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Final Methodology Notes

by Robert Morgan

This concludes a series of handouts dealing with research methodology tips. What is included here are those other campus libraries concentrating materials relevant to your research projects. It also lists additional resource centers in the East Bay and San Francisco which may be useful. And finally specific tips on conducting bibliographic searches, focusing partly on UCB campus on-line catalog searches and also on using printed resources. Selected resources comprised in this Methods handout are primarily geared towards international development issues. And thus reflect only those which correspond accordingly.

I. Other Campus Libraries

Besides the UCB campus libraries mentioned before (Government Documuents, International Studies, BioSciences, and the Business & Economics Libraries) there are a couple of other libraries which focus on area studies and governmental literature.

South/Southeast Asia Library Service, 438 Main Library

Maintains collections of books, monographs, periodicals, newspapers, etc. on areas of interest such as: anthropology, economics, environmental design, geography, history, national/local government publications, political science, sociology and more. Countries focused on include: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Maylaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, among others. A country catalog is available.

Institute of Governmental Studies Library, 109 Moses Hall

Non-circulating collection consisting primarily of pamphlets and periodicals relating to administration, planning, finance, federal government and various pressure groups among other things. Complements the subject coverage of the Business & Economics Library.

II. Additional Resource Centers

The following are resource center organizations which may also be helpful to your research. Since they are larger centers they will contain substantially more than most non-governmental types.

World Affairs Council of Northern California Library

Their focus is mainly on international relations, trade, envioronmental issues for specific areas including Latin America, Asia and Africa. Their strength lies in their topical concentration of books, documents, pamphlets and materials from other organizations involved with international relations. Also of particular interest is their cassette recordings of over 300 W.A.C. associated conferences. Use of the library is free to the public, but circulation of holdings is limited to members only. Students wishing to become members can pay the annual fee of $15. The library is open 10am - 5pm, Monday through Friday except for Wednesday's when they remain open until 7pm. For further questions call them directly at (415) 982-0430. They are located at 312 Sutter Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco.

The Sierra Club

Areas of interest weigh more heavily towards domestic-related but also include international topics concerning: environmental policy & issues, land use and conservation. Their holdings include periodicals, documents and more importantly a substantial collection of newsletters from a wide range of non-profit organizations and governmental agencies. You must make an appointment to gain access of their non-circulating collection. Appointments can be made for times from 1:30 to 5:00, Tuesday through Friday by calling (415) 923-5589. Photocopies can be made there at 10 cent per page. They are located at 730 Polk Street, San Francisco between Eddy and Ellis.

If at this point you haven't found what you are looking for, or just want to talk with other organizations then this may help you out:

World Without War Council, Inc.

Located in Berkeley, this organization is primarily helpful for their extensive guide on Bay Area organizations dealing with international affairs. You can use this guide to locate organizations which are local and many being very small but are highly specialized. Call (510) 845-1992 to inquire about their guide.

III. Researching Tips for Conducting Bibliographic Searches

The following sections provide detailed information about getting more from your efforts using different types of resources located on the UCB campus: Reference Materials, Periodicals, Newspapers, Other Indexes, and Government Documents. Each section primarily provides a select listing of useful materials: guides, indexes, etc. Only general comments regarding the why a particular resource can be useful are included. Certain tips are included when they seemed helpful in saving research time.

Note: Acknowledgement must go to the School of Library and Information Studies' Methods of Library Use: Handbook for Bibliography I, published July 1992; With which, a great deal of the following information was easily gathered.

A. Reference Materials

Located chiefly in the Reference Hall of Doe Library (Main) reference resources usually provide a place to begin research. If you are unfamiliar with the topic and the relevant subject nuances then bibliographies and index guides can be a great way to jump in. These guides will help you in a few specific ways: Direct you to other index guides specific to the applicable topic; List bibliographic information on relevant titles; And will help you formulate various specific keyword phrases for on-line searching.

Primary Bibliographies

A general point of entry into the topic of concern. The Library of Congress is most noteworthy of the three as a starting point.

a. The Library of Congress Subject Catalog is a cumulative subject bibliography of works currently received and cataloged by the Library of Congress. Very helpful in suggesting subject and cross reference headings which are used in Melvyl and Gladis.

b. Books in Print (BIP) is an annual trade bibliography listing around 700,000 titles published. An annual Supplement lists forthcoming books. Listings are by subject, author and title.

c. The Cumulative Book Index (CBI) is an extensive listing of all English language books published worldwide. Updates are quarterly with semiannual cumulations.

General Guides to Reference Materials

These guides serve to narrow your direction from an entirely broad beginning. They will refer other printed reference works which narrow down in scope.

a. Eugene P. Sheehy's Guide to Reference Books, 10th ed., 1986. Provides references to other specific reference books arranged by broad subject areas.

b. Walford, Alfred J., Guide to Reference Materials, Volume 2, 1982. Another guide similar to Sheehy.

c. The Bibliographic Index (BI) includes separately published bibliographies as well as those found in books, pamphlets and journal articles containing at least 50 citations.

How-To-Find Guides to Specific Subject Fields

a. Burrington, Gillian A., How to Find Out About Statistics, Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press, 1972.

b. Daniells, Lorna M., Business Information Sources, Rev. ed., Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

c. Elias, Stephen, Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law, 2nd ed., Berkeley: Nolo, 1986.

d. Fletcher, John, Information Sources in Economics, 2nd ed., Boston: Butterworths, 1984.

e. Mayros, Van., Business Information: Applications and Sources, Radnor, PA: Chilton, 1983.

f. Research Guide to Central America and the Caribbean, Madison: University of Wisconsin

g. Southeast Asian Research Tools, [Honolulu]: Southeast Asian Studies, Asian Studies Program, University of Hawaii, 1979.

Subject Encyclopedias

Subject Encyclopedias can be a great launching point. Key information provided are: persons, issues and terms. They then serve in building a conceptual beginning point.

Note: Encyclopedias are inherently biased towards mainstream expertise. The full spectrum and dynamics of highly relevant issues are generally missing from these encyclopedias and are, therefore, of limited use.

Agriculture and Food Science:

Foods and Food Production Encyclopedia, 1982.

Anthropology:

Peoples of the Earth, 1972.

Area Studies:

a. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa, 1981.

b. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean, 1985.

c. Encyclopedia of the Third World, 1982.

Business:

a. Encyclopedia of Banking and Finance, 1983.

b. Encyclopedia of Management, 1982.

Earth Sciences:

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences, 1981.

Economics:

New Palgrave; A Dictionary of Economics, 1987.

Education:

Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance, 1990.

Environmental Sciences:

a. Encyclopedia of Climatology, 1987.

b. Encyclopedia of the Environment, 1988.

c. Water Encyclopedia, 1990.

Geography:

a. Countries of the World, 1988.

b. Dictionary of Human Geography, 1981.

c. Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Physical Geography, 1985.

d. Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, 1988.

History:

a. African Encyclopedia, 1974.

b. Encyclopedia of the Third World, 1987.

Peace & Conflict Studies:

World Encyclopedia of Peace, 1986.

Women's Studies:

International Encyclopedia of Sociology, 1981.

How To Find Other Reference Materials

Use Melvyl or Gladis subject catalogs to search in the following format for new and/or expanded listings:

[SUBJECT] -- [APPROPRIATE SUBDIVISION]

The following are "subdivisions" used in the subject catalogs:

-- ABSTRACTS

-- ATLASES

-- BIBLIOGRAPHY

-- BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY

-- BIOGRAPHY

-- CATALOGS

-- CONCORDANCES

-- DICTIONARIES

-- DICTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS

-- DIRECTORIES

-- FILM CATALOGS

-- GUIDE-BOOKS

-- HANDBOOKS, MANUALS, ETC.

-- MAPS

-- STATISTICS

-- YEARBOOKS

B. Periodicals

Periodicals are located throughout the entire UCB library system. The largest compilation of current issues going back one and sometimes to as much as two years are located in the Periodical Room of Doe Library (Main). Otherwise Moffitt library and other branch libraries will house the remainder of holdings.

Periodicals are often very important in providing current, in-depth information much unlike books. Furthermore, some important findings will go many years without being published in book format. Periodical indexes flush out a vast amount of literature which is still largely unrecorded electronically - although this is changing. However, periodical indexes may not index all articles in a given issue or magazine. Furthermore a great many periodicals are never examined in the first place for inclusion in printed and on-line sources. Thus you may have to use more than one source to gain satisfying results.

Guides To Periodical Indexes

Since there are few single sources which include all periodicals related to a specific subject, many resourceful periodicals can be inadvertantly overlooked. The combined use of these guides can expose a number of important topical periodicals which will round out many research efforts. Look for cumulated indexes published separately which span many years. A lot of time can be saved by searching through cumulated volumes instead of searching through each individual issue. Check any periodicals listed in the following guides in Melvyl under the PEriodicals database to find out where they are located.

a. Harzfeld, Lois, Periodical Indexes in the Social Sciences and Humanities: A Subject Guide, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1978.

b. Gray, Richard, Serial Bibliographies in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, Ann Arbor: Pierian, 1969.

c. Vesenyi, Paul E., An Introduction to Periodical Bibliography, Ann Arbor: Pierian, 1974.

Citation Indexes

Sometimes a key article, book, etc, has been found but is quite dated and subsequent information has not been readily available. A citation index can help locate more current information and resources that have cited this key article. One of a few types of periodical indexes: periodical indexes; abstracting services, annual bibliographies, etc. Citation indexes are based on the subject relationship between a cited work and the more recent publications that cite this work. This leads from an older work to the more recent works citing it.

a. Science Citation Index (SCI), 1961-

b. Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), 1966-

Each of these indexes are composed of three sections: the Citation Index, the Permuterm Index and the Source Index.

1. "The Citation Index section is created from the footnotes and bibliographies of the journals indexed. It is organized alphabetically by cited authors. Grouped under each cited item are the newer articles that have cited that earlier work." Entries are not bibliogrphically complete. Entries lack title, journal issue and ending page.

2. "The Source Index section contains the bibliographic information for citing articles. To obtain complete information for the citing articles listed under the known item, you must use the corresponding Source Index section. The Source Index is organized alphabetically by citing authors." The most complete bibliographic information is located in this section.

3. "The Permuterm Index contain keyword pairs of citing article titles from the Source Index. Each keyword is paired with every other keyword in the title, so that a subject search via title keywords is possible."

Checklist - Using Periodical Indexes

a. Look for an explanation of the contents and organization in the front of the index.

b. Locate the key to abbreviations, especially abbreviations used for the titles of periodicals indexed, usually found in the front of the index.

c. Determine the time periods covered by each issue or cumulation, and select those with the most appropriate time period for your research, e.g. the most recent issues, the issues published when an event occurred, or when the most writing was published on a topic.

d. Search all relevant subject headings, paying close attention to cross-references.

Periodical Directories

These directories lead to periodicals in print, not articles, and are most often organized by subject and geographical origin. Information is provided telling where a particular periodical is indexed.

a. Standard Periodical Directory, 1976-

b. Ulrich's Internation Periodicals Directory, 1932-

c. Irregular Serials and Annuals, an International Directory, 1967-

d. Bowker International Serials Database Update

A Selected List of Periodical Indexes and Abstracting Services

General:

a. Alternative Press Index, 1969-

b. The Left Index: A quarterly Index to Periodicals of the Left, 1982-

c. Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1905-

d. New Periodicals Index, 1977-

Sciences:

a. Biological and Agricultural Index, 1916-

b. General Science Index, 1978-

Social Sciences:

Social Sciencs Citation Index, 1969-

Area Studies:

a. Current Bibliography on African Affairs, 1962-

b. Handbook of Latin American Studies, 1935-

c. Hispanic American Periodicals Index, 1977-

d. International African Bibliography, 1971-

Economics:

a. International Bibliography of Economics, 1955-

b. Journal of Economic Literature, 1969-

Environmental Studies:

a. Environment Abstracts and Environment Index, 1971-

b. Environmental Periodicals Bibliography, 1972-

c. Pollution Abstracts, 1970-

Geography:

a. Current Geographical Publications, 1938-

b. Geo Abstracts, 1972-

Law:

a. Index to Legal Periodicals, 1908-

b. Legal Resource Index, 1980- (on microfiche)

Sociology:

a. Human Resources Abstracts, 1966-

b. Social Work Research & Abstracts, 1977-

Women's Studies:

Studies on Women Abstracts, 1983- C.

Newspapers

"One of the most important firsthand or primary sources available to you is the newspaper." Through the use of newspaper articles you can often get a "feel" for the period, not forthcoming from books and journal articles. Most of what follows is located in the Reference section of the Newspaper/Microcopy division or the Reference Hall of Doe.

Directories

Printed directories provide the most complete lists of newspapers found. Most are arranged geographically, but some special newspapers are listed under subject indexes.

a. Ayers Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, 1880-

b. Willing's European Press Guide, 1968-

c. Lutz, William D., Underground Press Directory, 1969.

d. Underground Press Collection: Listing of Contents 1963-1985

Indexes

Only the major newspapers are generally indexed. Only a few other indexes that have been assembled since 1958.

a. New York Times Index, 1851- Useful in narrowing down your search chronologically. "Once a time frame has been established, local unindexed newspapers can be used."

b. Index to the [London] Times, 1906-

c. Wall Street Journal Index, 1958-

d. Washington Post Index, 1972-

News Summaries/Services and Composite Newspaper Indexes

a. Facts on File, 1940- A weekly world news digest. Since the issues are usually prompt, it can serve as a "current encyclopedia."

b. Keesing's Contemporary Archives, 1931- A weekly news summary. A valuable feature is the inclusion of texts of speeches and documents.

c. African Recorder, 1962-

d. African Diary, 1961-

e. Asian Recorder, 1955-

f. Nepal Press Digest, 1965-

g. Alternative Press Index, 1969-1971, 1974- An index to underground and alternative newspapers and magazines.

h. NewsBank, 1976- & Newsbank Plus, 1981- (Available on CD Rom). Includes not only a number of state-capital and "second-size" newspapers from the U.S. but also indexed articles on microfiche.

Microcopy Collections in the Newspaper/Microcopy Division

Many materials available on microform have not been "analyzed" and cataloged separately on UCB catalogs. Access to many thousands of such items can be gained only by using specialized guides, indexes and bibliographies.

"Library Orientation Leaflet No. 12, Microcopy Collections, is a list of 89 collections, with the guides, indexes and bibliographies which must be used to access the contents of the collections."

D. Other Indexes

"Materials shorter than book length, such as plays, poems and essays, are often published in collections or anthologies. The contents of these collections are not listed separately in the library catalogs, and they are usually not indexed in periodical indexes. Access to these forms exists through special bibliographies of collections," also called indexes, not to be confused with periodical indexes.

How to Find Indexes to Collections

a. Look in the subject catalogs under [SUBJECT] -- INDEXES.

b. Browse in the reference collection of the appropriate library. In General Reference these indexes are shelved in a section called "Indexed Books."

Indexes to Collections

a. Essay and General Literature Index (EGLI), 1900- Indexes collections of essays on all subjects, and is particularly stron g in the humanities and social sciences.

b. Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI), 1938-

c. Comprehensive Dissertation Index, 1861-1972, 1973-1977, 1978-1982, 1983- Detailed subject access to DAI is provided.

E. Government Documents

A depository library for publications from the U.S., Candada, California, the United Nations, U.N.E.S.C.O. and other government entities. Publications are also received from European, Latin American, African and Asian countries, and from international organizations. The primary function of government documents is to record the transactions of governmental "business."

U.S. Legislative Index

CIS Index (Congressional Information Service. Index of Publications of the United States Congress), 1970- Consists of three parts, the Index, the Abstracts, and the Legislative History volumes.

Finding U.S. Legislative Materials

a. Foreign Broadcast Information Service: Daily Report (FBIS) Provides translations and analyses of foreign broadcasts, news accounts, newspapers, periodicals, and goverment statements.

b. Transdex An index to translations of foreign documents, scholarly works, research reports, conference reports, economic and technical reports in all fields of the social, physical and biological sciences.

c. Government Reports Announcements and Index (GRA&I) An index to the results of U.S. and foreign goverment sponsored reasearch and development and engineering. Lists abstracts of the technical reports available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The CD Rom version is located in the Engineering Library.

United Nations Documents

a. International Bibliography (Formerly IBID) Index to recently issued publications of the United Nations and other international orgaizations arranged by broad subject categories. A list of the international organizations whose publications are indexed is located in the front of each issue.

b. UNDOC: Current Index, 1979- Comprehensive checklist with full bibliographic descriptions of most UN documents. Also available on CD Rom as "Index to United Nations Publications," 1990-present.

Statistics Indexes and Sources

a. Index to International Statistics (IIS), 1983- Indexes and abstracts statistical information published by international and intergovermental organizations.

b. United Nations, Statistical Yearbook Summary of world statistics, as reported to the Statistical Office of the United Nations, covers population, finance, agricultural and industrial production, housing, etc. Particulary useful for comparative statistics of different countries.

Directories

a. United States Government Manual Official handbook of the Federal Government providing comprehensive information on the agencies of each federal branch. Also includes information on quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the US participates, and board, committees, and commissions. A "Sources of Information" section provides details on consumer activities, contracts and grants, employment, publications, and other areas of public interest.

b. Yearbook of International Organizations Provides many indexes to it thousands or organizations listed.

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