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:
| American National Biography | REF CT 213 A68 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Historical Encyclopedia of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Available online through the Classic Catalog or “Search Everything”
Finding Books
EDS searches across the library's catalog and many of its databases in a single search. This is the default search box (Search Everything) on the library home page. Because the results are so broad, learn to refine your results by using the toggle boxes on the left of the results screen.
To narrow a search to books only, go to Location and check the appropriate boxes.
Search for books in the Milne Library Catalog.
WorldCat
Comprehensive database of books, journals, and media owned by libraries world-wide.
Finding Scholarly Journals
- Academic OneFile This link opens in a new windowProvides over 54,000,000 articles, most full-text, from about 13,000 scholarly journals across most academic subject areas. Coverage is from 1980 to the present.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowFull 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.
- 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.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) This link opens in a new windowAbout 10,000 journals available full-text from open access publishers. Over one million articles are included.
- 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.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text of over 1400 core scholarly journals and Books across most subject areas.
Can be used for course content: Titles from many university presses and other academic publishers - MathSciNet2.7 million publications, 600,000 authors, 1900 journals with 1.4 million articles, 5.4 million matched citations.
- ScienceFull-text access to Science, 1997-current issue and Tables of Contents of current issues and back issues.
- 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
Locating the full text of the article in electronic form:
If there is no PDF or HTML full text with the citation for an article in a database, click on Full Text Finder. If the full text of the article is available in another database, there will usually be a link to that database where the article can be found by linking to the appropriate volume and issue number, or by searching for the article by its specific title. In some databases, the article will appear without additional searching.
If the article is not available, return to the home page of the library and click on Journals. Enter the journal title in the search box, and click on the search icon. Click on Full Text Access to see if an online or print copy of the article is available. Oneonta Local links to information about locally held items. On the record for the journal title, click Is it here? The record will list the years and volumes of the journal held in Milne Library. The record will also indicate whether the issue is in print or microfilm.
Print periodicals are located on compact shelving, and microfilm is available in metal cabinets in the Microfilm Room, both of which are in the Periodicals Room, (SB floor), two floors beneath the main floor of the library.
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 through the link Request item on Interlibrary Loan on the record for the article needed or through the link on the bottom of the homepage of the library website. See a librarian for help.
Revised February 2, 2016