English 100 - College Writing (Dean)

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

For further research assistance, please contact Zip Kellogg (zkellogg@usm.maine.edu; 780-4272), Reference Librarian, USM Libraries, 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 term describing the topic you need, try doing a keyword search. Bottom line: if subject searching doesn't deliver results then try keyword searching and vice versa.

Here are a few sample topics linked directly to URSUS:

Reading Comprehension

Thought and Thinking

Report Writing

College Readers

English Language Rhetoric

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 InfoNet 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.

On Compiling an Annotated Bbiliography
POR Reference Z 1001 H33

Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
POR Reference PE 1628 M36

American Heritage College Dictionary
POR Reference PE 1628 A6227

The Random House Thesaurus
POR Reference PE 1591 R28

Harbrace College Handbook
POR Reference PE 1112 H6

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 electronic indexing sources are available from either on or off campus. To search article databases from off campus, you will need a library card and bring it to the library to have it "authenticated."

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.

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

Literature Resource Center
Includes: Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, Scribner Writers, and Twayne's Authors Series.

MLA International Bibliography
Date coverage: 1963-current
Index to scholarly research in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Indexes articles from more than 3,500 journals and series. Also includes monographs, working papers, proceedings, and bibliographies. Updated 10 times / year.

New York Times
Date coverage: 1999-current
Includes full-text of the newspaper. The New York Times covers literary events, reviews books, etc.

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 Newspapers
Full text of more than 500 U.S. and international news sources. Includes The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and the imes 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.

In choosing Internet resources it is important to evaluate the authenticity of the source. Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources (UCLA College Library) provides excellent evaluation criteria.

Here are some sites that may help you with the writing process:

The Writing Center (U. of Wisconsin, Madison) an overview of the many facets of writing well.

The Writing Center (Harvard) a series of hand-outs about different aspects of the writing process.

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

Professor Ann Dean has provided you with background for both APA and MLA styles of citing. Here is another useful site to supplement those.

Online: A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources

Plagiarism

Academic Integrity at USM

Avoiding Plagiarism (University of California-Davis)

How to Recognize Plagiarism (Indiana University School of Education)

Footnotes/Bibliography
Endnote
USM has a site license for Endnote, a personal reference database program. The main functions of this program include maintenance of a database of references, downloading references from other databases, using the database to link to references in word-processed documents, and generating a bibliography in the correct style for publications. See the Introduction to Endnote for further information.

Created by: Zip Kellogg
Created on: 11.14.2005
Last Updated: 11.14.2005