Barnard College Library Research Guide
BC3998: Africana Studies
Fall 2005
Professor Quandra Prettyman
Librarian: Lois Coleman

CLIO and Other Library Catalogs | Databases | Web Searching | EndNote  
 

Reference Books
Use for:
  • an overview of a topic
  • background information
  • bibliographies

Here are some examples:
Title Barnard Reference
Call Number
Africa South of the Sahara (Europa Regional Surveys of the World). DT351 .A35 2004
African Studies Companion; a Guide to Information Sources. DT198 .Z45 2003
Africana. DT14 .A37435 1999
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History. 5 vol. E185 .E54 1996
Encyclopedia of African History and Culture. 3 vol. DT3 .P27 2001
Encyclopedia of African Peoples. DT15 .E53 2000
Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara. 4 vol. DT351 .53 1998
Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics. F1410 E56 2002
Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century African History. DT29 .E53 2003
Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 10 vol. GN550 .E53 1991
Greenwood Encyclopedia of Women's Issues Worldwide: Sub-Saharan Africa. HQ1154 .G744 2003
Women in the Third World. HQ1870.9 .W6548 1998
 
Searching CLIO
 CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online) is the on-line catalog for materials added to the Columbia University Libraries since 1981.  
  • For a Keyword search, you must use Boolean searching - that is, use and, or or not between the terms, and quotes for a phrase
  • For a Keyword or Title search, you can limit to books in the Barnard library using the Pre-select Limits or the Post Limit options
  • To find primary materials in CLIO, look for these subdivisions in the subject field:
         --ARCHIVES
         --BIOGRAPHY (this includes autobiographies)
         --CORRESPONDENCE
         --DIARIES
         --INTERVIEWS
         --SOURCES
    For example:
          WOMEN--SOUTH AFRICA--DIARIES.
          AFRICAN AMERICANS--HISTORY--SOURCES.
          X, MALCOLM, 1925-1965 --INTERVIEWS.
Other Library Catalogs
Library users with a Columbia ID have access to Teachers’ College Library and Columbia Law Library, but they are not included in CLIO. 
Use the "Search all CU Catalogs" button in CLIO to search them simultaneously and obtain information about which libraries hold which titles. 
For more complete information about holdings, you need to search the catalogs individually; use the Catalogs list on CU LibraryWeb, or the following links:

Other libraries to which you have access:

Databases
These databases/indexes are all on the Databases list on the Barnard Library homepage or the Columbia Libraries Home Page. 

Finding articles using an index or database is a two-step process:
1.  Find relevant citations in the index;
2.  Find the article itself, by a) clicking on "e-link" to find the full-text article, if we have it, or b) searching CLIO for the title of the journal.

Africa-Wide: NiPAD
  • Incorporates the databases African Studies and South African Studies, amongst others; coverage is 19th Century to present
  • Select Advanced search mode by clicking on "Change Search & Display Level" button on right
  • There are many newspaper articles, radio and TV transcripts, etc.  To select scholarly materials, type "journal articles" in Publication Type box
  • Enter search as for a CLIO Keyword search, using quotes for a phrase, but * for truncation

America: History and Life
  • Citations and abstracts for articles on U.S. and Canadian history
  • Use quotes for a phrase, and * for truncation
International Political Science Abstracts
  • Abstracts for articles in political science published in journals and yearbooks worldwide, 1989 to the present
  • To find articles about American politics, specify USA in the DESCRIPTOR field.
JSTOR 
  • Full-text articles from more than 600 scholarly journals, from the first issue of each journal (including some started in the late nineteenth century) up to 3 to 5 years ago
  • Most of the articles have no abstract, so searching in the title is the most direct search; a full text search will often find too many irrelevant articles
    •

Lexis-Nexis
  • Full-text coverage of general news, business, legal, governmental and other topics; includes some professional journals as well as newspapers and general interest magazines
  • Includes Primary Sources in U.S. History
  • A phrase is understood even if you don’t enclose it in quotes; for truncation use !

ProQuest
  • Full-text articles and abstracts from newspapers and periodicals in many disciplines, including international affairs, law, psychology, public affairs, sociology, women's studies, etc.
  • Includes major newspapers in the Historical Newspapers collection
  • Two words together are treated as a phrase; for longer phrases use quotes
  • Use ? for truncation
Social Sciences Citation Index
  • Cited references and bibliographic information for the social sciences, with links to full-text articles. 
  • Useful for tracing who cited a given article or book, or for tracing an idea. 
  • To search for article citations, click on "General Search"
  • Two words together are searched as a phrase
  • For truncation, use *

 Social Sciences Full Text
  • Citations and abstracts for articles, book reviews, etc. in social science journals
  • Use quotes for a phrase, * to truncate
    •
Women's Studies International
  • Citations for articles on women's studies, published from 1972 to the present.
  • Select Advanced search mode by clicking on "Change Search & Display Level" button on right
  • There are many newspaper articles, radio and TV transcripts, etc.  To select scholarly materials, type "journal articles" in Publication Type box
  • Enter search as for a CLIO Keyword search, using quotes for a phrase, but * for truncation
    •
Worldwide Political Studies Abstracts
  • Abstracts of books and articles from professional journals and major news magazines, devoted to North American and international politics, 1976 to the present
  • To find articles about American politics, specify UNITED STATES in the DESCRIPTOR field.

Other Indexes and Databases

Since this is an interdisciplinary area of study, you need to be flexible and creative in thinking about which indexes and databases will be useful to you.  Here are some others you might need; all are on the Databases list on the Barnard Library home page or Columbia LibraryWeb.

 
Subject Guides from Barnard & Columbia University Libraries

Web Searching
Use Google Advanced search - still the best search engine.
  • you can enter phrases on the second line
  • you can search a specific domain or web site

When looking at a web page, use the following criteria to evaluate it:
   authority
   accuracy
   objectivity
   currency
   coverage

1. Authority
Is there an author?  Is the page signed?  Is the author qualified?  An expert?
Is there a link to information about the author or the sponsor?
Look for a header or footer showing affiliation.
Look at the URL and the domain. .edu, .com, .ac.uk, .org, .net.  Educational domains are more trustworthy than commercial ones.
Rationale:
  • Anyone can publish anything on the web.
  • It is often hard to determine a web page's authorship.
  • Even if a page is signed, qualifications are not usually provided.
  • Sponsorship is not always indicated.
2. Accuracy
Is the information reliable and error-free?
Is there an editor or someone who verifies/checks the information?
Rationale:
  • Unlike traditional print resources, web resources rarely have editors or fact-checkers.
  • Currently, no web standards exist to ensure accuracy.
3. Objectivity
Does the information show a minimum of bias?
Is the page designed to sway opinion?
Is there any advertising on the page?
Rationale:
  • Frequently the goals of the sponsors/authors are not clearly stated.
  • Often the Web serves as a virtual "Hyde Park Corner", a soapbox.
4. Currency
Is the page dated?
If so, when was the last update?
How current are the links? Have some expired or moved?
Rationale:
  • Publication or revision dates are not always provided.
  • If a date is provided, it may have various meanings. For example,
  • It may indicate when the material was first written, when it was first placed on the Web, or when it was last revised
5. Coverage
What topics are covered?
What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere?
What is its intrinsic value?
How in-depth is the material?
Rationale:
  • Web coverage often differs from print coverage.
  • Frequently, it's difficult to determine the extent of coverage of a topic from a web page. The page may or may not include links to other web pages or print references.
  • Sometimes web information is "just for fun", a hoax, someone's personal expression that may be of interest to no one, or even outright silliness.

(from Beck, Susan. "Evaluation Criteria." The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It’s a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources. 1997.
 http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/

 
EndNote

EndNote, a program that helps you to organize and use references from databases and catalogs, is available for downloading, free of charge, to all current Barnard and Columbia students from the AcIS software server at http://www.columbia.edu/acis/software/endnote.  The page "EndNote Bibliographic Software at Barnard and Columbia" gives an introduction to the use of EndNote. 

For Further Help

Click here to complete a form you can e-mail to the library requesting a consultation on your research, or come to the Reference Desk on the second floor.  We'll be happy to help you find additional information.
Contact a reference librarian: e-mail refdesk@barnard.edu or call 212-854-3953.

You can also chat online with a Columbia or Barnard librarian between 1 and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, by clicking on Ask Us Now.

Last Modified 10/17/05
Lois Coleman
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library

http://www.4thu.org