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Library Presentation Slides
Choosing a Topic and Testing it Out
Step 1: Do a preliminary search for books, encyclopedia entries, articles, and essays on your topic to get a sense for how much is out there. The following link will take you to a list of encyclopedias and academic anthologies to get you started.
Resources for Selecting a Paper Topic
Step 2: Broaden, narrow, or select a new topic based on what you find.
Step 3: Dig in deeper. Try some more advanced searching to find books, articles and primary sources on your topic. Look through bibliographies to find citations for other relevant sources.
Step 4: Take multiple approaches to searching. You may find books and articles on your topic as well as newspaper articles, interviews, videos, and other primary sources.
Searching for Books
Unlike other types of research you've probably done, most of the sources you need for this assignment will come from books, not articles.
Searching for books on the Library website
- Enter your search query in the big box on the library home page.
example searches: "chocolate history", "france food", "Belgian culture" - After you do the search, use the "Refine my results" filters on the right to narrow your results to books under "Material Type".
- Once you find an item you would like, write down the call number to find it in the library or use the "Get It" link to have it sent to a library of your choice.
If the item is an ebook, you will have an option to view it online.
Finding Cookbooks
Cookbooks can be used as primary or secondary sources depending on whether or not they were written during the time period you are researching. Many cookbooks also have history and/or stories interspersed with recipes.
Searching for cookbooks in the library
You can find cookbooks in the library by searching on the library home page. We have cookbooks from a variety of different cultures. Try searching for a region/culture + "cooking" (e.g. "spain cooking".) If you would like to browse cookbooks, most are located on the second floor of Magrath Library in the TX700-800 range.
The Kirschner Cookbook Collection
The Doris Kirschner Cookbook Collection is located on the main floor of the Magrath Library. It contains over 5000 cookbooks dating from the 1800s to the present. Cookbooks in the collection cover a variety of types of cuisine, but it is largely U.S. focused. Books in this collection cannot be checked out, but you can scan pages from the books using and email them to yourself using the Magrath Library scanner/printer.
Places to find books we don't have in the UMN Libraries
- WorldCatFind books, journals, articles, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, theses/dissertations, machine-readable data files, and any other materials available in libraries worldwide. All subject areas are covered. Request items through Interlibrary Loan using the ILLiad link on each item's record. A mobile version of this database is available. Limited to 65 simultaneous users.
- Google BooksGoogle Books searches the full text of thousands of books, so it can help you find out if a certain word or phrase is in a book. It will only show you snippets of the book's text, though, so you'll need to find the books in the Library or request them through Interlibrary Loan.
- InterLibrary Loan & Digital DeliveryInterlibrary Loan (ILL) & Digital Delivery offers access to materials needed for courses and research, including materials not currently available within the University of Minnesota Libraries, AND digital copies of articles and book chapters from our print and microform collections. Free for currently-affiliated University students, faculty, and staff.
Searching for Articles
General Databases
- Libraries SearchSearch the University of Minnesota Libraries to find books, scholarly journal articles, news, magazines, media, and other items in the University's collection. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- JSTORFind full text articles in academic journals or books on the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR provides articles from the journal's first issue. In some cases the most recent 2-5 years may not be available. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Academic Search PremierA great place to start your research on any topic, search multidisciplinary, scholarly research articles. This database provides access to scholarly and peer reviewed journals, popular magazines and other resources. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
History Databases
- America's Historical NewspapersIncludes Early American Newspapers Series 1 (1690-1876), 3 (1783-1922), 6 (1741-1922), 7 (1773-1922), and 18 (1825-1879). Spanning two centuries and 40 states, these archives of selective content from historical newspapers are primary sources for researching crucial conflicts from the Civil War to World War I, movements ranging from early states rights to women's suffrage, noteworthy citizens, local events, natural disasters; political campaigns; and the evolution of American culture.
- America: History and LifeAmerica: history and life provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present with over 2,000 journals including all key English-language historical journals. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
- Historical AbstractsFind journal articles covering world history from 1450 to the present. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
- International Medieval Bibliography (IMB)Search books and articles useful to the study of the Middle Ages, the period 476-1500 across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, covering resources in over 25 languages.
- Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and RenaissanceIter is a bibliography of over 230,000 articles and reviews drawn from over 475 medieval and renaissance journal titles.
- Project MuseSearch for full-text journals in literary theory, classics, history and cultural studies, philosophy, film, theater and performing arts, political science, and mathematics.
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersSearch old editions major U.S. newspapers and the Times of India. Papers include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Other titles include the Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Christian Science Monitor, Jewish Advocate, the Jewish Exponent, Los Angeles Sentinel, the New York Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
- World Newspaper ArchiveWorld Newspaper Archive is a collection of historical newspapers published in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It provides excellent coverage of the people, cultures, issues and events that have shaped world history. Additional collections covering other regions will be added over time.
Cultural Studies Databases
Anthropology Databases
Citing Your Sources
- Citation and research help (from Purdue OWL)Examples and instructions for how to cite many types of materials in MLA, APA, Chicago, and AMA styles.
- ZoteroBibZoterobib formats bibliographies in any style automatically. Just enter a doi or title.