When to Check the Card Catalog

Some materials in the humanities and social sciences acquired prior to 1973 have records that have not yet been converted to digital form. Access to these records is through the card catalog located in Olin Library. The card catalog contains cards for authors, titles, and subjects filed in an alphabetical, word-by-word arrangement.

The Cornell University Library uses Library of Congress subject headings as the standard for subject searching. Unlike searching by keyword, where any term or wording of a topic can be entered into the computer, subject searching requires you to use the exact wording of an official Library of Congress subject heading in order to retrieve search results.

Current Awareness Sources

• Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Vol. 1- . Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1945- .
  (Uris Ref + JK 1 C66; also Olin and JGSM)

  Each volume provides a survey of legislation for one session of Congress with summaries of major Congressional action. Includes voting information on numerous measures. The index allows for access by name or subject. Published annually.

• CQ Weekly. Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly, Inc., c1998-
  (e-Reference Collection; also available in print. Latest print issues are shelved in the Olin Reference Government Documents Indexes section, and in the Uris Reference stacks JK1 .C661)

  CQ Weekly provides news summaries of congressional legislation, commission reports, presidential talks and appointments, and even information about birth dates, religious affiliation and occupation of senators and representatives. One of the best and most current of all publications dealing with government action. Covers Congress in depth, but also includes information on the executive and judicial branches of government. Quarterly indexes cumulate annually and provide access by subject. There are also special indexes for: Lobby registrations, Presidential texts, Committee roll call votes, etc.

• CQ Researcher. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1983- .
  (e-Reference Collection; also Uris Ref H 35 .E23)
  Formerly Editorial Research Reports. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1946- .

  CQ Researcher is issued four times a month on subjects of current interest. Divided into three sections, each Researcher discusses the major issues, followed by background and historical developments and concludes with a discussion of the future, as well as a select bibliography of books, articles, reports, and studies. The annual cumulated volume also includes a reminder service with brief information about newsworthy events, and an index listing Researchers (by subject and title) for the past five years.

• Current Issues Sourcefile. Bethesda, Md.: Congressional Information Service, 1996- . (Electronic Text Center, Reference Disk JK 1 C97)

  A full-text CD-ROM database which compiles and indexes papers of advocacy groups, professional and trade associations, federal agencies and think-tanks. Covers topics in the areas of criminal justice, business, education, environment, health and other contemporary social issues. Provides access to the "grey literature" which has traditionally been difficult to obtain.

• Issues and Controversies on File. New York: Facts on File, 1995- .
  (Uris Ref JK 1 .I86)

  A loose-leaf digest of news analysis and background information on contemporary social, political and economic issues. A cumulative index provides access to topics in the twice-monthly issues.

Government/Legal Information Sources

• Congressional Universe. 1789 - .
  (e-Reference Collection) Serves as both an index and a full text source of US Congressional materials: members and committees, bills, laws, hearing transcripts, committee prints, documents, the Congressional Record, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, US Code. Updated daily.

• FindLaw your Source to Law on the Internet.

  Updated frequently, this database provides links to law schools, professional development, legal organizations, law firms and lawyers, cases and codes, US Federal resources, US State resources, foreign and international resources, news and reference, directories, legal practice documents, consultants and experts. Also, links are available to other FindLaw sites including the FindLaw Library with over 15,000 publications.

• LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe (e-Reference Collection)

  This Web-based service contains the full text of a number of large- and medium-size newspapers; transcripts of broadcast news shows, interviews, and press conferences; wire services; some popular magazines; and legal materials. Since it is updated daily, it is an excellent index to current topics and events.

• LEXIS-NEXIS Environmental Universe (e-Reference Collection)

  Provides access to full text environmental information in the areas of environment abstracts; news, journals, and commentary; codes and regulations; case law and agency actions; and waste and materials. This information is drawn from journals; conference papers and proceedings; federal and state government reports; major daily newspapers; consumer and trade magazines; newsletters; law reviews; administrative codes; case law; regulatory agency decisions; and waste site and hazardous material data.

• NTIS. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service, U.S. Dept. of Commerce.
  (e-Reference Collection)

  NTIS database provides access to the results of U.S. (and non-U.S.) government-sponsored research, development, and engineering, plus analyses prepared by federal agencies, their contractors, or grantees. Includes chemical engineering, computer science, energy, engineering, environment, geology, information science, marine, nuclear science, pollution, science and technology.

• State Capital Universe. Bethesda, Md. : Congressional Information Services, 1998-
  (e-Reference Collection)

  Provides access to bills, laws, constitutions, proposed and enacted regulations, legislature membership and newspapers of record for all the states.

• THOMAS: Legislative information on the Internet. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1995-. (e-Reference Collection)

  Provides free access to a wide range of legislative information on the Congress, including the full text of the Congressional Record and bills for the 103rd to the present Congress, a directory of congressional committees and members of Congress, the weekly floor schedule for the House, and a schedule of daily committee hearings. Includes text of How our laws are made by Edward F. Willett Jr.

• U.S. Government Documents: Library Guide to Locations for Electronic, Print & Microform Copies.

  This page is intended to function as a pathfinder for locating U.S. government publications (1) accessible through the Cornell University Library Gateway, and (2) housed in Olin Library print and microform collections. There are many government document sets held by other CU libraries, such as Law and ILR, but those holdings lie outside the scope of this finding aid. Consult the CU Library Catalog for non-Olin locations.

FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Periodical Indexes and Abstracts

Periodical indexes and abstracts identify and locate articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. Periodical indexes provide the authors, titles, and sometimes abstracts, of relevant articles, along with the name of the periodical, volume, pages and date. Some online periodical indexes also provide the full-text of the article. When full-text articles are not provided, use the Cornell Library Catalog to determine which library owns the periodicals you need.

• Bibliography of Bioethics. Detroit: Gale, 1975- .
  (Uris Ref + Z6675 .E8 B58; Mann Index QH332 B582; also Olin Ref)

  "A subject bibliography listing English-language books, essays in books, journal & newspaper articles, court decisions, bills or laws, films & audio cassettes." Concerned with ethical aspects of health care, contraception, abortion, population, reproductive technologies, genetic intervention, mental health therapies, human experimentation, artificial and transplanted organs or tissues, death and dying, etc. Published annually; each volume has title and author indexes.

• BIOSIS. Biosis Information Service, 1986- .
  (Library Catalog, e-Reference Collection)

  This comprehensive, international indexing and abstracting service covers over 8,000 scholarly journals and books in biology, biomedicine, and other life sciences. Abstracts are lengthy and informative. Biological Abstracts is also available in the print form in Mann Library (Mann Ref QH301 B62).

• Index to Legal Periodicals. Bronx, N.Y.: H.W. Wilson Co.,
  (Library Catalog, e-Reference Collection)

  Citations to articles from over 600 legal journals, yearbooks, institutes, bar association organs, law reviews, and government publications originating in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Includes book reviews.

• LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe. Dayton: Mead Data Central.
  (Library Catalog, e-Reference Collection)

  This Web-based service contains the full text of a number of large- and medium-size newspapers; transcripts of broadcast news shows, interviews, and press conferences; wire services; some popular magazines; and legal materials. Since it is updated daily, it is an excellent index to current topics and events.

• PAIS International. [New York?]: Public Affairs Information Service, 1972 -.

  Contains citations to public policy literature of economics, government, law, international business, political science, public administration, and other social sciences. It includes references to journal articles, books, government documents, reports and pamphlets in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

• Periodical Abstracts. (ProQuest). Ann Arbor: Bell & Howell, 1986- . (Library Catalog, e-Reference Collection)

  Indexes and abstracts approximately 2000 general interest magazines and scholarly journals. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Many of the articles found by searching in this database are available in full text electronic formats. Pull down menus allow you to customize your searches by date range, type of resource (newspaper or magazine and journal articles), and by retrieval format (citation, full text, or PDF file which includes graphics). The Database Selection menu allows you to search different sections of the database, including a limit for Peer reviewed articles (scholarly articles).

• The Philosopher's Index.[Bowling Green, Ohio] : Philosopher's Information Center. 1940 - date. (Library Catalog, e-Reference Collection)

  Provides indexing and abstracts from books and many journals on philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields published in the U.S. and the Western World. Coverage is from 1940 to the present for U.S. materials, and 1967 to the present for non-U.S. references.

• The web of science: citation databases. [Philadelphia, Pa.] : Institute for Scientific Information. Coverage varies.[1945/1956/1975 -date.]

  ISI citation databases are multidisciplinary databases of bibliographic information indexed to be searched by subject, author, journal, and/or author address. They can also be searched for articles that cite a known author or work. Cited reference searching allows use of a given work as if it were a subject term, to identify more recent articles on the same topic.

FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES

SEARCH ENGINES AND SUBJECT GUIDES

Use search engines or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software that allow you to search the contents of web pages and Subject Guides are web pages that use menus and lists to sort and classify web sites.

Question Authority! The Internet is a very democratic tool, in that anyone can write or say virtually anything they wish to on it. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. Does the individual or institution have a particular bias or concern or agenda in presenting their information. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative?

• Evaluating Web Sites

• Search the Internet

• Internet Subject Guides

• Library Web Servers World-Wide

Internet Reference Resources chosen by the O*K*U Reference staff

This site contains many links to news resources, international and national government information, and Web-based reference resources.

Center for Food Safety

Established by the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) in 1997 and based in Washington, D.C., the Center for Food Safety (CFS) is a public interest and environmental advocacy organization which works to address the impacts of our food production system on human health, animal welfare and the environment. CFS works to achieve its goals through grassroots campaigns, public education, media outreach, and litigation.

Genewatch.

GeneWatch is an independent organisation concerned with the ethics and risks of genetic engineering. It questions how, why and whether the use of genetic technologies should proceed and believes that the debate over genetic engineering is long overdue. Web site includes press releases, news, fact files, etc.

Monsanto's Life Sciences Knowledge Center

Industry-sponsored site containing information that takes a largely favorable position toward bioengineering and food production.

Transgenic Crops: An Introduction and Resource Guide.

Web site from Colorado State University that aims to "provide balanced information and links to other resources on the technology and issues surrounding transgenic crops..."

Yahoo Links to Food Bioengineering Sites

EVALUATING SOURCES

Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.

How to Critically Analyze Information Sources lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

CITING SOURCES

APA citation style

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.)

  CU Library Reference locations include Africana, ILR, Mann, Olin, and Uris Libraries at call number: BF 76.7 .A51x 1994. Also in Hotel Reference at PE 1475 P82 1994.

• APA citation style (Gateway Help)

• Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association

• APA Publication Manual FAQ

MLA citation style

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (5th ed.)

  CU Library Reference locations include Olin and Uris Libraries at call number: LB 2369 .G53x 1999.

• MLA citation style (Gateway Help)

• MLA Style (MLA's web site)

• Library Gateway Help

• Reference Desk Directory

• Reference Desk Schedules in Olin and Uris Libraries
  • Olin Library Reference phone number: 255-4144

  • Uris Library Reference phone number: 255-2339

• OKU Workshop Schedule

• OKU Research Consultations

• Olin Kroch Uris Reference e-mail address: okuref@cornell.edu

• 
  New online Reference Help service. Presently available M-F 1-5 p.m.

Question? Ask a Librarian

Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
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