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Detectives in Film & Literature
Need help with your research? Contact:
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FINDING BOOKS
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Trexler Library
Search the Trexler Library Catalog (http://library.muhlenberg.edu) to find books the library owns.
A keyword search produces a broad list of results. Use with Boolean Operators. Use OR between like concepts or synonyms. Use AND between different concepts. Example: detectives and literature
A subject heading search produces a small, exact list of results. Library of Congress Subject Headings specifically for TLC Example: women detectives in literature
WorldCat
To expand your book search considerably, try WorldCat. Follow the path: Trexler Library Home Page - Find - Books,Videos,Music - WorldCat. WorldCat is a unified catalog of many libraries in the U.S. and other parts of the world. This is a powerful search tool for books, web resources, and other materials on any subject. It will list area libraries if there are any that hold that book title.
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. Follow the path: Trexler Library Home Page - Find - Books,Videos,Music - EZ Borrow.
FINDING ARTICLES (Articles A-Z)
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/articles/databases/alphabetical.html
General Databases
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Academic Search Premier contains full text for more than 4,500 scholarly and popular journals covering academic areas like the medical sciences, ethnic studies, education, humanities, etc.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe is a full-text database of major newspapers, newswires, select trade journals and magazines.
Omnifile is full text covering a variety of subject areas.
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Communication & Mass Media Complete is a full text journal database covering journalism, broadcast media, video, film, and advertising.
MLA contains citations to scholarly articles, working papers, bibliographies in modern languages and literatures.
SocAbs (Sociological Abstracts) provides citations and abstracts of research in sociology and related disciplines in the social behavioral sciences. Topics include: community development, culture, demography, human biology, group interactions and more.
LOCATING A JOURNAL
To find out if the library has access to a journal/magazine/newspaper in full text, in paper or in microform, go to the library homepage and do a Journal Title search in the catalog.
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
Books and journals not found in Trexler Library can be ordered through Interlibrary Loan (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/more/ill/index.html).
Remember, start early to allow enough time to receive them. It could take anywhere from 7 days to 2 weeks.
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)
One of the largest web crawlers. Non-selective.Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/)
Web crawler that looks for content it identifies as "scholarly". Emphasis is on books and journal articles.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.
CITING SOURCES
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/citations.html
No matter where your information comes from, you always need to cite your sources. This is necessary to give the author proper credit for his or her work, as well as so that you or someone else could retrace the steps you took doing your research.
The most frequently used citation styles have been compiled by the reference librarians on a webpage and handout. These can be found by following the path: Trexler Library Home Page - Research Help - Citation Guides.