The materials listed below are a selection of reference resources for finding background information or supplying context for topics you will be covering in this class. Note the call numbers and library locations for these materials and check the reference collections for additional sources of background information.

The authors of articles in reference books often provide bibliographies of selected books and articles for further study.

World War II in the Pacific : an encyclopedia. Stanley Sandler, editor. New York ; London : Garland Pub., 2001. (Uris Library Reference (Non-Circulating) D767 .W68x 200)

Historical dictionary of World War II : the war against Japan. Anne Sharp Wells. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 1999. (Olin Library D767.9 .W43x 1999)

The Pacific War encyclopedia. James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi. New York : Facts On File, c1998. (Olin Library D767.9 .D86x 1998) 2 volumes.

The Oxford companion to World War II. general editor, I.C.B. Dear ; consultant editor, M.R.D. Foot. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1995. (Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) D740 .O98 1995)

Louis L. Snyder's Historical guide to World War II. Louis L. Snyder. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1982. (Olin Library D740 .S99 and Uris Library Reference (Non-Circulating) D740 .S99)

American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. 3rd ed. Oxford UP, 1995. 2 vols. (Olin Ref Z6201 .A51 G9 1995; also Uris Ref Z2601.A51 1995) A major research guide which provides a systematic survey in all fields of history. Over 400 historians have identified and annotated "the finest and most useful books and articles available in every field of historical scholarship" (introduction). Each broad topical/geographical section is preceded by an introduction and classified outline of topics covered. General fields of historical scholarship included: "Theory and Practice in Historical Study", "Prehistory", "World History", and "Science, Technology and Medicine". Author and subject indexes are in Volume 2.

Asia

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan. Ed. Richard Bowring and Peter Kornicki. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. (Uris Ref DS805 C17 1993; also Kroch Asia Ref DS805 C36x 1993) Illustrated with color maps and photographs, this encyclopedia consists of a series of background articles on geography, history, language and literature, thought and religion, arts and crafts, society, politics, and the economy written by "54 international scholars, representing some of the best in the US and UK scholarship.... Unquestionably the best single-volume work on Japan." (choice)

Goedertier, Joseph M. Dictionary of Japanese History. New York: Walker/Weatherhill, 1968. (Kroch Asia Ref DS805 G59) Covers "political events, major wars and battles, important feudal clans, features of government and social structure, styles of architecture and painting, outstanding works of literature, and major religious and social developments. The range is from prehistoric to modern times". (Preface) Includes Japanese characters.

Hunter, Janet. Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. (Kroch Asia Ref DS881.9 H94) "A handy source of information on the individuals, events, and organizations that have played a significant role in Japan's modern history". (Preface) The period covered is 1853 to 1980 so this title complements Papinot's Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. The focus is on political, diplomatic and socioeconomic developments rather than on intellectual or cultural subjects. Brief entries with brief bibliographies; glossary and appendices of names and tables of facts.

Galang, Zoilo M. Encyclopedia of the Philippines. [3d ed.] Manila, E. Floro [c1950-58] (Kroch Library Asia
DS655 .G14 1950). Includes bibliographies, illustrations, facsimiles, and maps. Contents: v. 1-2. Literature.--v. 3-4. Biography.--v. 5-6. Commerce and industry.--v. 7-8. Art.--v. 9. Education.--v. 10. Religion.--v. 11-12. Government and politics.--v. 13-14. Science.--v. 15-16. History.--v. 17-18. Builders,--v. 19-20. General information.

Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. 9 vols. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1983. Plus suppl. 1986. (Uris Ref DS 805 K76+; also Kroch Asia Ref) Represents a ten-year effort by Japanese and foreign scholars to compile the "first comprehensive encyclopedia" about Japan in English. Over 9,000 entries (the vast majority under 500 words) are contained in this eight-volume encyclopedia. A one-volume index completes the set. Coverage includes philosophy, history, science, politics, economics, literature and the arts, food and clothing from both a historical and a contemporary perspective. Authors were asked to introduce the topic at a level appropriate to high school students with no familiarity with the subject and to expand to a level for advanced students. A letter-by-letter system of alphabetization is used and the romanization system is Hepburn or Standard. Although bibliographies are appended to most of the longer articles, the encyclopedia would have been more useful with additional English citations (e.g. in the entry "advertising", the bibliography simply lists the American periodical Advertising Age along with three Japanese titles). The encyclopedia is illustrated with black and white photos, charts and maps. It should be the single most useful source on Japan for the non-Japanese reader.

Shulman, Frank Joseph. Japan. Oxford: Santa Barbara: Clio Press, 1989.
(Shelved on the dictionary stand at Asia Reference Desk, Kroch Asia Reference Z3301 S555). A selective bibliography of 1900 popular and academic English-language books and monographs covering humanities and social science disciplines -- fine and performing arts, history, literature, philosophy, religion, economics, foreign relations, geography, mass media, politics, society, sports and recreation, travel. Most entries are annotated. Arranged by field with useful topical or chronological subdivisions. Separate author, title and subject entries.

Film and Literature

Katz, Ephraim.The Film Encyclopedia. New York: Crowell, 1979. (Olin Reference PN 1993.45 K19) This comprehensive work covers world cinema, including American, United Kingdom, and international films. Also contains biographies of directors, composers, film editors, actors and actresses, with filmographies for directors and major stars.

The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. 4th ed., 4 vols. Chicago: St. James, 2000. (Olin Reference PN 1993.45 I61 2000; also Uris Reference ) Vol. I of this four-volume set lists and describes approximately 650 international and historical films. Descriptions include production information, a cast list, a plot summary, an essay of the film's place in film history, and a lengthy bibliography. Vols. II-IV focus on Directors/Filmmakers, Actors and Actresses, and Writers and Production Assistants.

Literature Resource Center [Farmington Hills, MI] : Gale Group, c1999-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases) "The Literature Resource Center (LRC) is a complete literature reference database designed for the undergraduate student. LRC combines biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information to deliver a complete reference/resource package on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Centering on respected Gale sources, including Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Literary Criticism, this data set is augmented with full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material. LRC [also] offers the Encyclopedia of Literature, The Scribner Writer Series, and American National Biography.

There are also many networked reference resources, including online encyclopedias and dictionaries, available in the General Interest and Reference section of the Cornell Library Gateway including the following databases:

IMB: Internet Movie Database Great for identifying and browsing movies. (Use the power search feature on the left-hand menu.)

Britannica Online offers the full text of the multivolume paper encyclopedia set, including its numerous bibliographies, maps, and photographs, as well as supplying links to related Web sites for many of the topics covered.

Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.

Roget's Internet thesaurus of English words and phrases

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FINDING BOOKS

CU Library Catalog Help

Functions and features of the new web catalog are explained on these pages.

Connect to the CU Library Catalog

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. Understanding Library of Congress Call Numbers

Library of Congress Classification

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.

Some useful Library of Congress Subject Headings for this class include the following:


World War, 1939-1945--Japan--Hiroshima-shi--Fiction.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Indonesian.
Burma History Japanese occupation, 1942-1945 Personal narratives
Burma History Japanese occupation, 1942-1945 Sources.
World War, 1939-1945--Motion pictures and the war
War films--United States--History and criticism.
World War, 1939-1945 Campaigns Pacific Ocean Pictorial works.

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FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Periodical Indexes and Databases

Periodical articles are published "periodically" or sequentially in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or irregular intervals. They are found in newspapers, magazines, journals, yearbooks, and other sources.

Periodical indexes and abstracts are Reference resources that identify and locate articles in periodical publications. They are often subject-oriented and list author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication in entries called bibliographic citations.

Periodical indexes and abstracts are available in several formats: traditional bound paper volumes, stand alone CD-ROM computer workstations, and as networked resources in the CU Library Gateway's Find Databases.

Finding Periodicals and Periodical Articles

Periodical Abstracts (ProQuest). Ann Arbor: Bell & Howell, 1986- . (Library Gateway Find Databases) 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).

History

Historical Abstracts. Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-Clio, Inc., c1998-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases) This historical periodical database includes annotated references to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the U.S. and Canada which are covered in "America: History and Life"). Covers over 2000 journals, including historical journals from almost every country and selections of journals in the social sciences and humanities for researchers and students of history.

America History and Life Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-Clio, Inc., c1998- . (Library Gateway's Find Databases) A complete bibliographical reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, covering over 2000 journals published worldwide.

History Resource Center: United States. [Farmington Hills, MI] : Gale Group, c2000-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases) Provides an integrated collection of primary documents, secondary reference sources, and journal articles covering all areas of U.S. history from pre-colonial times to the present day. Includes full-text coverage of approximately 65 periodicals of interest to students and historians as well as access to the citations for history journals from the Arts & humanities citation index.

Literature and Film

MLA International Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association, 1963- . An international index and database providing references to scholarly articles from over 4000 journals dealing with languages, literature, folklore and linguistics. It is useful for finding literary criticism of a particular author or work, as well as articles on literary theory, women's studies, popular culture, and performing arts. The online version of MLA covers 1963 to present. The print version covers 1921 to the present.

International Index to the Performing Arts IIPA Full Text. IPA Full Text covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry--including dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, circus performance, comedy, storytelling, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic and more. All the articles have abstracts and about a quarter have the full text of the article. The best online resource for a broad range of publications in the performing arts.

Asia

Bibliography of Asian Studies. Ann Arbor, Mich. : Association for Asian Studies, 1971-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases) This database contains more than 410,000 records on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present. Through the 1991 printed version, the BAS included citations to western-language periodical articles, individually authored monographs, chapters in edited volumes, conference proceedings, anthologies, and Festschriften, etc. Since 1992, newly published individual monographs are no longer being added to the database, and users seeking monographs are urged to consult other general resources and databases (such as RLIN, OCLC, etc.). Print volumes cover back to 1947 (Kroch Asia Ref +Z3001 F2)

Monumenta Nipponica A full text journal on Japanese culture and society. Full text from 1930-96. JSTOR provides full text for the entire run of several thousand journals up to five years before the present, so it's not useful for current material but provides excellent historical depth.

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FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES

Portals, Search Engines, and Subject Guides

Use web portals, search engines, or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software programs 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.

OKU Reference List of Internet Search Engines

OKU Reference List of Internet Subject Guides

Question and evaluate the information that you find on web pages. 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. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative? Go to the Evaluating Sources section of this page for more information on how to assess the web sites you have accessed.

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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.

Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.

Evaluating Web Resources lists ways to analyze the Web sites you find.

Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites offers a table of suggestions.

For additional suggestions specific to Web sites, see Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools.

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CITING SOURCES

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 5th ed. Chicago: U Chicago P, 1987. (Uris and Olin Reference PE 1478 T92 1987) A newly revised and expanded version by B. Honigsblum, of Kate Turabian's standard guide for student writers. Fourteen chapters cover everything you've ever wanted to know about putting a paper together, from its introductory chapters to its bibliography. online version

MLA citation style MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.) CU Library Reference locations include Olin and Uris Libraries at call number: Z 253 M68 2003.

MLA citation style (Library Gateway Help)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

Modern Language Association of America. MLA Style Manual. 2nd ed. New York: MLA, 1985.(Olin Reference PN147 G444x 1998; also Uris Reference) Although somewhat scholarly in tone, the purpose of the MLA Style Manual is to provide for the researcher, at whatever level, a systematic, consistent format for all forms of citation. In addition, it provides information about proofreading, the use of abbreviations, transliteration and such simple, but not always obvious items, as margin width, pagination, and typeface.

APA citation style Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) CU Library Reference locations include Africana, ILR, Mann, Olin, and Uris Libraries at call number: BF76.7 .P83x 2001+.

APA citation style (Library Gateway Help)

APA Reference Examples for Electronic Source Materials Excerpted from the new 5th edition of the Publication Manual.

APAStyle.org

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RESEARCH AND REFERENCE HELP

Library Gateway Help

CU Library Catalog Help

Live Chat Reference service M-F

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

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 Research Consultations

OKU Fall Workshop Schedule

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Question? Ask a Librarian

 

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February 6, 2004
Virginig Cole vac11@cornell.edu
Olin and Uris Reference
Cornell University Library

Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, okucirc@cornell.edu