Finding Reference Books
Encyclopedias, almanacs, and handbooks provide quick, reliable information about a topic. They are excellent starting points for research when you need to find background information, important concepts, names, and dates. These sources often include lists of books and articles for further reading. Examples of titles that may be relevant to this course include:
| The African American National Biography | REF E 185.96 .A4466 |
| African Americans in Science | REF Q 141 C2138 2008 |
| American Women in Science: 1950 to the Present | REF Q 141 .B254 1988 |
| Blacks in Science and Medicine | REF Q 141 B58 1990 |
| CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics | REF QA 5 W45 1999 |
| Dictionary of the History of Science** | REF Q 125 D45 |
| Dictionary of Scientific Biography | REF Q 141 .D5 |
| Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures* | REF Q 124.8 E53 2008 |
| Encyclopedia of Mathematics & Society* | REF QA 10.7 E53 2012 |
| Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists | REF Q 124.95 E53 2008 |
| Great Lives from History: African Americans* | REF E 185.96 G736 2011 |
| Historical Encyclopedia of Natural and Mathematical Sciences* | |
| Interviews with the Abel Prize Laureates 2003-2016* | |
| Ladies in the Laboratory II: West European Women in Science, 1800-1900* | REF Q 141 .C693 2004 |
|
Ladies in the Laboratory lll: South African, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Women in Science: 19th and Early 20th centuries* |
REF Q141 C6933 2010 |
| Ladies in the laboratory? American and British women in science, 1800-1900 | REF Q141 C6933 2010 |
| Ladies in the laboratory IV: Imperial Russia's women in science, 1800-1900 | REF Q141 C6934 2015 |
| McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology | REF Q 121 M3 2007 |
| New Dictionary of Scientific Biography | REF Q 141 N45 2008 |
| Notable Mathematicians | REF QA 28 N66 1998 |
| Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | REF DA 28 O95 |
| Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia** | REF Q 174.7 P55 2006 |
| Princeton Companion to Mathematics* | REF QA 11.2 P745 2008 |
| Science and its Times: Understanding the Social Significance of Scientific Discovery* | REF Q 175.46 S35 2000 |
| The Universal Book of Mathematics | REF QA 5 D27 2004 |
|
*These titles are available in online format. Search the title in the Library Catalog for access **These titles are in the subbasement reference collection. They can be borrowed for 10 days. |
Selected Subject Headings (for use in the Library Catalog and WorldCat)
| African American Mathematicians | Mathematics early works to 1800 |
| Algebra | Mathematics East Asia |
| Aristotle | Mathematics Egyptian |
| Calculus | Mathematics Europe Western |
| Euclid | Mathematics Greek |
| Geometry | Mathematics history |
| Logic symbolic and mathematical | Mathematics history sources |
| Mathematics Ancient | Mathematics India |
| Mathematics Arab | Minorities in mathematics |
| Mathematics Babylonian | Pythagorean Theorem |
| Mathematics Chinese | Trigonometry |
| Mathematics German | Women in mathematics |
Finding Scholarly Print and Electronic Books in Milne Library and other SUNY Libraries
Find print books, print journals, most e-books and e-journals are not included.
To search for books in Milne Library, click on the Search tab on the library’s home page. Then select Advanced Search. Then click on Sign in and login using your SUNY Oneonta username and password. Once signed in, select Library Catalog and change Material Type from All items to Books. Enter search terms and click on SEARCH.
You can limit your search results to Available online (e-books) or Held by Library (print books).
Finding Scholarly Print Books in other Libraries
Comprehensive database of books, journals, and media owned by libraries in the United States. Requires a SUNY Oneonta login from off-campus.
To search WorldCat, click on the WorldCat tab and select the link WorldCat FirstSearch.
Finding Scholarly Print Books in other Libraries
Comprehensive database of books, journals, and media owned by libraries in the United States. Requires a SUNY Oneonta login from off-campus.
To search WorldCat, click on the WorldCat tab and select the link WorldCat FirstSearch.
Finding Scholarly Articles
Mathematics Databases
- MathSciNet2.7 million publications, 600,000 authors, 1900 journals with 1.4 million articles, 5.4 million matched citations.
History Databases
- America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCovers the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Selective indexing of about 1700 journals from 1955 to the present. Offers full-text for about 200 journals.
- Historical Abstracts with Full TextCovers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, and the history of education. Indexing and abstracts for about 1800 journals; full-text for about 350 journals. Coverage is from 1955 to the present.
General Databases with Mathematics and History Scholarly Articles
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides full text for about 8,500 periodicals including over 7,300 peer-reviewed journals across most areas of academic study as well as indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 magazines and journals.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text of over 1400 core scholarly journals and Books across most subject areas. The objective of JSTOR is to provide all issues back to Volume 1, Issue 1. Although some current titles are included, the most recent 3-5 years are generally unavailable due to copyright restrictions.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text access to over 2200 Elsevier journals in the fields of science, psychology, medicine, and technology.
Finding a Copy of a Periodical Article from a Database
Locating the full text of the article in electronic form
Full text articles available directly in databases are indicated by HTML Full Text or PDF Full Text. Full text articles available with the wording such as Linked Full Text are available in another database. Clicking on the link will connect either to the full text article or the other database.
Requesting an article on interlibrary loan
If you find an article from a periodical that is not available at Milne Library, you can request the article using the library’s interlibrary loan service. See a librarian for help.
Finding an article in a specific journal
- Use the Journals tab on the library home page.
- Enter the title of the journal or magazine, for example, Critical Sociology, in the search box.
- Look for the journal title in the results list.
- Online journals are available online through the link, Available Online. If the journal is in print, its availability and location in the library will be indicated. An example of a journal that is available both online and in print is below:
JOURNAL
Current history (New York, N.Y. : 1941)
1941-
Available at Milne Library Periodicals Collection, Reading Room, 1st floor (D410 .C82) and other locations
Available Online
- To obtain an online copy of an article, click on the Available Online link and go to the section, Full text availability, and click on an appropriate database.
- Link to the correct issue of the periodical (note the year, issue, volume number, and pages numbers of the article).
Print journals and newspapers in our Periodicals Collection are available for 1-day use in the library building.
Citing Sources
MLA Handbook, 8th edition REF LB 2369 G53 2016
The print style guide is more comprehensive than the web site and will have many more examples. Use the index to find examples. The print copy is available in Milne Library's Reference Collection. Online guides and tutorials are available on the library’s web site at
http://lgapi-us.libapps.com/widget_c.php?g=300602&p=2006636
Revised: August 25, 2021