Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and statistical sources are useful starting points when you need some background on a topic, or to familiarize yourself with key terms, issues, or events, or to find statistical information. They can also often provide a bibliography of important references. Here are just a few examples.
Full access to articles, dictionary terms, and research updates in all areas of science and technology. Also includes biographies of leading scientists, updates of breakthroughs and discoveries in science and technology, a science dictionary, and links to related websites.
Search theDartmouth library catalogto locate books, journals, and other items in the collections of all the Dartmouth libraries. Search by subject (using Library of Congress subject headings) or by keyword; you can also search for specific works by author, or by title.
Think about the terms you use in any search, and come up with multiple ways of describing your topic. Many bibliographic databases, including the library catalog and many article indexes, use strictly controlled terms to describe the subject content of materials. Being aware of these subject terms can help you focus your search with great precision.
Below are a sampling of Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings that you may find useful.
Tip: Note that the results of a subject search are listed alphabetically, by default. For a listing that shows most recent publications first, choose "Limit/Sort," then "Sort Results by Year."
Another Good Tip: if you're not sure of the exact Library of Congress Subject Heading, use a Keyword search to locate a few items that are relevant to your topic. Then use the Subject Headings associated with those items to lead you to more relevant materials.
Keyword searches can be made to search for your terms in specific fields (subject, author, title). With a little creativity, you can use this technique with great success, as shown here example: (s:philosophy) and computer*
C. Finding Journal and News Articles Using Indexes
If your topic is too current or too specific to be found in books or reference sources, try finding journal articles on the topic. Scholarly articles provide in-depth information; they are edited and reviewed by experts.
Articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers can be found using article indexes (searchable databases of article records). In many cases these indexes link through to full-text articles (look for the
ArticleLinker icon); if not, use the Library's Catalog to locate the source of the article.
Note that the Catalog does not contain records for individual articles.
Selected indexes relevant to your paper topics are listed here. See eResources for a complete listing of electronic indexes, databases, and other eResources licensed by Dartmouth. Ask a librarian if you need help choosing an article index with a particular focus (e.g., computer science, philosophy, linguistics).
A bibliographic database with informative, author-written abstracts covering scholarly research in all areas of philosophy. The literature covered goes back to 1940 and includes journal articles, books, book chapters such as contributions to an anthology, and book reviews.
Web of Science indexes about 8000 journals in all subject areas. This index is unique in that it tells you who has cited a particular paper, which is useful as a way to find related papers, and to track the influence of a particular paper. You can also search by topic, and the index is very up-to-date. Especially strong in the sciences and interdisciplinary fields. Coverage varies; journals in the social sciences are indexed back to 1956; science journals back to 1945.
WilsonWeb WilsonWeb provides indexing to articles from journals and magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Databases coverage includes: Applied Science and Technology Abstracts; Biological and Agricultural Index Plus; General Science Abstracts and Readers Guide Abstracts.
The library has many print and electronic journals which you can find using the Library Catalog; below are a sampling of journals in computer science, mind/brain, and philosophy.
Internet Searching Guide -- Go to this site to find descriptions, links, and evaluations of different search engines (e.g., Google, ScirusorScitopia for science information only, Vivísimo) Always evaluate the source of your information before you use it in a paper, particularly if it is a non-reviewed or non-refereed Web site. Always cite your Web sources as you would cite printed resources!
If you are tempted to try Google for your research, consider using Google Scholar. Google Scholar is a search engine that includes mostly scholarly materials, such as books, journal articles, dissertations and reports. The Resources@Dartmouth link within Google Scholar goes to Dartmouth's ArticleLinker connection to our library resources.
Directories, or annotated guides, to selected Internet resources. Browse by topic headings, or search.
The Scout Report Archives Search, or browse by subject headings, over this collection of over seven years' worth of critical annotations of selected Internet sites, mailing lists, and other online resources.
Search, or browse by topic category (eg, Computers). Sites are annotated and cross-referenced. The directory is constructed and maintained, in the spirit of the open-source movement, by volunteer editors.
Style guides provide accepted standards to follow when preparing research papers for publication. Sourcesis the Dartmouth College general guide to citing sources, and contains required reading about plagiarism and when, and how, to cite material you are using for a paper or presentation.
Reference management programs allow you to build a personal database of your references to articles, books, websites - any information source - and then easily create bibliographies and reference lists using any particular style, without having to retype or reformat. See this overview of reference management programs widely used at Dartmouth.
RefWorks RefWorks is a web-based reference management program that allows users to create their own personal database of references by importing references from online article databases. RefWorks makes it easy to search, sort, and cite these references in writing papers and then to automatically format the paper and the bibliography. To get started with RefWorks, go to http://www.refworks.com and click on the "User Login" button on the menu bar. Then click on the "Sign up for an Individual Account" link and fill out the form. RefWorks in-context help, or the online tutorial, will guide you through the basics. See the overview for details on importing citations from various article databases into RefWorks.
Borrow Direct: Delivers books from the combined library catalogs of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale within 4 business days.Please fill out the DartDoc Form for documents that are in Storage or that are not in the Dartmouth Library system (Interlibrary Loan requests). See the Document Delivery webpage for more details on these services.
You can also use the Request Selected Itemfeature of the Library Catalog to request books or articles from Storage or Matthews Fuller.
Computer Science Print Collection The Cook Mathematics Collection is where you will find the majority of the Computer Science print collection in the Dartmouth Libraries and it is located on Berry level 3. You will find the journals here as well as the Cook print collection. Most of Computer Science items cataloged starting with QA will be here. Additional Computer Science related titles are shelved throughout the library system depending on their topic focus. Ask any librarian if you need assistance.
Cool Tool! LibX is a browser plugin for Firefox. It provides quick searching of the Dartmouth College Library Catalog, Worldcat, Search360, Google Books, Amazon Books and Google Scholar.
Help
For assistance with any part of your research project please contact: Ann Perbohner Reference Librarian, Kresge Physical Sciences Library, 6-3845
Jane Quigley, Head, Kresge and Cook Libraries, 6-3564
Noah Lowenstein , Reference Librarian, Kresge and Cook Libraries, 6-9958
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