Reference Works
Reference works can be found on the second (main) floor and are an excellent place to begin your research. Some provide quick facts while others contain scholarly overviews. In addition to the ones listed below, browse the nearby shelves. Books in this library are grouped by subject, so you are likely to find other useful books in the same area.
- American Decades REF E169.12 .A419 1994
- American Decades - Primary Sources REF E169.1 .A417997 2004
- Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology REF T39 .B49 1996
- Dictionary of American History REF E147 .D52 2003
- Encyclopedia of North American Railroading REF HE 2751 .H8
- Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways REF TF149 .E39 1976
- Routledge Historical Atlas of the American Railroads REF G1201 .P3 S8 1999
- Working Americans REF HD8066 .D47 2000
Finding books
MnPALS
Our library catalog. This link takes you to the "Basic Searches" screen where you can search by title, author and subject. The "Advanced Searches" screen allows you to limit your search by additional keywords, date, format, etc.
MnLink: Minnesota Library Information Network
MnLink is a shared catalog for many Minnesota libraries. To search just college and university libraries, select Libraries - Academic [shared] located underneath the Enter Keywords box. Click on Get It! in the results to order books from other libraries. Your user ID is your barcode number and your password is your last name.
Finding Articles
Databases for articles and other materials offer references to publications that may or may not be in this library; some databases offer full text of articles and others simply citations. There are in-depth databases that cover publications in a particular field and others that are interdisciplinary. Databases can be accessed from a drop-down list on the library's main page; descriptions can be found here.
Academic Search Premier
Searches both general magazines and scholarly journals on a wide variety of topics. Some are full text; others are merely citations to things that have been published. One way to limit a search is to check the "scholarly (peer reviewed) journals" box to exclude popular magazines from your search.
America: History and Life
Indexes literature related to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistorical times to the present. This extensive database covers over 2,000 journals published worldwide including all key English-language historical journals, selected historical journals from major countries, and state and local history journals, as well as books, dissertations and book reviews.
Business Source Premier
Full-text coverage to more than 2,800 scholarly journals and trade publications in business, economics, political science and public administration. Selected Datamonitor company reports and EIU country documents are also available. Access is provided by the Electronic Library of Minnesota (ELM).
MasterFile Premier
This database provides full text to more than 2,000 general periodicals covering a broad range of topics, including general reference, business, education, health, general science and multicultural issues. Indexing and abstracts are available for another 2,700 titles. This database features full text book reviews, reference and travel books, biographies, and an image collection of 107,135 photos, maps and flags. Access is provided by the Electronic Library of Minnesota (ELM).
Finding Journals
- Journal Locator: Find out if we subscribe to a particular journal, either online or in print
- Interlibrary Loan: If the journal is not available in print or full text at Gustavus, you may request copies of articles through Interlibrary Loan.
Here are a few specific journals about railroads. To access, click the link to the database name. Look for the "Search Within This Publication" option once you are in the database, or click on the year to browse the issue.
Web Sites
Interlibrary loan
We can order books and articles from other libraries if you need something we don't have. For more information, visit the interlibrary loan page.
Citing Your Sources
Citing Your Sources -- Includes basic models for MLA, APA, and Chicago citations as well as a link to a more detailed online guide and sample papers. If you're confused about whether you should cite a source or not, take a look at this explanation of plagiarism from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Contacting Julie
I am always happy to chat with you about any aspect of your research. The best way to reach me is to email me at jgilber2@gac.edu. You can also give me a call at x7552 or become my Facebook friend.
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