Finding Books
Reference books
are good for getting background information on topics and for finding
bibliographies -- lists of relevant books and articles. Looking through
reference books may help you define your topic more clearly and help you
focus in on what interests you about your topic the most.
Some Online Reference Books:
E-Reference
Books, which includes New
Americans: A Guide to Immigration Since 1965
Encyclopedia
of Chicago
Some Print Reference Books:
The following are some of the relevant titles available. Browse the call
number range REF E 184-185 for titles on specific ethnic groups in the United States.
Encyclopedia
of Chicago REF F 548.3 .E53 2004
The Metro Chicago Immigration Fact Book REF HA 730 .C5 P26 2003
Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide REF
F 548.18 .K43 2008
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life REF GN
333 .W67 1997
Other Books
Use our Online Catalog and the I-Share Catalog to locate circulating books, other reference books, government documents, and audiovisual items. You will need the 14-digit barcode from your student ID to order books through I-Share. Allow 3 days for I-Share books to arrive.
Books or government documents that can't be found in I-Share can often be obtained through ILLiad.Searching for Articles in Databases
Some useful databases to start with for journal articles:
Business Source Elite (citations and some full text of economics articles)SocIndex (citations and some full text of sociology articles)
Project Muse (full text of scholarly articles across a range of disciplines)
JSTOR (full text of scholarly articles across a range of disciplines)
Academic Search Premier (citations and some full text of articles across a range of disciplines)
America: History and Life (citations and some full-text of scholarly articles on American or Canadian history)
for newspaper articles:
Chicago Tribune (full-text: 1985 to the present)Illinois Newspapers (full-text)
(Academic) Lexis-Nexis (full-text: ~1980 to the present) for U.S. and international newspapers
Retrieving an actual article through a database that contains some or no full-text articles:
If there is an HTML or PDF full text link right in the database you have searched in, click on the link, which will open up a window with the article. Then print or, in some cases, email or save the article.
If there is not a full-text link right there, this database does not have the full text of the article. HOWEVER, you may still be able to access the article, even by just a few clicks. Click on "Find It--Check Lake Forest College." The article may be- in another database that the Library has. If the window that opens has a "Full text may be available via" link, click on it to try to go to the full text of the article.
- in a print copy of the journal that the Library owns. If the window that opens has a "May be owned in print..." link, click on it to open a new window leading to the journal's Library catalog entry to see if the Library owns the print version of the appropriate issue.
- obtainable through interlibrary loan. If the window that opens has a "Request article via Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad)" link, click on it to open a new window that allows you to request the item.
For additional databases and articles, go to the Library's list of Databases by Subject. For passwords, call the reference desk at x5074.
Finding additional book or journal article citations:
Google Scholar
Some Relevant Web Sites
for research:Chicago Cultural Alliance: Core Members
Chicago History Museum: History Around Town
for academic honesty:
Companion website to Diana Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual
Lake Forest College Student Handbook
Lake Forest College Statement on Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
Sometimes useful information can be found on the Internet using a search engine such as Google. Be sure to evaluate the content of any resulting website carefully to decide whether the site is reliable.