Latin American Studies: Finding Books

RefWorks is web-based tool that allows you to:

♦ systematically organize citations
♦ easily include citations in your paper
♦ build a bibliography using specific styles (Chicago, MLA, etc.)
♦ import references from many databases and library catalogs

Login to Refworks

For more on learning RefWorks, check out the library's Refworks Guide.

Browsing for books on the shelf can be a very useful way to gather material on a topic. Seymour Library uses the Library of Congress call number classification system, and all materials on a topic are shelved together. For Latin American studies, try browsing these sections:

Anthropology & Sociology

GN 301-674 Enthology. Social & Cultural Anthropology

HM 1-1281 Sociology (General)

HN 1-995 Social History & Conditions. Social Problems. Social Reform

HQ 1-2044 The Family. Marriage. Women

HT 51-1595 Communities. Classes. Races

HV 1-9960 Social Pathology. Social & Public Welfare. Criminology

HX 1-970.7 Socialism. Communism. Anarchism

Economics, Industry, & Commerce

HC 10-1085 Economic history & conditions

HD 28-9999 Industries. Land Use. Labor

HF 1-6182 Commerce

History

F 1201-3799 History of Latin America. Spanish America

F 1201-1392 Mexico

F 1401-1419 Latin America (General)

F 1421-1440 Central America 

F 1601-1629 West Indies

F 2155-2191 Caribbean Area. Caribbean Sea.

F 2201-3977 South America

Language & Literature

PQ 6001-8929 Spanish Literature

PQ 7000-8929 Provincial, local, colonial, etc.

PQ 7081-8560 Spanish America

PQ 9000-9999 Portuguese Literature

PQ 9400-9999 Provincial, local, colonial, etc.

PQ 9500-9698 Brazil

The library catalog is the place to search to find books, films, and print journals available at Knox. To start researching use keywords that describe your topic.

Search tips:

• Use as few terms as possible to describe your topic - don't search for long phrases or statements, but pick out keywords that describe your topic
  

  Example topic:
  Did the Cuban Revolution bring about gender equality in Cuba?
  
  If you can't find materials with your keywords, try removing one or using synonyms

• Identify synonyms - try searching for synonyms of your keywords, as this may help you find more relevant material
  

  Example topic keywords & synonyms:
  

  gender = women
  Cuban = Cuba*

• Use facets to narrow your search - use the "Narrow Your Search" menu to the right of your search results to narrow to more relevant results. The most useful facets are Topic and Subject Area:

Topic corresponds to an item's subject headings

Subject Area corresponds to an item's call number

• Use topics to find more material - "Topics" are also called subject headings, and they describe what a book is about. If you find something relevant to your research, you can use the item's subject headings to search for similar material.