I. Introduction

II. Library catalogs:       WebCat       LANCE      MOBIUS

WebCat is used to  find books, videos, CDs (music and audio),  newspapers/magazines/journals that are housed here in Pickler Memorial Library.

WebCat is also part of a “cluster” of  six academic libraries (almost all in Northeast Missouri), of which we are the largest.  This cluster is called LANCE (Libraries and Networks Cooperating in Education)

 There are a number of these clusters of academic libraries throughout the state of Missouri and this Library Consortium is called MOBIUS (Missouri Online Bibliographic Information User System)

Q.   Why is it helpful to know that Truman's WebCat is part of LANCE and MOBIUS?

A.    You may need a book that our library does not have.  While in WebCat you can simply click "Search MOBIUS" to see if another library has it.  Then, with a few more clicks, you can request the item and it will be delivered to our Circulation Desk, usually within 3 days (this is quicker than traditional interlibrary loan). You will be notified by e-mail once it is here.  Simply return it to Circulation as you would a Pickler book.

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III. Finding biographical information

        Consult these references (Indexes):

        Biography and Geneaology Master Index (From Library's Home Page, select Electronic
       Resources>>>Indexes, Abstracts>>>Biography)

       Contemporary Authors--Cumulative Index  (Reference, PN 453 .C75)

        Try a keyword search in LANCE:

                biograph* AND american AND (writer* OR novel* OR author*)

                Select one that looks relevant and look at its subject headings:

            American Novelists Since World War II
                        subject heading:     american fiction  20th century   bio-bibliography

                Do a subject search using those terms.  (Subject searching is simply a more focused search than keyword searching).

         Try searching a magazine/journal/newspaper index:

                EBSCOhost
                MLA Bibliography
                LEXIS-NEXIS (Reference section of "Academic Universe")
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IV. Finding Book Reviews

A book review may appear in many kinds of publications, such as popular magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, and publications devoted entirely to reviews of new books (such as CHOICE and Booklist).   To locate reviews of a particular book, you can try a number of reference tools.  They will lead you to the publications in which
the ful review can be found:

Book Review Digest   In print:  Reference Z 1219 .C95  Table A, 1909-12/01
                                    Can search by author or title.

                                    Online:     Electronic Resources>>>FirstSearch, then select
                                   "BookRev."
                                        (One "advantage" is the provision of an
                                        abstract of one or more of the reviews, so you get a "taste"
                                        of the actual review.  Also, if you don't find an author or title
                                        in the online version, be sure to check the lates issue of the
                                        print index and vice versa).

Book Review Index    In print:  Reference Z 1219 .B6 Table A, 1998-current
                                         (No abstracts but can sometimes find citations to authors
                                            NOT found in Book Review Digest).

LEXIS-NEXIS           Online:  Electronic Resources>>>LEXIS-NEXIS

Excellent source for finding full-text newspaper articles from newspapers throughout the U.S. and world.  Try a search on the author's last name; add "book review" if you get too many records.

EbscoHost               Online, through our Electronic Resources link

Reader's Guide Abstracts    Electronic Resources>>>Indexes & Abstracts>General

Humanities Abstracts   Electronic Resources>>>Indexes Abstracts>Humanities>>
                                                      Language & Literature

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     Book Reviewing:  a Guide to Writing Book Reviews for Newspapers, Magazines, Radio
        and Television        PN 98.B7 B6  1978

        Writing Book Reviews        PN 98 .B7 D7  1966

                You may also try browsing in this call number area (in reference or on 3rd floor) to
                find similar items, or try a subject search:    book reviewing.

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VI. Finding articles in scholarly journals

            It is important to select the appropriate journal database when looking for published
            articles of a scholarly nature.

          Citations to articles published in professional/scholarly journals will be found in:

        MLA Bibliography
         Humanities Abstracts

        Citations to articles in popular/entertainment/news magazines will be found in:

        Reader's Guide Abstracts

            EbscoHost  (indexes both popular press and scholalry journals; full text for some
                                 articles).
            ArticleFirst
 

          Again, all of these databases are accessed through the Library's Home Page,  under Electronic Resources.

                Please ask for assistance at the Reference Desk if you have any problems locating materials for your
                 research.
 
 
 

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