Upper School Library Resources

For Ms. Talus’s U.S. history research paper, you will be investigating the life of a dead American who has influenced in the country in some way. An excellent place to start your research is with a person’s obituary, especially a New York Times obituary. The instructions below will guide you in using ProQuest Historical Newspapers to locate a obituary. If the person you are researching died after 2004, you will need to search ProQuest Platinum for the obituary.

You will have the entire period to find, read, and take notes from the New York Times obituary for your person. The obituary will give you an overview of the person’s life and explain how he or she was influential. Along with useful background information, the obituary will also help you begin to develop questions about this person’s life that you can explore as the focus of your research paper.

To get started

• You will need to know the exact date of your person’s death
• Follow this link to ProQuest Historical Newspapers or ProQuest Platinum

Searching a ProQuest database

• Click on the Advanced tab at the top of the page
• Enter search terms and set a date range. See image below

Troubleshooting

• Be patient. Sometimes the Packer connection to database sites is slow.
• If you can’t find a New York Times obituary for your person, talk to me or Ms. Talus. We will guide you an appropriate alternative source.

This pathfinder will point you to library resources for Mr. Flannery’s mini-research/creative project. As per his instructions, you need a minimum of three sources. Only one can be an Internet source, and Wikipedia is not acceptable for this assignment. Where appropriate, recommended uses of a source have been indicated in bold below the title.

Recommended Web Sites

• Encyclopedia Mythica
• Perseus Digital Library
• Bulfinch’s Age of Fable

Print Resources in the Blackburne Library

All books on this pathfinder will be on a reserve cart in the library for overnight check-out only. Photocopy requests can be made to Mr. Parson.

For all topics

• Mythology by Hamilton. Call # 292.13 Ham
• Classical Mythology by Morford and Lenardon. Call # RESERVE SHELF
  USE FOR: Procne, Pandora,Hypermnestra, Penthesilea, Pygmalion
• Oxford Classical Dictionary. Call # REF 938.03 Oxf
• Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Call # REF 880.9 Oxf

Additional print resources arranged by topic on Mr. Flannery’s assignment sheet.

Greek Myths

• Metamorphoses by Ovid. Call #873.01 Ovi
  USE FOR: Procne, Pandora, Hypermnestra, Penthesilea, Pygmalion
• Theogony, Works and Days by Hesiod. Call # 881.01 Hes

Greek Tragedy and Epic

• Oresteia in Plays by Aeschylus. Call # 882 A
  USE FOR: Clytemnestra
• Odyssey by Homer. Call #883.01 Hom
  USE FOR: Penelope
• Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama. Call # REF 880.09 Fac
• Cromwell’s Handbook of Classical Drama by Hathorn. Call # REF 882.7 H

Greek Myths and Tragedy

• Plays, Vol. 1 by Euripides. Call #882 E
  USE FOR: Alcestis in Alcestis; Phaedra in Hippolytus
• Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama. Call # REF 880.09 Fac
• Cromwell’s Handbook of Classical Drama by Hathorn. Call # REF 882.7 H

Cautionary Tales from Early Roman History

• Early History of Rome by Livy. Call # 937 Liv
  USE FOR: Lucretia

This pathfinder will point you to relevant magazines available on the ProQuest database and useful website for finding movie reviews and commentary.

Historic Los Angeles Times

This database provides full-text articles form the Los Angeles Times from 1881 - 1986 (for articles after 1986, please use the ProQuest’s Platinum Periodicals database).

For help searching the Historic Los Angeles Times, please download the PowerPoint tutorial .

Magazines on ProQuest

• Cineaste (1996-current). Provides articles and interviews that focus on the art of filmmaking and the politics of cinema.
• Film Comment (1988-current). This is the official publication of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Covers films and filmmakers in the United States and worldwide.
• Film Quarterly (2000 to current). Highly respected journal covering filmmaking, cinematography, and film theory.

The New Yorker Archive

This is a searchable archive of all New Yorker articles from the first issue through 2006. This resource is available on a special portable hard drive. Please see Mr. Parson or Ms. Jones to get started.

Recommended Books in the Blackburne Library

• Ebert, Robert. The Great Movies. New York: Broadway, 2002.
  (Library Call #791.43 Ebe)
• Levy, Emanuel. Cinema of Outsiders: the Rise of American Independent Film. New York: New York UP, 1999.
  (Library Call #791.43 Lev)
• Lopate, Phillip, ed. American Movie Critics: an Anthology from the Silents until Now. New York: Library of America, 2006.
  (Library Call #791.4372 Ame)

Useful Websites

• IMDb (The Internet Movie Database). Along with production details about movies and television shows, IMDb provides extensive links to external reviews.
• Bright Lights. This online film journal provides reviews and commentary on classic and contemporary films. Article archive is searchable by keyword.
• Senses of Cinema. Based in Australia, this online film journal offers academic discussions of film theory and filmmakers. Although it is international in coverage, there is a bias towards Australia and New Zealand.

Remember, you must cite all sources, including those you find on the internet.

This post will suggest strategy for searching the library catalog and also list several reference sources that can provide helpful background information for your research.

Searching the library catalog

A link to the library catalog can be found to the right, under the heading “Blogroll.” After clicking on the link, I suggest you enter your person’s last name and the biography. Then click KEYWORD. This should direct you to the books in our collection about this person. However, be aware that it will include books in both the Blackburne Library and the Hart Library for the lower and preschools.  The title of each book listed is a link to that books complete library record. The call number (where to find it on the shelf) is in the upper left corner.

Recommended Reference Sources

The books listed here can help increase your understanding either of the person or the events and time that person lived in. The can be useful when you starting out with your research or if you can stuck and need some new ideas for directions to explore.

• Bowling, Beatnicks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture in 20th-Century America (REF 306.0973 Bow). Describes examples of the commerce, fashion, film and theater, food and drink, music, print works, sports and games, and other markers of popular culture in America during the twentieth century.
• Dictionary of American History, 10 vols. (REF 973.02 Dic). Great for looking up concise explanation of concepts, events, people, and ideas in U.S. history.
• Reference Library of Black America, 5 vols. (REF 973.0496 Ref). Focuses on African-American history, providing information about key concepts, people, and events. Also provides evaluation of a wide range of American history topics as they relate to African Americans.
• Encyclopedia Latina (REF 973.0468 Enc). Provided concise information about the history and culture of Latinos in the United States.
• Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century (REF 973.503 Enc). Provides an alphabetized format to describe major events and advances during the 19th century. Includes the growth in territory, population, and economy; the Civil War; confrontations with Britain, Mexico, and Spain
• American Decades: Primary Sources (REF 973.91 Ame). Contains over two thousand primary sources on twentieth-century American history and culture, featuring seventy-five different types of sources, arranged chronologically in twelve categories, including the arts, education, government and politics, media, medicine and health, religion, and sports.
• The Fifties in America (REF 973.92 Fif). Provides information on topics, terms, people, and events of the 1950s in the United States.
• The Sixties in America (REF 973.92 Six). Surveys the events and people of the 1960s, discussing their impact on the life and culture of the United States.
• Activist, Rebels, and Reformers (REF 920 Eng). Contains biographical information about  men and women who were influential in bringing about social change in countries throughout the world; and features profiles of seven organizations also engaged in the struggle.

A Note About This Blog

Throughout the research portion of your project, you may use this blog to post questions to me and to inform your classmates about useful books and web sites you have found. Suggesting a source to a classmate to check out is not plagiarism; it is just being helpful in the spirit of education as a collective endeavor.

This pathfinder serves as a guide for Mr. Nespole and Mr. Burke’s classes visit to the library.

Getting Started with Print Resources

To locate relevant print resources in the Blackburne Library you will need to know how to use the library catalog and plan a strategy for searching for and evaluating books. During you library visit, you will see a demonstration of the catalog and you can always ask Mr. Parson or Ms. Jones for more help.

“But,” you say, “isn’t it just easier to ask if you have a book about something?” Maybe for you. But, you will grow as a researcher by taking the time to think carefully about the information you need.

Searching the Library Catalog

The library catalog can search for authors, subjects and titles. It can also search for keywords. It responds best to “big picture” searches. Terms like

• James Polk
• United States history
• Presidents

But, as you will see, there are ways to narrow the results. The real fun of research starts when you get to the shelves. Books in the library are arranged in a logical order. The collection of United States history goes chronologically. Therefore, all the books on the Civil War are shelved together. Likewise, the biography collection is arranged by subject (the person the books is about). So, all the biographies of Abraham Lincoln will be in one place.

The library call number (example: 973.6 Mac or B Jac) will get you to the right place in the library for what you looking for.

Attacking the Books

As with any good attack, you need a plan. You can have a huge pile of books that are relevant to your research, but you certainly don’t have time to read them all. Now is the time to get specific. You need to think about what information, exactly, you need. You need to develop search terms. Then, you need to make an all-out assault on the table of contents and index. Example. You want to find out Andrew Jackson’s views on racism. You found some biographies of Jackson. What search terms could you use? Remember, the author didn’t write that book in your hand with your research project in mind. He or she might have used other words for racism. What are some related terms? Brainstorm.

The table of contents might show you an entire chapter related to your research. The index might guide you to specific pages. Big Tip: Don’t just scan the pages listed in the index. Check out several paragraphs before and after those pages. Maybe even, the whole chapter. The information surrounding those pages listed in the index may help put your search term into context to increase your understanding of the topic.

Keeping Track

As you find books that have relevant information, you need to have a system in place for recording the necessary details about the book. For your sources cited list, you will to know title, author, place and year of publication. And, if you need to find the book again, you will need to know the library call number on the spine of the book.

Be careful in your note-taking. Refer often to the instructions given by your teacher. Ask if you have any questions about how to handle information from library books in your research.

As always, the library is here to support throughout your research project. If you need more help after your class visit, stop by when you have a free period. Mr. Parson and Ms. Jones are eager to work with you.

Good luck with this project!

This pathfinder will guide you to sources appropriate for the 11th grade outside reading project in Mr. Brownstone, Ms. Corse and Ms. Ojalvo’s English classes. It is important to remember that you are looking for sources that provide criticism and analysis, not simply plot summary and a recommendation or rating.

ProQuest Platinum is the principal library database for finding magazine, newspaper and journal articles. Its advanced search mode allows you to tailor your search to find articles from specific sources (such as just The New York Times Book Review) or specific types of sources (in this case scholarly journals).

The Twayne Authors database provides full-text articles, which include critical analysis, of major works in British and American literature. This database is useful if your outside reading book is a “classic.”

The library also owns critical editions of some books and collections of critical essays. Searching an author’s last name and the word “criticism” as keywords in the library catalog will find critical sources on the shelves.

Finally, the new blog format for upper school library research lets you and your teachers post questions and comments about resources for this project.  You are encouraged to use to ask for help locating sources, make requests, and share useful information with the rest of your class.

The goal of class this week is to get you writing your movie review. By the end of class, you should have written your 1st paragraph according to the format we talked about at the beginning of class. Post your paragraph as a comment to this post. Remember to include your name and the title of your movie.

Welcome back Info Lit students!

This week we begin looking for professional movie reviews for your project. We will start class by exploring ProQuest Platinum, a news databases.  Your task is to find at least two reviews that could be useful in your review. When you comment to this post, you will paste in the “link” from ProQuest. Be sure to include your name.

Hi Info Lit students,

Here are the basic details about our movie review project. This is the work will be doing in class throughout the quarter.

1. You may select any movie that you have seen that has been released since 1999.

2. In your review, you will include not only your own opinions about the movie, but also those of professional movie reviewers. You will also include production details including director, cast, U.S. distributor and availability on DVD.

3. You will create a properly formatted sources cited list using NoodleBib .

4. Your review should be between 250 and 400 words. It will be due the week of Jan. 7, 2008 at the end of the day you have this class.

Will begin discussing this project in class this week, so save any questions for then.

According to an article in today’s Christian Science Monitor, video gamers are far from the anti-social slackers that they are often thought by adults to be. The article describes the extensive online community of knowledge built by Halo 3 players during the initial weeks of game’s release this fall.

Here is a link to the story