help you cite sources properly and understand plagiarism.

Find Books at Ramapo

Cregan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:22:48 CST

Catalog:use this link to find Books, government documents, reserve items, music, movies and journal titles (NOT JOURNAL ARTICLES) in our library

Search the catalog using keywords to find materials
- Write out a few keywords on your topics and enter them into the search box.
- Don't write out a sentence. You will get zero results.
Search the catalog using Subject to find material

Put in the name of an historical person
The results will break down the types of material we have on that subject

For Example: Search name of the person

When you search an artist as a subject, you can see the different types of materials we have on that artist

TIPS:

ALWAYS go back and revise your searches. Look at your terms and think about alternative terms to use!!
Start with broad searches!!
Use the Subjects, etc... link in a catalog record to find more information on a specific subject area
Click on the call numbers to "virtually browse" the library's shelves

Forgot what I showed you? Use the tutorial below as a refresher!

Beginning Research : Finding Books

This tutorial is designed to help you use the Library catalog effectively.

Reference Material

Cregan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:36:14 CST

Picking a Topic

Selecting a topic for a research paper or project can be very challenging. You will want to select a topic that is of interest to you. This will make the research , reading and writing less of a chore.(TIP: Starting with a broad topic makes it is easier to eliminate information as you start writing.) It is a good idea to wait to decide on a topic until you do some preliminary searching for books, articles, and web-based resources. If you can't find enough, you will want the flexibility to select a new topic. A great start to preliminary research is browing the REFERENCE SECTION in the library (located on the 3rd floor).

Suggested Reference Sources	Call Numbers
Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture	Ref F1406 .E53 1996
A Reference Guide to Latin American History	Ref F1410.R395 2000
Cambridge History of Latin America	Ref F1410 .C1834 1984
Encyclopedia of Mexico	Ref F1210.E63 1997
The Latin American Historical Dictionaries series: Historical Dictionary of…(Brazil;Mexico; etc.)	Various call numbers
Bibliograpies
Handbook of Latin American Studies	Print copy: Ref Z1605.H23
G. K. Hall Bibliographic Guide to Latin American Studies	Ref F1408.Z99 B494 2002