Christine Lac - Spring 2009

In this guide:

• Finding Scholarly Articles
• Finding News, Policy, and Statistics
• Finding Books

Getting Help:

• Email Iris
• Chat with Iris
• See Iris' Schedule

Finding Articles

If you should find an article that looks good but does not have the full text attached, click the "Find It" button to see if we have that article elsewhere at Carleton. If the "Find It" button reveals that we do not have the article either electronically or in print in the library, click the link to request the document via Illiad. The library will then locate your article at another library and deliver it here to you. This generally takes about a week, but it can take a couple of weeks if the article is difficult to find.

• Academic Search Premier
  No French language articles, but this database has many important journals on French culture as well as some English language newspapers and popular magazines.
• ProQuest
  This is an excellent source of scholarly research on French culture. It also has one of the largest collections of English language newspapers and popular magazines of any database.
  To find articles in French:
  
  1. Type "French" into one of the search boxes and then select "Document Language" from the drop-down box that says "Citation and Abstract."
  2. Search in English (for abstracts and subject terms) or French (for titles).
• JSTOR
  No French language holdings, but this database has full text access to some of the most important scholarly journals on France and French culture.
• Historical Abstracts
  Excellent for historical and cultural research in French and English.
  To find articles in French:
  
  1. Click the drop-down box where it says "in [Any] language" and choose "French."
  2. Enter your search terms in English (for abstracts and subject terms) and French (for titles).
• MLA International Bibliography
  Excellent for literary or linguistic research in French and English, as well as discussion of symbols used in art and literature.
  To find articles in French:
  
  1. Type "French" into the "Language of Publication" box (near the bottom of the search form).
  2. Search in English (for subject terms) and French (for titles and other citation information).
• Sociological Abstracts
  One of the best sources for research on societies and cultures.
  To find articles in French:
  
  1. Type "French" into one of the search boxes and then select "Language" from the drop-down box that says "Anywhere."
  2. Search in English (for abstracts and subject terms) and French (for titles).

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News, Policy, and Statistics

• LexisNexis Academic
  Includes many newspapers both in English and in French, most of which are updated daily.
  To find articles in French:
  
  1. Click the "News" up near the top left-hand side of the page.
  2. Select "Toute la Presse" from the "Sources" drop-down box.
  3. Enter search terms in French.
• PAIS (Public Affairs International)
  Look here for research about policy and public affairs.
  To find articles in French:
  
  1. Type "French" into one of the search boxes and then select "Language" from the drop-down box that says "Anywhere."
  2. Search in English (for abstracts and subject terms) and French (for titles).
• INSEE
  Official statistics from France on everything from health to trade.
• Eurostat
  Published by the Statistical Office of the European Commission, this covers statistics from all members of the European Union.

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Finding Books

Remember to try different keywords if the words you are trying don't give you the results you need. For example, not all books that talk about French culture have the word "culture" in them. Here are some ways to locate books on your topic:

• By searching Bridge (to find books here and at St. Olaf) or WorldCat (to find books at other libraries and have them sent here for you). When you find a book that looks helpful, scroll down the page and look at the "subjects." You can start to collect these standardized subject headings and do searches for other books that are about the same topic. Remember to enter these into a subject search using exactly the same words as you found in your original record. There are many subject headings containing the word "France" or "French" so try an advanced search using whatever keywords or subject terms you've collected, plus "France" or "French" as a subject term.
• By finding citations to books in reference works or other books you've looked at or journal articles you've read. Bibliographies are your friends!
• By browsing the shelves next to books that have been helpful. Our call numbers put books near each other if they are about the same thing, so if you find one really good book look at the ones near it.

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