HIST 2350

Resources for Research

Check for updates on services

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Libraries Homepage: umanitoba.ca/libraries

Search the  collection with the Library Search

Accessing Books & Digitized Copies

Includes instructions for:

  • Placing requests for physical books
  • Requesting scanned portions of books
  • Accessing ebooks & articles
  • Accessing items in HathiTrust

Note - during the pandemic:

  • Returns are quarantined for (at least) seven days
    • Expect returned items to stay checked out to you for at least one week
  • Late fees are suspended

 

Current "physical" services:

 

Request physical books to pick up at
Elizabeth Dafoe Library

Request scanned portions of physical books in & outside our collection (up to 10% or 1 chapter)

Update this week: study space available at Dafoe

UM Library Search

  • All physical resources within the Libraries
  • Some (not all) of the databases we subscribe to
    • Includes many reference texts available online (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc)
    • If you sign in, more search results will appear
  • Very broad search engine - may bring up a lot of results from a wide range of areas of study.

Requesting a chapter or 10%

Search for the Table of Contents:

  • in the Details area of a Library Search record
  • via Google Books or Amazon (sometimes there is also a preview...)
  • email documentdelivery@umanitoba.ca just to request the Table of Contents
    • Provide at least the title, author, link to the book in the Library Search

HathiTrust

Quick access instructions:

    1. Following the "Full text available in HathiTrust" link, click the LOG IN button in the top right corner. Select University of Manitoba as your partner institution.
    2. Sign in using your UM email account and your email password.
    3. At the bottom of the following page, under Viewability, there will be a Temporary Access link; click on that.
    4. If available, a "Check Out" button will appear on the following screen. If the book is currently in use, check back at a later time by refreshing the page.

Keywords

Generally:

  • searching with more keywords = more specific = fewer results
  • searching with fewer keywords = more broad = more results

You can give the search more options by putting similar words in round brackets, separated by OR

  • eg: (art OR architecture)
    • All results will have at least one of those words in the title, description, and/or full text (for some e-resources)

Keyword brainstorming

For more results: OR between similar terms

  • (university OR college OR academic) - results will have at least one of those words

For more specific results: phrases in "quotation marks"

  • "spice girls" finds records with those words in that order, not every mention of spice and girls

nationalism

national identity

nationhood

(nationalism OR nationhood OR "national identity")

Search Tip: to get more results

Try to find all the different ways of expressing the concept you're searching for. This can be done by:

  • putting OR between similar terms (design OR decoration)
  • adding an asterisk (*) to the root of a word:

 

E.g.: Canad* - finds Canada, Canadian, Canadians

Christian* - finds Christian, Christians, Christianity...

architect* - finds architect, architects, architecture, architectural...

 

Note - Christ* also finds Christmas, Christo (the artist)...

Search Tip: to get more specific results

(narrowing down your search)

  • Put a phrase "in quotation marks" to find results with those words in that order.
    • E.g.: "gothic revival"
  • Use NOT to exclude unrelated content.
    • E.g. union NOT soviet - for content about unions, but not the soviet one

 

More search tips on the Undergraduate Help & Services pages

Reference works

(encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc)

  • Quick overview of a person, movement, period in time
  • Online access options:
    • Credo Reference (database)
    • UM Library Search > limit Resource Type to Reference Entries

Searching beyond the UM Libraries Collection

  • Library Search > Include Results beyond UofM
  • Document Delivery
    • ​journal articles
    • up to 10% or one chapter of a book
  • Databases include results beyond our subscriptions
  • Google Scholar (with links to UM resources)
    • Note: Google doesn't share their criteria for what makes something "scholarly" - some results are articles that haven't been peer-reviewed yet, for example. Look critically at search results!

Document Delivery during pandemic times

("Request from another library" link in the Library Search)

 

No physical book requests

 

Request a copy of up to 10% or one chapter of a book

 

Request journal articles

For more sources, check:

  • Bibliographies of works on your topic
  • Subject headings:
  • "Cited by" feature shows up for some articles:

for more articles:

  • Related Reading sidebar

for more books:

  • Virtual Browse
    • Includes physical books from ALL UM Libraries

Citing

Citing & writing support

For help with:

  • Resources for getting started with citing
  • Questions about citing unusual resources
    • Quick help: Ask Us library chat
    • Ask Ellen (might take 1-2 business days to respond via email during busiest times)

For help with:

  • Going over citation formatting throughout essay in detail
  • Guidance on writing style

Questions?

General Library Help

  • Questions about your library account, or how the UM Libraries work? The Help & Services page for undergraduate students may have the answer.
  • During the Fall term, library staff are available via the Ask Us chat service: 9am-8pm Monday-Thursday, 9am-6pm Friday, and 1pm-4pm on weekends.
    • Fastest way to ask a general question about the Libraries.
    • If we're not online, your message will be received the following morning.

Questions?

Research Support

  • History subject guide
    • resources for research
    • citation info
  • Contact Ellen for help with your search strategy when looking for resources for your assignments, advice on which databases are the best places to look for various research topics, and with questions about citing.

 

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