English 201:

Research in the Disciplines

http://www.pace.edu/library
Click on: Subject Guides, then
“Research in the Disciplines”
 Our goals for today:
 Know where to find Reference tools in your
subject area.
 Recognize the Call Number area that
corresponds to your discipline.
 Choose an appropriate database in which to
conduct your research.
 Understand the advanced features that library
databases offer.
 Know where to locate scholarly journals
published in your field of study.
 Disciplines and Research

Taking a particular disciplinary

perspective on a topic is important to
your research because:
 Libraries (public and academic) are
organized by discipline.
 Many electronic search tools (i.e. library
databases) are discipline-specific.
Reference Tools

 See handout, or search the library

catalog by Keyword, limiting your
location to PACE and then “Mortola
Reference”
 Note the Call Numbers!
The Pace Library Catalog
 Contains information about items in
all Pace University Library locations
Request items from other campuses
for delivery

 Connect NY – request books from a

group of academic libraries around
New York State
Scholarly Journal Sources
 What is a scholarly journal?
 Where do you find them?
 Subject-specific databases
 General databases, with search limited to
Scholarly or “peer reviewed,” JSTOR
 Directory of Open Access Journals
http://www.doaj.org/
 Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com
Choosing a Database

 Things to think about:

 Subject content
 Date coverage
 Type of information contained
 Availability of items (do you need/want
full text?)
Using a Database
 Educate yourself about its basic
functionality (is there online help?)
 Use advanced search capabilities
 Combining search terms using AND and OR
 Truncation
 Make note of subjects the databases uses
to describe articles related to your topic
 Rephrase your search to find more articles
Using a Thesaurus

 Not Roget’s Thesaurus…

 Controlled vocabulary is the language
and terminology used in a discipline
 For example:
 MeSH – Medical Subject Headings
 Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms
 Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors
Finding Articles
 Use the service to determine
the subscription status of the journal
in which an article appeared.
 If we do not subscribe to the journal,
InterLibrary Loan - ILLiad
 Articles will be e-mailed when possible
Citation Formats
 Vary by discipline
 MLA format is often used in the
Humanities
 APA format is used in the sciences
and sometimes in the social sciences
 Chicago and Turabian format are also
used in the social sciences
Good Luck With Your Research!

Pace University Library Home Page:

http://www.pace.edu/library

Mortola Library Reference Desk:

(914) 773-3505

Doug Heimbigner’s Site:

http://librarypace.blogspot.com