CSAS Research Paper Writing Workshop
Library Information
SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Gale Virtual Reference Library is an online database that
searches numerous encyclopedias at one time; this is helpful but
it doesn’t cover everything. See the Library’s Subject Guides in
your discipline for recommendations to encyclopedias:
http://library.ucsc.edu/Zope/eresources/bytool/SubjectGuides/ or Ask a
Librarian
Find an encyclopedia to explore in. Answer the following:
1. In a subject encyclopedia you’ll find an overview of a topic
in a specific subject area. The following are examples of
encyclopedia titles: Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral
Sciences, Encyclopedia of Community, Encyclopedia of Social
Psychology (note that the 2nd floor collection consists almost
entirely of subject encyclopedias). If you look up the term
“Neighborhoods” in a psychology encyclopedia and in a women’s
studies encyclopedias each will cover the topic from a
different point of view.
Look up your topic in a relevant subject encyclopedia. What
new keywords have you learned from reading this? __________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
2. Look at the bibliography of books and/or articles at the end
of the encyclopedia essay. Is there anything in there that
might help you with your topic? If so, list below:
Title ___________________________________________________
Author ___________________
Date _____________________
Is this a book or article? _____________________
If this is an article, fill in the following
Journal title ________________
Volume ____________
Pages _____________
LIBRARY CATALOGS
Catalogs make a library’s collection searchable; they also give
you the status of the item you are looking for and the info you
need (call number) to find it on the shelf. Catalogs also have
features that let you place a hold on an item that someone else
has already checked out; they also let you see a list of or
renew the books you have checked out.

CRUZCAT is UCSC’s collection of library materials
Annette Marines, amarines@ucsc.edu
CSAS Research Paper Writing Workshop
Library Information


Melvyl shows you what all the UCs own; it also lets you
request books from another campus
WorldCat is an international, but mostly national, union
catalog of public and academic libraries. You can find almost
anything in this catalog. In order to request in WorldCat, you
have to use the UC-eLinks feature.
3. Use CRUZCAT to look up the item you found in #2. For books,
look up the title or author; for articles look up the journal
title.
4. Conduct the same keyword search in all three databases. How
many results do you get in each catalog?
CRUZCAT __________
Melvyl __________
WorldCat __________
RESEARCH DATABASES
This term can imply almost anything. I categorize them using
the following:
 Subject Specific Database – Pertain to a specific discipline.
In most cases, searching in one database ensures you are
tapping the literature for that specific field (e.g. articles,
books, essays/chapters, etc.). Multi-disciplinary subjects or
cross-disciplinary majors require that you dig around in
different databases, for example a community studies
researcher may need to search in sociology, history or
education databases
 Multi-Disciplinary Databases – There are some databases that
allow you to search entire disciplinary divisions (e.g.
humanities or social sciences) such as Web of Science, CSA
Illumina. Infotrac Expanded Academic ASAP is also
multidisciplinary because it includes many subject areas.
There are also databases that cover area studies (a subject
from a variety of disciplines), for example HAPI (Hispanic
Americans Periodical Index), Contemporary Woman’s Issues, or
Bibliography of Asian Studies
 Full Text/Publisher Databases – Databases that provide full
text are always much more convenient for accessing articles
quickly. However, beware; they contain relatively small
journal collections in comparison to a subject specific or
multi-disciplinary database. The search capabilities are
limited, as they rely on searching for words in the text as
opposed to providing subject headings.
 Specialized Databases – These include databases that provide
newspaper articles, primary documents, etc.
Annette Marines, amarines@ucsc.edu
CSAS Research Paper Writing Workshop
Library Information
How to find a database:
 Subject guides refer users to specific databases by discipline
(they are listed under “articles” or “Indexes”, etc.)
http://library.ucsc.edu/Zope/eresources/bytool/SubjectGuides/
 Database finder search box at
http://library.ucsc.edu/research.html (Hint: It’s in the
middle of the page!). If you know the name of the database,
type it here.
 The big list of all databases:
http://library.ucsc.edu/Zope/eresources/bytool/ArticleDatabases

Ask a Librarian
Search Techniques
Word Searches
Start compiling a list of keywords in a research journal. Format
your search using Boolean operators, for example hip hop and
influence. Use truncation—interview* to find interview,
interviews, interviewing—if necessary to get more results or
hits. Pay attention to the item’s; make note of the subject
headings or use the thesaurus (if available) to identify subject
headings ahead of your search.
Results
Make note of information that is displayed in the record of the
item, such as the abstract, date, the journal title, the
bibliography or works cited list, and the subject headings.
Also, some databases allow you to sort your results by date,
title, author’s name, or relevance.
Get the article
For full text, etc. – Use UC-eLinks in the database, if UCeLinks is not available or you’re no longer in the database
search in CRUZCAT for the journal title
To requesting the text – Use UC-eLinks in the database, if UCeLinks is not available or you’re no longer in the database,
request from http://ucelinks.cdlib.org:8888/citation_new/sfx_local
HELP
 Reference Librarians (see Ask-A-Librarian for hours, etc.:
http://library.ucsc.edu/info/askalibrarian.html)
 Subject Librarian in your field:
http://library.ucsc.edu/infonotes/Coll.html
 How to guides: http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/
APA, MLA guides
Annotated Bibliography Guide
Literature Review Guide
Annette Marines, amarines@ucsc.edu