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General Reference and Research Resources

Need help selecting a research topic?
Look in Library 101: Topic Selection

Encyclopedias

Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) (UTSA subscription)
Contains the full text of 150 encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources in a variety of disciplines. Updated regularly. Subscribed titles

New Encyclopaedia Britannica
Location: JPL Reference Stacks AE5 .E363
A wealth of information of every sort for those wanting a very complete encyclopedic treatment, from colonial history to detailed climate patterns. Also available in Britannica Online (UTSA subscription).

Encyclopedia Americana
Location: JPL Reference Stacks AE5 .E333
Location: Downtown Library, Reference AE5 .E333
A good choice for a reasonably complete treatment of topics without the great depth of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

World Book Encyclopedia
Location: JPL Reference Stacks AE5 .W55

See also: Subject Guide for Foreign Language Encyclopedias

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Dictionaries

Just browsing?
Most general dictionaries are located in Reference & Stacks around call number PE1628.

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Location: JPL Reference Stacks & Downtown Library, Reference PE1628 A623
Free Website: http://www.bartleby.com

Dictionary.net
Free Website: http://www.dictionary.net
Dictionary.net is a free online English dictionary of words's and phrase definitions from a variety of sources.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Location: JPL Reference Stacks (on Dictionary Stand), Downtown Library, Reference & Downtown Library, Reserve PE1628 .W4 M4
Also included in Britannica Online. (UTSA subscription)

Oxford English Dictionary (UTSA Subscription)
Location: JPL Reference Stacks PE1625.O87
Premier resource for etymological studies containing the meaning, history, and derivation of over half a million words in the English language. Provides examples of both current and historical word usage through more than 2.5 million quotations from a variety of sources. Includes etymological analysis, pronunciation, and variant spellings. Updated quarterly

Roget's II : the New Thesaurus
Location: JPL Reference Stacks PE1591 .R737
Location: Downtown Library, Reference PE1591 .R737
Free Website: http://www.thesaurus.com
Roget's popular dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. Find other thesauri by doing a Subject search in UCAT: english language--synonyms and antonyms

Wordsmyth Educational Dictionary / Thesaurus
Free Website: http://www.wordsmyth.net

yourDictionary.com
Free Website: http://www.yourdictionary.com/
Do a quick lookup in English, or search through their extensive collection of foreign language dictionaries.

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Books

Books and Materials at the UTSA Library

UCAT, UTSA Library Online Catalog
Search UCAT to locate books, journal titles (not articles), government documents, maps and multimedia materials available at the UTSA Library.
Read the Search Tips to learn how to conduct a better search.

netLibrary (UTSA subscription)
netLibrary is a comprehensive collection of electronic books. UTSA's collection features thousands of scholarly, reference, and professional e-books from leading university, academic and professional publishers.

• Need to obtain a book from another UTSA campus?
  Courier Service
  
  
• Want to know how UTSA books are organized?
  Library Of Congress Subject Classification

Books and Materials Elsewhere

Want to find books and journal holdings in other libraries?

• Check the catalogs in Books at Other Libraries
  
  
• Center for Research Libraries (CRL) Catalog
  Includes approximately 500,000 bibliographic records for monographs (books), newspapers, serials, archival materials in microform and microform sets. All material is available through Interlibrary Loan. Citations Only.
  
  
• WorldCat (UTSA subscription)
  Do searches on title or subject keywords.
  Click "Libraries with item" link to find Texas libraries that have your item. Ask for a TexShare card at the Reference Desk to check out items from other San Antonio or Texas libraries or obtain items through Interlibrary Loan (forms at Circulation Desk or online). Citations only.

• Need to use another library?
  TexShare Cards
  
  
• Want the UTSA Library to obtain materials for you?
  Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

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Databases & Article Searching

• Some databases provide full-text or full-image of articles.
• Some databases provide citations or abstracts only.

If you find articles in a citation-only database, search UCAT to see if the library owns or subscribes to the journal you need.
If the UTSA Library does not subscribe to the journal you need, either in print or an online format:

• use the e-Journal locator to see if the journal is online in a UTSA subscription database OR
• check WorldCat for other local libraries OR
• use Interlibrary Services to obtain the articles

Academic Search Complete (UTSA subscription)
Indexes and abstracts more than 4,000 journals with full text/image to more than 3,200. Highly multidisciplinary, this resource includes social sciences, humanities, education, computer science, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences and ethnic studies. Updated frequently. List of journals. Full Text/Full Image

CQ Researcher (UTSA subscription)
Location: JPL Reference Stacks H35 .E35
Thoughtful overviews of many controversial issues from abortion to gun control to virtual offices. Citations available in ProQuest Research Library Full Text/Full Image

Ingenta (formerly Uncover)
Ingenta (UnCover) contains brief descriptive information for over 8,800,000 articles which have appeared since 1988 in multidisciplinary journals. Easy-to-use interface. Updated daily. Search by keywords. Check UCAT to see if we own the journal cited or obtain material through Interlibrary Loan. Citations Only

International Index to Periodicals
Location: JPL Reference Stacks AI3 .R49
Individual volumes by year: 1907 - 1965. Index to English-language scholarly journals in all fields. After 1965, the title changes to Social Sciences and Humanities Index.

ProQuest (UTSA subscription)
Provides access to journal articles in a number of databases across all subject areas, with particular strengths in business and the social sciences. Also includes 9 major national newspapers, including Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Complete content of the following databases is included: ABI/INFORM Dateline, ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, Accounting & Tax, Alt-Press Watch, Criminal Justice Periodicals, Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, National Newspapers, and ProQuest Research Library. More than 5,500 titles are indexed and abstracted from at least 1971 to the present. Full text and/or images are available for more than 2,000 titles. Full Text/Full Image

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
Location: JPL Reference Stacks AI3 .R4
Individual volumes by year: v.1 1900/1904 - v.53 1993

Testing and Education Reference Center (via GaleNet) (UTSA subscription)
Provides access to comprehensive information related to colleges and universities, financial aid, and test preparation. Features interactive online practice tests for preparatory examinations in PDF format, including the ACT, CLEP, GED, LSAT, GMAT, GRE, SAT and others. Includes Essay Edge and Resume Edge to provide guidance on organizing and writing application essays and resumes. Updated regularly. Full Image

Web of Science (UTSA subscription)
Indexes and abstracts articles in more than 8,400 journals from 1989 to the present in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Print equivalents published by The Institute for Scientific Information are Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Social Sciences Citation Index. Citations Only

See also: UTSA Subject Guides for Newspaper Resources or Databases by Subject for more article databases

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Abbreviations & Quotations

AcronymFinder
Free Website: http://www.AcronymFinder.com/
"A searchable database containing common acronyms and abbreviations about all subjects, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military."

Acronyms, Initialisms, & Abbreviations Dictionary
Location: JPL Reference Desk P365 .A29
Comprehensive listing of hard-to-find abbreviations.

(Bartlett's) Familiar Quotations: a Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature
Location: JPL Reference Stacks & Downtown Library, Reference PN6081 .B27 2002
Free Website: http://www.bartleby.com/100/ (10th ed. 1919)

Note: To find other quotation dictionaries

• search UCAT for the LC Subject Heading "quotations"
• search the web using a search engine such as Goggle to locate a quote: "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". You may want to verify quotes found on the web by using a printed work such as Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.

Periodical Title Abbreviations
Location: JPL Reference Desk: PN 4832 .P47
Lists journal titles by their abbreviations. Essential for identifying difficult citations to periodical articles.

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Associations

Encyclopedia of Associations (UTSA subscription)
Location: JPL Reference Desk HS17 .G334 through .G336
Multivolume set browsable by keyword for U.S., International, Regional, State & Local organizations.

See also: UTSA Subject Guide for Biographical Resources

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Almanacs & Basic Statistics

Infoplease.com
Free Website: http://www.infoplease.com/
Type in keywords in the search box to locate basic facts and information or browse the almanac index. This online version of the popular printed Information Please almanac is published by Information Please, a division of FamilyEducation.com.

The New York Public Library Desk Reference
Location: JPL Reference Desk AG6 .N49 1998
Get the basic facts on just about anything!

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Location: JPL Reference Desk HA202 .B8 (current) (older volumes back to 1946 in JPL Stacks; back to 1878 in JPL Microfiche Cabinet)
Location: Downtown Library, Reference HA202 .B8 (current)
Free Website: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Summarizes statistical data from a wide variety of government sources in over 1,500 tables. Source documents are cited at bottom of each table. Excellent starting place for U.S. statistics. (Note: Numbers in Index are table numbers, not page numbers.) See also: Statistical Universe.

Statistical Resources on the Web
Free Website: http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
Comprehensive listing of reliable statistical resources available on the Internet from government and non-government sources. Part of the award-winning University of Michigan Documents Center website.

World Almanac and Book of Facts
Location: JPL Reference Desk & Downtown Library, Reference AY67 .N5 W7 (current)
Older copies back to 1971 available in JPL Stacks. Also available online in Academic Universe: Reference (UTSA subscription)

See also: UTSA Subject Guide for Country Statistics

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Style Guides (APA, MLA, Turabian...)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
Location: JPL Reference Desk, JPL Reserve, JPL Stacks, Downtown Library, Reference, Downtown Library, Reserve BF76.7 .P83

The Chicago Manual of Style
Location: JPL Reference Desk, JPL Reference Stacks, JPL Stacks, Downtown Library, Reference Z253 .U69

A Guide to MLA Documentation: with an appendix on APA style
Location: JPL Reference Desk, JPL Reserve, JPL Stacks PN174 .T75

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
Location: JPL Reference Desk, JPL Reference Stacks, JPL Stacks, Downtown Library, Reference LB2369 .T8

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
Location: JPL Reference Desk, JPL Stacks, Downtown Library, Reference PE1478 .M57

See also: Citing in APA/MLA Style or Internet 101/102: How do I cite Internet / Web sources?

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Further Research

How to Write a Literature Review
University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz
Free Website: http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html
Outlines the components, definition, use and purpose of a literature review. Provides references to other sources of information on this topic.

Guide to Reference Books
Location: JPL Reference Desk & Downtown Library, Reference Z1035.1 .G85
Comprehensive bibliography covering resources for research in: General reference -- Humanities -- Social and behavioral sciences -- History and area studies -- Science, technology, and medicine.