Librarian
Chris White
Office: Troy Library
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (518)244-4521
Ask A Librarian
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By phone: (518) 244-2431 |
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Schedule an appointment with a Research Librarian |
Keyword Search Tips
Consider adding one of these terms to your search terms: smooth shading, cross-hatching, internal lines, linear style.- Break down your topic into smaller concepts and identify synonyms for those concepts.
- Use "AND" to combine terms in your search, i.e. "wax casting and stone carving"
- Use "OR" to expand your results, i.e. "modelling in clay or wood carving"
- Use QUOTATION MARKS to delineate a group of words as a phrase, i.e. "lyrical abstraction"
- For more search tips, see one of these tutorials:
Find Background Information
Almanacs, dictionaries and encyclopedias are often a good starting point in the research process as they provide background information on a topic. They can also be used to identify key people, events and dates that can be used to find additional information on a topic. Try one of these online reference sources when searching for background information:
Credo Reference
An online reference library containing dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, books of quotations and atlases. Credo Reference also offers a range of subject-specific reference books.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Reference books in a database format. The sources include multi-volume encyclopedias in history, social sciences and more.
Find Journal Articles
Many of these databases, provide full text coverage. You will often see links that you can click on to connect directly to an article. Look for "PDF Full Text," "HTML Full Text" or "Linked Full Text" somewhere on the page. Examples are below:
The Find Full Text symbol indicates that Sage may own the material, but it is housed in a different database or journal. Clicking this link will bring you to the article in full text, if owned by Sage.If full text access is NOT available through the Sage databases, you may request the journal article via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
Find Books
Start with WorldCat to find books and media.
RESEARCH TIP: Use a thesaurus to find synonyms to expand your keyword searches.
To find the book on the shelf, you will need to know the library (Albany or Troy), shelving location (Main, New Books, etc.) and call number. This information can be found on the item record (see example below). If you find a book in the catalog but it is on the opposite campus, storage or otherwise inaccesible, use the "Place Hold" function to request the book.
eBooks
All eBooks owned by Sage can be found by searching the Libraries' catalog. You may also search these collections separately.Ebook Collection
A collection of over 10,000 eBooks covering a wide range of disciplines.
Ebook Central
A collection of over 70,000 eBooks covering a broad range of subjects.
eBooks may be downloaded to an eReader device. See here for downloading instructions.
Not finding what you need?
Try searching WorldCat, a catalog of books, media and journals in libraries around the world. You can use Sage's Interlibrary Loan service (ILL) to borrow books from other libraries.Evaluating Sources
There are numerous websites and blogs available on the internet but some may not be accurate, creditable or useful. Therefore, you should always carefully evaluate a source - no matter how reliable it seems to be - before using it for your research. Use a TRAP to evaluate materials for quality.
Citing Sources
General Online Guides
Purdue Online Writing LabCopies of the major style manuals can be found at the Information Desk in either Library.
Citation Management Software
Citation management software is designed to help you store, organize, and cite your research. Most of the available citation management tools will help you store and organize your sources in one place, share sources with other researchers, read and annotate PDFs, insert formatted citations and bibliographies into word processing software.RefWorks
All Sage students, faculty, and staff have access to RefWorks citation manager, free of charge through the Sage Library. Click here to set up a free account with your sage.edu email address. For more help with Refworks, click here.
Quick links to other popular citation managers:
- Mendeley (free)
- Zotero (free)
- EndNote
- EndNote Basic (free version)
Getting Started
- To search for BACKGROUND information, use Credo Reference.
- To search for BOOKS and DVDS owned by Sage, start the Libraries Catalog.
- To search for JOURNAL ARTICLES, start with Quick Search. For literary criticism, start with the MLA International Bibliography. For other relevant sources, see list of All Items by Source below.
- To gain a better understanding of RESEARCH METHODS, see SAGE Research Methods Video Collection. which contains more than 125 hours of video, including tutorials, case study videos, expert interviews, and more -- covering the entire research methods and statistics curriculum.
Article Databases Specific to Discipline
MLA International Bibliography
A classified listing and subject index of scholarly books and articles on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics which has been compiled by the Modern Language Association.
A classified listing and subject index of scholarly books and articles on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics which has been compiled by the Modern Language Association.
Oxford English Dictionary Online
Provides online access to the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary and 3-volume Additions Series.
Provides online access to the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary and 3-volume Additions Series.
Article Databases in Related Disciplines
Humanities International Complete
Comprehensive coverage of the humanities with full-text content from sources around the world.
Comprehensive coverage of the humanities with full-text content from sources around the world.
JSTOR Language & Literature
This collection spans the literary cultures of many different countries, containing articles in several languages, including Arabic, Italian and German.
This collection spans the literary cultures of many different countries, containing articles in several languages, including Arabic, Italian and German.
Article Databases Multidisciplinary
Academic Search Elite
Provides full text for more than 2,100 journals, including more than 1,700 peer-reviewed titles. It covers a wide variety of topics including computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, history, and ethnic studies.
Provides full text for more than 2,100 journals, including more than 1,700 peer-reviewed titles. It covers a wide variety of topics including computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, history, and ethnic studies.
Google Scholar
Not to be confused with regular (and unreliable) Google. Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
Not to be confused with regular (and unreliable) Google. Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
- Make use of the powerful "Cited By" feature.
- For Interlibrary Loan, click on >> icons.
QuickSearch
Quick Search will search all journal article databases at once. To make use of interlibrary loan, enter your search; on the results page, click "Add results beyond your library's collection."
Quick Search will search all journal article databases at once. To make use of interlibrary loan, enter your search; on the results page, click "Add results beyond your library's collection."
MLA Style from Purdue Online Writing Lab
Contains resources on in-text citations and Works Cited pages, as well as MLA sample papers, slide presentations, and the MLA classroom poster.
Contains resources on in-text citations and Works Cited pages, as well as MLA sample papers, slide presentations, and the MLA classroom poster.
American Memory
The Library of Congress' American Memory digital collection provides access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps and sheet music that document the American experience.
The Library of Congress' American Memory digital collection provides access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps and sheet music that document the American experience.
Children's Literature & Culture
Rare books, games, ephemera, and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature.
Rare books, games, ephemera, and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature.
Digital Public Library of America
A portal that brings together the digital collections of libraries, archives and museum in order to provide open and coherent access.
A portal that brings together the digital collections of libraries, archives and museum in order to provide open and coherent access.
Digital Schomburg
Relying on the expertise of distinguished curators and scholars, Digital Schomburg provides access to trusted information, interpretation, and scholarship on the global black experience 24/7. Users worldwide can find, in this virtual Schomburg Center, exhibitions, books, articles, photographs, prints, audio and video streams, and selected external links for research in the history and cultures of the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Hathitrust
Founded in 2008, HathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust offers reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. copyright law, computational access to the entire corpus for scholarly research, and other emerging services based on the combined collection. HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries — under the aims of scholarly, not corporate, interests.
Founded in 2008, HathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust offers reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. copyright law, computational access to the entire corpus for scholarly research, and other emerging services based on the combined collection. HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries — under the aims of scholarly, not corporate, interests.
Internet Archive
Click here to continue to Internet Archive.
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, movies/videos, moving images, and millions of books. The Internet Archive is a fantastic resource but searching it can induce delirium, for search tips, watch this video.
Click here to continue to Internet Archive.
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, movies/videos, moving images, and millions of books. The Internet Archive is a fantastic resource but searching it can induce delirium, for search tips, watch this video.
New York Times
If you have not done so, create a NY Times account here. Subscription provided free to all Russell Sage College students, staff, and faculty.
- Today's Edition -- Login here.
- 1980 - PRESENT -- Click here.
- 1851 - 2002 -- Login to NY Times and then open the TimesMachine here.
- Faculty may also want to register to access the NYT in Education website, which provides educators with classroom resources such as discussion questions and co-curricular activities related to news stories.