Reference Works

Books                                  Articles

Internet Resources   Audio/Video Resources
Primary/Secondary Sources

Citing Sources                       Plagiarism

Annotated Bibliography

Librarian: Mike Pollastro

E-mail: mikep@uidaho.edu

UI Library Website: www.lib.uidaho.edu

If you need additional help with your research, try:

• Ask a Librarian (email reference)
• Research Assistance Program (RAP)
• Visit the Information Desk on the 1st floor of the Library
• Phone: 208-885-6584

Reference Works

The reference section can be the best place to start your research. 

Use reference works to:

·         Get an overview or background information on a topic 

• Get ideas for focusing your own research
• Find bibliographies of more in-depth sources
• Find quick facts and statistics
• Find biographical information

How To Use The Reference Section

The reference section is located on the 1st floor of the library. Because it is a fairly small area, browsing the shelves in the general area of your topic is a quick way to look for relevant material. Books are shelved using the Library of Congress classification scheme. Reference works (both print and electronic) can also be found by searching the library catalog. Remember to make your search terms general as reference works tend to have broad coverage. For example, a keyword search using "jazz" and "encyclopedia" finds a four-volume encyclopedia set covering many different aspects of popular music and jazz.

Selected Reference Works for World Jazz

Books

Books may contain a broad overview of a topic or an in-depth exploration of a topic. Books range from popular to scholarly and as with all sources, you should be aware of the author's credentials. 

Keep in Mind:

• Books on a broad topic may contain chapters or essays on your topic. Often these are not indicated by the title. When searching, think both broadly and narrowly. 
• Check the index of a book to find your subject.
• The bibliography in a book can be a great place to find additional sources.

How To Find Books

Books located at the UI Library, the UI Women's Center (in Memorial Gym) the UI Law Library, NIC (North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene), and LCSC (Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston) can be found by searching the Library Catalog. “Request” books at those other libraries and they will be delivered in just a few days to this library for your use.  Use the link at the top of the detailed record for any book to “Request” it.

For more information on searching for books in the library catalog, see the library guide, Searching for Books in the Library Catalog at http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/instruction/lib_guides/libguide2.pdf or view the tutorial at http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/library_tutorials/OnlineCatalogQuickTutorial.html

For this assignment a keyword search usually works well. Examples of keyword searches are:

• jazz +brazil (or any other country or geographical term such as Latin America)
• jazz +german? (the ? truncates so that you’ll get Germany, German, etc.)

Note: Capitalization is not necessary. Also, make sure to look at the detailed record or, if available, the Table of Contents for a book. This will give you a clearer idea of whether the book contains information that will be useful to you.

For instance, the book entitled Here, there, and everywhere: the foreign politics of American popular culture  (which is one of the titles that are retrieved by the keyword search “jazz +russia?”) has the following contents, which is not apparent unless you click on “Table of Contents” in the online catalog record for this book:

Electronic Books

Electronic books can be found in the library catalog or from the E-books page. You can use an electronic book by clicking on the link in the "links" field found in the "brief record" screen in the library catalog.  Some E-books require that you download a "viewer", a small piece of free software, in order to read the book.

Selected Books for World Jazz

Because you will be looking for books specific to your topic, only a few general titles are suggested below. Some areas in the library’s book collections are also suggested for browsing

Articles

Articles are found in periodicals.  Examples of periodicals are magazines, journals, and newspapers.

Scholarly (also called peer-reviewed or refereed) journals are one of the primary means of disseminating ideas in academic scholarship. 

Scholarly vs. Popular   (Information Literacy Tutoral section 1.3)

How To Find Articles

Articles are located by searching for your topic in an article database (sometimes called an article index). First, select an appropriate database from the Library Find Articles page. Clicking the  symbol next to the database title gives information about the coverage of the database. 

After selecting a database to search, type in search terms. Articles are generally more specific than books and may require a narrower search.

Selected Article Indexes for World Jazz  

 Selected Print Magazines for World Jazz

The magazines listed below have many articles about jazz.

Internet Resources

Information on the Internet ranges from the free web to electronic books, journals, etc. that the library pays for. The Internet is a wonderful source for many different types of information. It is important to remember that anyone can publish something on the web and it is critical to evaluate your source carefully. The library's Website Evaluation Criteria can help you choose reliable information.

Selected Internet Resources for World Jazz

Audio/Video Resources

Sometimes, you will be required to use primary and/or secondary sources in your research. It can be difficult to know the difference. The same source might be a primary resource for one topic and a secondary resource for another. The two websites below will help you to locate and understand the difference between the two types of sources.

• http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/lue/primary.html
• http://www.bergen.cc.nj.us/pages/2443.asp

You will need to cite your sources properly in MLA or APA style. Here are some links that will be helpful.

UI Library’s Page of Electronic Style Guides http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/instruction/elec_style_guides.htm
Sample Paper: MLA Style http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s5.html
Sample Paper: APA Style http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s4.html

The ease of cutting and pasting from electronic resources can lead to putting your name on a work that is not really yours. This is both illegal and unethical. The following websites will help you understand how to avoid plagiarism and how to properly cite the work of others.

OWL, Purdue University Online Writing Lab, Avoiding Plagiarism: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html

An annotated bibliography gives more information than merely a list of the authors, titles, publishers and dates of the works. For guidance on what you can choose to include in your annotations, see the following websites:

Cornell University, Olin & Uris Libraries, How to Prepare An Annotated Bibliography:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm

OWL, Purdue University Online Writing Lab, Annotated Bibliographies: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_annotatedbib.html