Finding Information for

Latin American Studies 205

by

Denis Lacroix

French/Spanish Librarian

http://www.library.ualberta.ca/instruction/hss/index.cfm

Session Outline

Finding Basic Research Information and Subject Guides

Finding Books by author, subject, title, numbers

Boolean, Truncation, and Advanced Searching

Finding Articles in Periodicals using Databases

The Research Question

HAPI

HLAS

MLA

¿Femininity and identity in Frida Kahlo?

Finding Basic Research ToolsSubject Guides Click on the Subjects tab on the

Library home page. Click on Humanities and Social Sciences. Under Area Studies,Click on Latin American Studies.

In the yellow strip on the right-hand side, click on Information Sources on Latin America.

Finding Basic Research Tools Subject Headings : search in the Catalogue

Central America– Encyclopedias

Caribbean area – Encyclopedias

Mexico -- Encyclopedias

Mexico – Biography – Dictionaries

Online : Literature Resource Center

Finding Books By author:

[Browse] or [Keyword] Kahlo, Frida By title

Primitivism and identity in Latin America

Request or place a hold on a book By numbers

[Call numbers] PQ 7082 N7 P755 [ISBN] 0816520453

About an author as subject [Browse] or [Keyword] Kahlo, Frida

Advanced Searching Finding books about a topic:

Think of variant or similar terms. Use Boolean operators, e.g. and, or.

[Words Anywhere] México and (mural or painting) [Subject] México and (mural or painting)

Use truncation symbols: $ ? [Words Anywhere] México and (mural$ or painting$) [Subject] mexico

[Subject] wom?n [Words anywhere] art$

Finding Articles in Periodicals

Periodicals contain articles. The library catalogue cannot be used to find

articles on your research topic. Instead, you need to search databases.

Databases are all different: some contain full-text articles, some list only citations and abstracts, others have a mixture of both.

Periodical Magazines or journals or newspapers. These are published on an ongoing basis. 

Article An individual essay, story, editorial etc., usually published in a periodical, but sometimes as a chapter in a book. 

Citation The written reference to a document. 

Volume # Issue #

The numbering system used to differentiate between individual issues of a periodical. 

Full text The complete text of the article is available in the database; it is not necessary to find the paper copy of the periodical. Abstract A very short summary of an article or book chapter.

Databases:Academic Search Premier

Searching examples: [Subject] kahlo frida [Subject] kahlo frida and [Default Fields] femini*[Subject] kahlo frida and [Default Fields] cultur* To view full-text, click on HTML or PDF. To save, mail, or print citations

Click on Add folder, Click on Folder has items, Click on option.

Databases:Hispanic American Periodicals Index

(HAPI) Click on Search:

[Subject] mexico and [Keyword] feminism

Save citations to bibliography and send by e-mail or print.

Search for periodical in Library catalogue. Search for Hispanic American Historical Review . In Library Catalogue Choose Browse and Periodical

Title in “Other Search Options.” Periodical is available online!

Databases:Handbook of Latin American Studies

(HLAS)

Go to Expert Search. [Subject] kahlo frida [Subject] femini* mexico Click on Search for variants and Search.

Click on citation number. Click on related article subjects for more

articles.

This is a book chapter. Search for book title in the Library catalogue to find this chapter.

To refine your search, click on subjects.

Databases:MLA International Bibliography

Search for Kahlo Frida as a Subject. Click on Display. Search for periodical titles in Library Catalogue

or click on Check for holdings button.

Search for another term in your research topic. Combine both searches by checking terms and

clicking on Combine checked.

More Databases

Click on the Subjects tab on the Library home page.

Click on Humanities and Social Sciences. Under Area StudiesClick on Latin American Studies.

Scroll down through the databases and find more information on each by clicking on More Info.

Other Databases to consider seriously:Humanities Abstracts; MLA Pais International

Let’s Practice Find the Latin American Studies Subject Guide. Find an encyclopedia on ancient Mesoamerica. Find a book on African slavery in Latin America. Find a periodical article on the mass media in

Latin America using the MLA database. Find Chasqui as it appears in citation # 7.

http://www.library.ualberta.ca/instruction/hss/index.cfm