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Research Guide for
Rural Sociology 114: Upstream-Downstream, Mainstream-Backwater

Research Strategy Reference Sources
Finding Books Finding Periodical Articles
Finding Web/Networked Resources Evaluating Sources Help

Question? Ask a Librarian

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RESEARCH STRATEGY

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Finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner insures that you will find the information or material you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The Seven Research Steps:

1. Choose your topic
2. Find background information using reference sources
3. Find books on your topic
4. Find periodical articles
5. Find relevant Web sites
6. Evaluate your sources
7. Cite your sources

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REFERENCE SOURCES

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Dictionaries

• Horton, Gary A. Water Words Dictionary: A Compilation of Technical Water, Water Quality, Environmental, and Water-related Terms. Carson City: Nevada Division of Water Planning, Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources, 1999- .
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

• Texas Environmental Center. Encyclopedia of Water Terms. Austin: The Center, 1996?.
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

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Public Policy Resources & Directories

FEDERAL:

• Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Vol. 1- . Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1945- .
  (Olin Ref + JK 1 .C66; also Uris [latest vol. in Ref.])

  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: Congressional Quarterly, 1946 - .
  (Olin Ref + JK 1 .C661; also Uris Ref; Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection from Oct. 1983 to date)

  Provides summaries of Congressional legislation and the political process in Congress. 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.

• CQ's Politics in America. 1999/2001- .
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Supplies a substantial background essay, contact information, election results, interest group ratings, and district demographics on each U.S. Senator and member of Congress.

• CQ Public Affairs Collection.
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Current affairs content on advocacy and public service, education, energy, the environment, health, and transportation. Provides reporting on issues, statistical and historical analyses, historic documents and primary source materials, as well as a directory of key govenment, nonprofit, and private organizations in each of the major policy areas.

• CQ Staff Directories:

  Current contact information for the Federal Government.

  • Federal Staff Directory
    (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  • Congressional Staff Directory
    (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

• National Journal. 1969 - .
  (Part of National Journal Group's Policy Central, see next entry; also Olin Ref + JK 1 .N27 in print)

  Weekly issues review actions and events throughout the U.S. government, including the White House, federal departments and agencies, Congress, and the Courts.

• National Journal Group's Policy Central.
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Provides direct links to the full text of National Journal, a weekly review of actions and events throughout the U.S. government, including the White House, federal departments and agencies, Congress, and the Courts. Also includes the Almanac of American Politics, a Congressional directory.

• Oleszek, Walter. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process. 4th ed. 1996.
  (Olin Ref JK 1096 .O45 1996)

  An examination of how Congress makes laws and how its rules and procedures shape public policy. Describes the making of a law from introduction to final passage.

• United States Government Manual. Annual. 1973/74 - . (Former title: United States Government Organization Manual, 1935-1972/73).
  (Olin Ref JK 421 A3; also Uris Ref; Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  A directory of the federal government containing descriptions of the agencies in all branches, as well as certain boards, committees and commissions. Congressional or executive authority for each agency's establishment is cited, and the prominent publications are listed for some of the more important units. Includes organization charts, addresses, and telephone numbers, regional maps. Also available online as part of GPO Access.

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FINDING BOOKS

Cornell University Library Catalog

Search the Cornell University Library Catalog

The Cornell University Library Catalog includes the holdings of all 17 libraries on the Ithaca campus, in addition to those of the Geneva Experiment Station. The catalog contains records for books, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, periodicals, serials, sound recordings, and visual materials received and cataloged since 1973. There are also records for most pre-1973 items, and for items that are on order or in process. 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.

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FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES

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Periodical Indexes and Abstracts

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 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.

For more information, see Finding Periodicals and Periodical Articles.

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• Environmental Policy Index. Dates of coverage vary.
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Provides researchers with abstracts and indexing for over 1,000 titles covering environmental policy and studies. Updated monthly, with ongoing coverage for over 500 of those titles, the database contains citations for nearly 700,000 articles published since 1973. The database offers deep coverage of applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, environmental law, geography, marine and freshwater resources, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more. Additionally, an Environment Thesaurus and publication index are available for more precise, advanced searching.

• LexisNexis Academic Universe. Dates of coverage vary.
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Access to full-text resources on topics including current and general news; business and financial information; newspapers; company directories; government and politics; medical and health topics; accounting, auditing, and tax; federal and state laws; legal cases; and regulations. Resources include TV and radio news transcripts. Updated daily.

• LexisNexis Environmental Universe. Dates of coverage vary.
  (Library Gateway -- 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.

• NewsBank Full-Text Newspapers. Dates of coverage vary.
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Access to full-text newspaper articles from the smaller U.S. newspapers. Updated daily.

• PAIS International. 1972 - .
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Contains citations to public policy literature. Includes references to journal articles, books, government documents, reports and pamphlets in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Covers many periodicals in these subjects not indexed elsewhere.

• Periodical Abstracts (ProQuest). 1986- .
  (Library Gateway -- 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).

• Pollution Abstracts. 1981- .
  (Library Gateway -- e-Reference Collection)

  Pollution abstracts is a resource for references to environment-related literature on pollution, its sources, and its control. Includes topics on air pollution, environmental quality, noise pollution, pesticides, radiation, solid wastes, water pollution, sewage and waster water treatment, environmental action, etc.

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FINDING RESOURCES ON THE WEB

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The Cornell Library Gateway is a web site which provides a unified approach to finding information about the Cornell University Library and to selecting and connecting to our collection of networked electronic resources and services.

To search for databases, click on e-Reference Collection. Enter a keyword or database name in the search box and click on the Search button. The e-Reference database will generate a list of databases that match your search request from the online resources purchased or subscribed to by the library.

To browse databases, click on a subject category on the e-Reference page of the Gateway. Or you can browse the lists of New Resources, "Greatest Hits" (frequently used databases), or the Alphabetical List of titles.

In addition to the Gateway resources, here are other Internet resources selected for your class:

Envirolink: The Online Environmental Community

U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

General Web searching:

Google is a powerful search tool for finding Web-based information.

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EVALUATING SOURCES

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Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial research step. 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 or on the screen.

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.

The Internet is a very democratic tool: 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? How authoritative? For guidance on evaluating Web pages, consult Five criteria for evaluating Web pages

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RESEARCH AND REFERENCE HELP

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• 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

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

• Reference chat service: ask your reference question online.

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27 March 2003
Michael Engle
Reference Services
Instruction, Research, and Information Services, (IRIS)
Cornell University Library

URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/rsoc114.html

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