Tutorial: The Americas on October 11, 1492

Information Strategy -- a basic guide for tracking down relevant, high-quality information needed for papers, lab reports, discussions, and other purposes

1. Define ... a topic by gathering background/overview information

Sources:

Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures: The Civilizations of Mexico and Central America (in paper)

Ancient Americans: A Reference Guide to the Art, Culture, and History of Pre-Columbian North and South America (in paper)

Encyclopedia Britannica Online

AccessScience (the online version of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and Yearbooks)

Additional relevant encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other publications that may provide this type of information and are held locally can be located by searching the Library Catalog and then modifying the search by Location: Reference.

2. Identify ... specific sources of information about the defined topic

Journal and Magazine Articles (some databases may also identify books)

Academic Search Premier

Humanities Abstracts

Social Sciences Abstracts

To supplement the above databases, try --

Anthropological Literature (available over the campus network)

CSA--Biological Sciences (description; for more coverage of Biology, Ecology, Forestry, etc.)

America: History and Life (covering the history of North America; for more coverage of Anthropology, Archaeology, Agriculture, etc.)

Historical Abstracts (covering the history of the rest of the world; for more coverage of Anthropology, Archaeology, Agriculture, etc.)

AGRICOLA (description; for more coverage of Agriculture, Plant Science, etc.)

MEDLINE (FirstSearch interface; description; for more coverage of Plant Science, etc.

For materials published prior to the beginning of the above databases, try --

Periodicals Contents Index (covers journal articles from the social sciences and humanities back to the 1600's; does not index articles more recent than 1995)

JSTOR (full text access to past years of a few journals covering Anthropology, Archaeology, Ecology, Botany, and other relevant areas; years of coverage depend upon the journal but access is not available to the most current 2-5 years of each journal)

Books/Monographs

Grinnell College Libraries Catalog (for non-article publications; Tips for Searching the Library Catalog)

WorldCat (description; for non-article publications)

3. Locate ... the publications identified above at Grinnell or elsewhere

Grinnell College Libraries Catalog

Article Linker

Interlibrary Loan

Other Library Catalogs:

Iowa State University Library Catalog

University of Iowa Libraries Catalog

4. Evaluate ... the validity, objectivity, and usefulness of the information gathered