University of Southern Maine

English 100 - College Writing (Bertram)

Introduction | Reference Sources | Indexes & Databases | Internet Resources | Writing the Paper

For further research assistance, please contact Barb Mann (bmann@usm.maine.edu; 780-4672), Coordinator, Information Literacy Program, Glickman Library, University of Southern Maine.

In order to find books, journal titles, videos, government documents and other materials held in the University of Maine System you will need to consult URSUS, the online catalog. Because journal article citations are not individually included in URSUS, you will need to use a discipline-specific index to find this information (see Resources by Subject).

If you do not know the exact subject heading describing the topic you need, try doing a keyword search using other word/s related to that topic and then click on the subject heading links found within the relevant records to find additional, useful resources.

The following subject headings may be useful to find books relevant to this class. They are hot linked directly into URSUS.

Cross cultural orientation
Cross cultural studies
Culture shock
Maine social life and customs
Social values-cross cultural studies

To obtain materials not located at your USM campus, but within URSUS, you will need to click on the Request button on the URSUS screen and enter your name and barcode number (found under the barcode on your USM Card, always beginning with 25022....). Your barcode will first need to be activated at the Circulation Desk.

If the item is not available through the University of Maine System (URSUS) or Maine Info Net you can request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad).

Reference sources are useful tools to obtain background information and to develop a vocabulary of possible search terms. The following items are print resources available within the University of Southern Maine system.

African-American Culture and History
POR Reference E185 .E54 1996

Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology
POR, GOR, LEW Reference GN307 .E52 1996

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
POR and GOR Reference F1406 .E53 1996

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America
POR and GOR Reference E184.A1 .G14 1995

Handbook of American Popular Culture
POR Reference E169.1 .H2643 1989

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
POR Reference E169.1 .S764 2000

Because of the lengthy publishing cycle for a book, information in a book is not always current. Periodical articles are current sources of information. There are two main types of periodicals: scholarly and popular. Scholarly periodicals are usually referred to as journals. Articles in journals contain reports of primary research; the articles are written by experts in the field and for other researchers/scholars; use terms and language specific to that discipline; may include graphs, charts, etc. related to the topic; most often are peer reviewed via an editorial board; are published by professional organization or society, university, research centers, scholarly presses; and often include a bibliography. Popular periodical articles contain general information; are written using easily understood language that appeals to a varied audience; are usually written by journalists or others who are not experts in the field; do not include citations; has a limited or non-existent editorial review board; and may contain glossy photographs. The Finding Articles tutorial provides more information on how to find articles.

To find scholarly articles it is necessary to consult a discipline-specific electronic or print index/database. The following are indexing sources available to the University of Southern Maine community.

Academic Search Premier
Date coverage: varies according to publication. See coverage information
Provides full text for nearly 4,000 scholarly publications of which 3,100 are peer reviewed. Academic areas of study include: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies.

America: History and Life
Date coverage: 1954-current
Index to research on the history of the United States and Canada, from prehistoric times to the present. Includes references to journal articles, books and book reviews, dissertations, and collective works.

American Humanities Index
Date coverage: 1975-current
The American Humanities Index is a collection of bibliographic references to literary, scholarly and creative journals published in the United States and Canada. Produced by Whitston Publishing, this database covers over 700 journals published from 1975 to the present, many of which cannot be found in other reference works. All journals included in the American Humanities Index are indexed in their entirety (cover to cover). This database provides citation information for articles, essays and reviews, as well as original creative works including poems and fiction. Photographs, paintings and illustrations are also referenced.

Annals of American History
Provides access to over 2,100 original full-text source documents on United States history from 1493 to the present. Includes speeches, essays, biographies, landmark court decisions, poems, interviews, and editorials from more than 1,500 authors.

Arts and Humanities Search
Arts and Humanities Citation Index.

Communication and Mass Media Complete
Date coverage: varies according to publication. See coverage information.
Originated as the result of the acquisition and subsequent merging of two popular databases in the fields of communication and mass media studies - CommSearch, formerly produced by the National Communication Association (NCA), and Mass Media Articles Index, formerly produced by Penn State University. CommSearch offers bibliographic and keyword references to 26 journals in communication studies, with coverage extending to the inaugural issue of each -- some from as far back as the early decades of the 20th century. The database also includes cover-to-cover indices of NCA’s six journals from their first editions to the present, and abstracts from their earliest appearance in NCA journals. Mass Media Articles Index provides citation coverage of over 40,000 articles related to mass media and published in over 60 research journals, as well as major journalism reviews, recent encyclopedias, and handbooks in the area of communications studies. In addition to the coverage available from these two databases, Communication & Mass Media Complete offers full text for over 160 titles and contains citation coverage for additional sources. In total, several hundred valuable sources are covered in the database.

ERIC-Education
Date coverage: 1966-current (note: ERIC has changes contractors and there may be some lags in coverage)
Indexes and abstracts journal articles and documents on education research and practice.

Essay and General Literature Index
POR Reference AI3 .E752 (1900-current)
GOR Reference AI3. .E752 1955-1994

Maine Newstand
Index to and full text coverage of four Maine newspapers. Database includes comprehensive coverage of the Bangor Daily News (12/3/92-present) and the Portland Press Herald (10/30/95-present). Selected business coverage of the Central Maine Morning Sentinel (8/12/93-8/27/97) and Maine Times (2/4/95-present).

Oxford Reference Online
A cross-searchable collection of 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works published by Oxford University Press. The scope is broad, including works in the areas of science and medicine, the humanities and social sciences, and business and law. English dictionaries and thesauri, guides to grammar and usage, and dictionaries of etymology, foreign languages, quotations, and names are provided.

ProQuest Newsstand
Full text of more than 500 U.S. and international news sources. Includes The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and the Times of London, plus hundreds of other news sources and news wires. Years of coverage vary by title. Maine papers included: Bangor Daily News (1992+), Portland Press Herald (1995+), and selected business coverage from Maine Times (1994-2002) and Central Maine Morning Sentinel (1993-1997).

PsycINFO
Date coverage: 1887-current
Index to the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines, including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, and other areas. Coverage includes references and abstracts to over 1,300 journals in more than 20 languages, and to book chapters and books in the English language. The database includes information from empirical studies, case studies, surveys, bibliographies, literature reviews, discussion articles, conference reports and dissertations.

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
POR and GOR Reference AI3 .R48 (1900-1995)

Social Science Index
POR and GOR Reference AI3 .S6

Social Sciences and Humanities Index
POR and GOR Reference AI3. R49 (April 1965-March 1974)

Sociological Abstracts
Date coverage: 1974-current
Covers sociology and related disciplines including anthropology, criminology, demography, education, gerontology, mental health, minority studies, political science, public health, social psychology, social work, urban studies, welfare programs, and women's studies. Comprehensive and international in scope.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Date coverage: 1975-present
This database supplies citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law and public administration/policy.

Internet Resources

There is no authority control for the Internet. In choosing Internet resources it is imperative to evaluate the authenticity of the source. Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources (UCLA College Library) provides excellent evaluation criteria. The following selected resources have been chosen because of authenticity and comprehensiveness of coverage.

American and New England Studies Subject Guide (University of Southern Maine)

American Studies Web (Georgetown University)
"The American Studies Web is the largest bibliography of web-based resources in the field of American Studies. The editors have established a series of categories to help guide your search. "

Cultural Studies Central
This site includes links to relevant web sites.

Cultural Studies Resources (Blackwell Publishers)
Arranged into subjects and institutions, this site provides links to other sites.

Cultural Studies Resources (University of Iowa Department of Communication Studies)
Links to a variety of related web sites.

Popcultures.com
A resource of links to relevant articles, bibliographies and web sites.

Voice of the Shuttle Cultural Studies
"'Cultural studies' on this page designates the intersection between cultural criticism/theory and selective resources in sociology, media studies, postcolonial studies, economics, literature, and other fields chosen to represent the alignments that now signify 'culture' for the contemporary humanities."

This category contains information on how to write the paper. In using resources it is imperative that they be used ethically and legally. The sources listed here provide assistance in this process.

Writing Handbooks

St. Martin's Handbook
POR Reference PE1112 .L86 1989
Contains sections on the writing process, sentence construction, punctuation, doing research, and academic writing.

A Writer's Reference, 3rd Edition
POR Reference PE1408 .H2778 1995
Includes sections on composing and revising, design, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, writing, and documentation.

Citation Styles

Citing Sources (MLA) (Indiana University)

MLA (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition
POR Reference LB2369 .G53 2003

Online! A Reference Guide Using Internet Resources

Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format (Purdue University Online Writing Center)

Plagiarism

Plagiarism-The Do's and Don't's: Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism (University of California-Davis)

Plagiarism Examples (Indiana University School of Education)

Last update: 10-18-04
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