EYE 103 I/J - Shopping: American Consumerism

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

The USM Libraries are here to help. The librarians for this course are Pat Prieto (pprieto@usm.maine.edu; 780-5662) and Zip Kellogg (zkellogg@usm.maine.edu; 780-4272). Another method to reach us is: Ask-A-Librarian.

This guide is intended to help you locate up-to-date information about American consumerism and will help you assure a methodical and more comprehensive approach to collecting information. It will help you locate background information, current scholarly articles, and reliable, credible Internet sites. And, while speaking of the Net...if you're looking only on search engines such as Google or Yahoo you are missing a lot of good information. Looking in the places listed below as well as the Net will assure better results.

URSUS, the online catalog of the University of Maine System, provides access primarily to books and government publications.

To find materials in other Maine libraries, check MaineCat.

To find these materials that are not located in Maine, check WorldCat.

To find *ARTICLES* go to the section called Indexes and Databases below.

The library is able to get materials from other libraries all over the world. To access this easy to use service, log in and use the request form at ILLiad, or talk with the library staff in Inter-Library Loan.

Everyone knows what an encyclopedia is. These specialized encyclopedias, available in the Portland (POR) and/or Gorham (GOR) libraries, will be especially useful for this course:

Encyclopedia of American Social Movements
POR Reference HN57 .E594 2004

Encyclopedia of Sociology
POR and GOR Reference HM425 .E5 200

Environmental Encyclopedia
GOR Reference GE10. E57 2003

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

Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America
POR Reference GV 53 E53 2004

The following are the "scholarly search engines" (AKA databases) available at USM, that will provide access to citations (and in some cases the full-text) of scholarly/peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters you will need for your research.

Academic Search Premier (dates vary by resource)
A multidisciplinary database providing full text for nearly 3,300 scholarly publications of which 2,400 are peer reviewed.

America: History and Life (1964-present)
Index to research on the history of the United States and Canada, from prehistoric times to the present.

Business Source Premier
Provides full text for more than 2,800 scholarly business journals of which 912 are peer reviewed. Coverage includes: management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more.

EconLit Contains citations and abstracts to economic research dating back to 1969. Provides comprehensive information on accounting, capital markets, econometrics, economic forecasting, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, urban economics and much more.

Book Index with Reviews Book Index with Reviews has information on over 4 million book titles (including audiobooks), around 700,000 music and DVD/video titles, citations to millions of reviews in peer-reviewed journals and popular magazines, and links to 800,000 full-text reviews.

Proquest Newspapers (dates vary by resource)
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.

There is no quality control on the Internet. Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources helps you evaluate Internet sources. The following resources were selected for their authenticity and comprehensiveness of coverage.

FirstGov.gov
This official web portal to U. S. federal government information is a resource to valuable government information on relevant topics for this class. There is a search engine to help locate specific information.

Maine.gov
"Official web site of the state of Maine" and the source for government information relevant to Maine.

The National Retail Trade Federation
" the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution....." The publications subsection, available under the Information link may be especially useful.

Any information you use that comes from another source has to be properly cited. The following provide assistance in how to cite and how to avoid plagiarism.

Writing Handbook

A Writer's Reference, 5th Edition
POR and GOR Reference PE1408 .H2778 2003
Includes sections on composing and revising, design, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, writing, and documentation. The Research & Documentation Online includes excellent examples.

Citation Style: APA

APA Documentation (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)

APA Style.org

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition
POR and GOR Reference BF76.7 .P83 2001; LEW Reserve BF76.7 .P83 2001

Online: A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources

Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format (Updated to 5th Edition) (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)

Citation Style: Chicago

Chicago Manual of Style
POR Reference Z253 .U69 2003

Chicago Manual of Style (University of California-Berkeley)

Chicago/Turabian Documentation (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)

Online! A Reference Guide Using Internet Resources

Plagiarism

How to Recognize Plagiarism (Indiana University School of Education)

Created by: Pat Prieto and Zip Kellogg
Created on: 09.07.2006
Last Updated: 09.10.2007