Confronting Disaster

Selected Reference Resources

These resources are shelved in the Reference Collection, located on Level A of Trexler Library. Use the indexes in these volumes to look up your topic. This may lead you to relevant articles that will give you background information, as well as a bibliography or list for further reading.

Darkest Hours: A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present
Reference 904 N251d

The World Almanac and Book of Facts
Ready Reference 317.3 W927
Also available through Academic Search Premier (see below) from 2000-present.

Encyclopedia of Environmental Biology
Reference 577.03 E56o

Glossary of Geology
Reference 550.3 G563o

Encyclopedia of Geology
Reference 551.03 E56o

Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences
Reference 551.46003 E56o

Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences
Reference 550.3 D229e

Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather
Reference 551.503 E56o

Encyclopedia of Global Change: Environmental Change and Human Society
Reference 363.7 E56o

Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change
Reference 363.7003 E56og

Environmental Encyclopedia
Reference 363.7003 E61e

Finding Books

Trexler Library's main collection of circulating books is located on levels B and C. You will also notice many government documents appearing in your search results. These are located on level A. If you need assistance locating a government document, ask at the information desk.

Trexler Library Catalog
From the library home page (www.muhlenberg.edu/library), follow the path: Find - Books,Videos,Music - Trexler Catalog . Use the Quick Search drop-down menu to do a keyword or subject search on your topic. If necessary, narrow your search by looking at the subject headings of several relevant titles.

WorldCat
From the library home page (www.muhlenberg.edu/library), follow the path: Find - Books,Videos,Music - WorldCat .
To locate books and other documents that are not part of the Trexler Library collections, search WorldCat, an online catalog that will locate books owned by other libraries in the United States. If you find an item that you would like to use in your research, click on the link in the WorldCat record that says "Borrow this item from another library" and fill out the interlibrary loan request form. It may take up to two weeks to get your book, so place these requests as early as possible. If you need assistance, a librarian will be happy to help you.

EZ Borrow
From the library home page (www.muhlenberg.edu/library), follow the path: Find - Books,Videos,Music - EZ Borrow . Another way of obtaining books that are not owned by Trexler Library is through EZ Borrow. Books requested through this service often arrive within 3-5 days.

Finding Articles

To find articles in academic journals, magazines, or newspapers, search any of the electronic databases listed below. Start at the library home page (www.muhlenberg.edu/library) and follow the path: Find - Articles A-Z.

Academic Search Premier
This database is a good place to begin your search for articles because it covers a wide range of topics and includes many articles in full-text.

Omnifile (WilsonWeb)
A group of databases covering a broad range of topics, with many full-text links.

GEOBASE
Indexes journals, books, reports, etc. on geography, geology, and ecology. 1980s-present.

Health Source
Provides access to journals that cover medical and health topics.

JSTOR
Provides access to the full text of articles from back issues of journals covering a diverse range of subjects. This is a useful database if you are looking for articles from the past few decades.

LexisNexis Academic
A good source for news reports. Includes individual databases for news, business, legal research, and medical information. Full text.Coverage varies.

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more. International. 1970s-present.

Locating a Journal

If you have a citation to a journal article, you can find out if Trexler Library owns the journal cited by doing a "Journal Title" search. From the library home page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/).

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Interlibrary loan is a free service to Muhlenberg students, and you may submit as many requests as needed. ILL requests may also be submitted from your home (or another remote) computer. The form to request a book is different from the form to request an article. To access the interlibrary loan request forms from the library homepage, follow the path: Services & Forms - ILL and then either chose books or articles in the left hand column.

Searching the Web

Proceed with caution when using a search engine! Results will not necessarily provide accurate information. To access a checklist of criteria for evaluating web resources go to Evaluating Resources Handout (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/guides/evaluating.pdf)

Google (http://www.google.com)
Government documents are a rich source of information on this topic, and many of these are available on the Web. Used the Advanced Search option to limit the domain to .gov or .org sites. (Trexler Library also has a large collection of government documents, located on level A. A keyword search in the catalog will often retrieve government document titles as well as books.)

Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/) is another source for scholarly articles. Emphasis is on science topics.

Librarian's Internet Index (http://lii.org/)
This directory will provide you with a list of sites that have been identified by librarians as high in quality. For the most effective results, use the advanced search interface to enter your search terms..

Selected Websites

Yahoo Directory Disasters Page
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/environment_and_nature/disasters/
Organized by type of disaster, this is a good place to go to find a listing of major disasters throughout history.

U.S. Geological Survey
http://www.usgs.gov/
Highly recommended. Click on "Browse Science Topics" for access to information on natural hazards.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
http://www.fema.gov/
Provides general information on different types of disasters, as well as what to do before, during, and after a disaster. Includes a declaration archive of disasters back to 1953, organized by state.

CBS News Disaster Links
http://www.cbsnews.com/digitaldan/disaster/disasters.shtml
Arranged by subject. Look for your topic (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.) and you will be provided with a list of links to many relevant sites.

Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI)
http://www.cidi.org/
Provides situation reports for specific disasters back to 1996. Click on the link to "situation reports" for a listing.

Citing Your Sources

To avoid plagiarism, you must document the information and ideas of others that you use in your paper. Handbooks and handouts providing information on the correct way to cite both print and electronic sources are available at the reference desk. If you are having difficulties figuring out how to cite a source, a librarian will be happy to help you.

Librarians at Trexler Library have prepared a short guide to each of the major citation syles (APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian), and these include examples for citing various types of resources. These guides can be accessed from the library homepage by following the path: Research Help - Citation Guides. A .pdf file of each guide is available for printing. Copies are also available at the Reference Desk.

 

If you would like help with your research, please feel free to contact me at:

Martha Stevenson
Reference Librarian
Trexler Library
484-664-3601
msteven@muhlenberg.edu
or visit the library and consult one of the librarians at the Information / Reference Desk.
We are all here to assist you!