Quick Research Guide for College Resources
Finding Books
Reference Books
Reference books are good sources for 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. Reference books can only be used at the library.
Online Reference Books:
Virtual Reference Library, which includes numerous titles on History. Some online reference books are proprietary and may be used by Lake Forest College affiliated patrons only.
Print Reference Books:
The library has a range of print reference books on a variety of topics.
For reference books on American history, browse the call number range REF E35-F902.
For books on Illinois and Chicago history, browse the call number range REF F36-F549.
The following are just a few of the reference books available:
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War REF E 468 .E5 2000
American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation REF E 184 .A1 A63448 1997
*Encyclopedia of Chicago REF F 548.3 .E53 2004. *Besides the print copy in the library, this encyclopedia can be accessed for free on the Internet.
Other Books
Use the Advanced Search feature of our Online Catalog to locate circulating books, other reference books, government documents, and items in Special Collections.
Adult residents of Lake Forest or Lake Bluff who have a Lake Forest Library card or a Lake Bluff Public Library card with them may check out books from the College library. You must be registered under your parent's name and 14-digit public library card barcode. Initially your parent must register with the library before you can check out books.
Finding Articles Using Databases
You can only access the databases from on campus. Some library databases are proprietary and may be used by Lake Forest College affiliated patrons only.Some useful databases for finding newspaper articles:
Chicago Tribune (full-text, 1985 to the present)Chicago Tribune (Historical, full-text, 1849-1985)
Illinois Newspapers (full-text)
(Academic) Lexis-Nexis (full-text, ~1980 to the present) for U.S. and international newspapers
Some useful databases for finding journal articles:
- America: History and Life
- Citation records and some links to full-text of articles on American history
- Historical Abstracts
- Citation records and some links to full-text of articles on world history
Printing and Photocopying
Photocopying is available at $0.10 per page.
Printing from Reference Area workstations is available at $0.10 per page for non-Lake Forest College affiliated patrons.