Finding Information for

Latin American Studies 310

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

¿Women and movies in Mexico?

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

page Click on Humanities and Social Sciences Under Area StudiesClick 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

Motion pictures – Encyclopedias

Motion pictures – Latin America – Biography

Motion pictures -- Mexico

Online : Literature Resource Center e.g. [Advanced Search] [Author] Buñuel Luis

Key resources:

Quién es quién en el teatro y el cine español e hispanoamericano

New Latin American Cinema

Finding Books By author:

[Browse] or [Keyword] Foster, David William

By title Mexico City in contemporary Mexican cinema

Request or place a hold on a book By numbers

[Call numbers] PN 1993.5 M4 F67 [ISBN] 0292725418

About an author as subject [Browse] or [Keyword] Bunuel, Luis

Advanced Searching Finding books about a topic

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

[Words Anywhere] Mexico and (motion pictures or film or movie or cinema). Now Search by [Subject].

Use truncation symbols: $ ?[Subject] mexico and (motion picture$ or film$ or

movie$ or cinema$) Click on Advanced Search and add [Words

anywhere] wom?n to the above search string.

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] Mexico

[Subject] motion picture* or film* or movie* or cinema*[Default Fields] wom?n

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] motion picture mexico [Keyword] wom

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

Search for periodical in Library catalogue Search for Studies in Latin American Popular Culture In Library Catalogue Choose Browse and Periodical

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

But, check the citation carefully!

Databases:Handbook of Latin American Studies

(HLAS)

Go to Expert Search [Subject] film* mexico Click on Search for variants and Search

Click on citation number to see full citation. 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.

This is a book.

Click Subjects for more titles on a related topic.

Databases:MLA International Bibliography

Search for (movie* or motion picture* or film* or video* or cinema* or actor*) and mexico and wom?n

Combine searches by checking terms and clicking on Combine checked..

Click on Display. Search for periodical or book titles in Library

Catalogue. or click on Check for holdings.

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 or MLA.

Let’s Practice Find the Latin American Studies Subject Guide. Find a film encyclopedia. Find a book on Brazilian cinema. Find a periodical article on the movies in Bolivia

using the database MLA Find a periodical in citations from preceding

search at the Library