REFERENCE BOOKS

Use for:

• an overview of a topic
• background information
• factual information
• bibliographies
• located in the Barnard Reference Department, 2nd Floor of BC Library

CLIO

CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online) is the on-line catalog for the Barnard & Columbia Libraries. CLIO can be searched by author, title, subject and keyword.  Help for searching CLIO is available on the Web CLIO opening screen.  Click on: "Connect via WWW". 

• You can enter CLIO from the Barnard Library home page or from the Columbia University LibraryWeb
• Help with searching (called "search tips") is available on the bottom of the opening search screen
• The holdings of the Health Sciences Library as well as the Union Theological Seminary are included in CLIO
• The Law Library's catalog is Pegasus, Teacher's College catalog is Educat and JTS' catalog is Aleph
• To search CLIO, Pegasus and Educat simultaneously click on the "Search all CU catalogs" tab on the opening CLIO screen
   

Sample Searches:
Title search: leave off the initial article (the, an, la, etc.)
title: johns hopkins guide to literary theory               journal title: comparative literature

Author search: put last name, then first name
author: foucault michel

Finding a book about a person or a subject: start with a Keyword search using the most distinctive words associated with the topic. Then look for useful subject headings and do a Subject search.

Keyword search: use and, or not between the terms, or quotes for a phrase, and use ? for truncation (to find variant endings of a word)
keyword: dante and exile
keyword: "latin america" and postcolonialism
keyword: "fairy tale" and (french or british)

Subject search: use Library of Congress (LC) subject headings
subject: pushkin
subject: persian literature
subject: silence in literature
subject: fairy tales
 

Limiting to books in Barnard Library: use the Pre-Select Limits or Post Limit option; can use with keyword and title searches only

Call numbers: Overview of the Library of Congress Classification Outline

Note that although the Barnard Library is in Lehman Hall, CLIO location Lehman means the Social Sciences library at Columbia; Barnard books have the location Barnard

On the Databases (reference works & indexes) list, which you can access from the Barnard Library home page, there are links to many indexes which give citations, abstracts and some full-text for articles in various disciplines.  Many databases have e-links which will search to see if the full-text of a particular item is available online through CULibrary Web. If you are unable to locate an item full-text search CLIO directly for the journal title. 

The following indexes and databases will probably be the most relevant to your research:

MLA Bibliography
Major database for literature, language, linguistics and folklore. Citations for articles, dissertations, books, book chapters, etc. from 1963 to the present.  
Search Tips: Use " " for a phrase; * for truncation

Humanities Full Text
Citations and abstracts for articles in the humanities, including history, literature and more, 1984-present.
Search Tips: Use " " for a phrase; * for truncation, Use keyword option

LION: Literature Online
English and American poetry, drama, prose, biographies, and secondary sources, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 20th century.
Search Tips: To find critical articles click on "Search criticism and reference" 
Phrase is assumed - use "and" if not a phrase; * for truncation.

JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive
A full text database of articles from over 1,000 scholarly journals, from the beginning of the journal but excluding the most recent 3-5 years; includes: history, language and literature, philosophy, classical studies and more.
Includes Speculum and Renaissance Quarterly.
Search Tips: Use the Advanced Search for more precise searching; Use "  " for a phrase, & for plurals; See "Searching" for more help

Project Muse
Full-text articles from more than 200 scholarly journals published by university presses in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Includes: Essays in Medieval Studies, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies and more.
Search Tips: Use " " for a phrase; * for truncation

ProQuest Direct
Online journal articles and citations, Indexes: Medium Aevum, Speculum and more.
Search Tips: Select scholarly materials by clicking on "Scholarly Journals" after receiving search results 
Two words phrases are assumed to be a phrase;  use " " for phrases of more than two words.  Use * for truncation

Francis: International Humanities and Social Sciences
A multilingual and multidisciplinary and  bibliographic database with international scope, covering humanities: archaeology, history of art, history of science, linguistics, literature, philosophy, prehistory, religions; & social sciences: administration, Latin America, computer and law, education, ethnology, geography, health, sociology; Economics: economy, energy economics, management, 1984 to present.
Search Tips: Use keywords; ? for truncation

International Bibliography of Periodical Literature: IBZ
Worldwide index of literature, primarily humanities and social sciences. Indexes some European periodicals.

British Humanities Index
Indexes articles in more than 320 humanities journals and weekly magazines published in the U.K. and other English speaking countries, as well as quality newspapers published in the U.K., 1962 to present.
Search Tips: Phrase is assumed - use "and" if not a phrase; * for truncation"

Index Islamicus
Indexes materials including periodicals and books on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim World, 1906 to present.
Search Tips: Phrase is assumed - use "and" if not a phrase; * for truncation

HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index
Citations to articles and book reviews in scholarly journals published in Latin America and the Caribbean, or those dealing with topics relating to Latin America, the Caribbean and Hispanic Americans. Subject focus excludes pure and technical sciences. Links to full-text are available for selected journals, 1970 to present.
Search Tips: Keywords; automatic truncation

Handbook of Latin American Studies
Citations to articles and materials in Latin American Studies including history, 1935 to present.

International Bibliography of  Theatre and Dance
Indexes books and periodicals in the Performing arts, theater and dance.
Search Tips: Use keywords, * for truncation

International Index to the Performing Arts
Citations and abstracts for articles on the performing arts, 1864-present
Phrase is assumed - use "and" if not a phrase; * for truncation

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
Ethnomusicology, music literature, music theory, musicology

International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP)
Citations, abstracts and full text for articles in music periodicals

Music Index Online
Index to articles about classical, popular, and non-western music in music periodicals

International Film Archive
Citations for the holdings and publications of the International Federation of Film Archives

Film Literature Index
Citations to articles published in film and television periodicals between 1976-2001
 

SELECTED WEBSITES

Click here to see search Other Library Catalogs other than Columbia.   CATNYP is the online catalog of the NYPL research library and LEO is the online catalog of the NYPL Branch Libraries.

Through  Request It one can obtain books and photocopies of items that are not available at the Barnard or Columbia Libraries through Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan with no charge. Instructions and more information are provided on the Request It page. A Columbia UNI is needed for these services.

To locate items that are located at other libraries, check the Eureka and WorldCat links listed below.
Eureka is the online collective catalog of many major research and academic libraries, archives, museums and more.

WorldCat is the online collective catalog of OCLC members around the world.

CONSULTATIONS with Reference Librarians
Click here to complete a consultation form which you can e-mail to the library requesting to meet individually with a reference librarian. Forms are also available at the Reference Desk on the second floor of the Barnard Library.  To contact a reference librarian, e-mail refdesk@barnard.edu or call 212-854-3953. If you need immediate assistance it is better to go directly to the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor of the Barnard Library.
Reference Desk hours are: Monday-Thursday: 9-9, Fridays: 9-6, Saturdays: Noon-5, Sundays:1-9 
You may contact Karen Dobrusky directly at kdobrusk@barnard.edu

Last Modified 2/7/06
Karen Dobrusky
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library
X4-8595