The Mullen Library Main Reading Room

It’s where you’ll find the most recent issues of periodicals (newspapers, journals, etc.) as well as important bibliographies (which help you to locate resources, and – most importantly – find esoteric or more historical publications). You can also look up book reviews, browse atlases & indexes, and find a quiet place to study in the Main Reading Room.

See the Main Reading Room page on the Mullen Library Tour.

And be sure to check out my post on finding periodicals in print.

The Difference Between Subjects & Keywords

A keyword is a search term (in library lingo, we call it an “access point,” because it is a means of accessing information) which will look through the entire text of a catalog record – including the title, author, subject terms, abstract, everything – for the word(s) you entered.

A keyword search can be really great if you’re just browsing, or haven’t narrowed down your research yet. It can be useful for a sort of ‘shot-in-the-dark’ search… But it can also turn up a lot of extraneous records if you have a more defined research topic in mind.

If you want to narrow down your search, try using the drop down menu in the catalog and switching your search from “Keyword” to “Subject Heading.” Once you’ve entered a term, you’ll be taken to a list of headings from various different thesauri, sorted in a table. The actual headings appear as links, so choose the one you want, click, and off you go! You’ll also be able to see how many resources we have under that subject heading from the table.

A little about thesauri: In order to help organize resources, librarians develop thesauri so as to standardize the terms used to describe items. It avoids confusion, and helps to bring related resources together under one common descriptor – the subject term. They also show broader and narrower relationships between terms, helping you to quickly broaden and narrow your own subject search!

As always, feel free to ask for more information and help at the Information Desk.

Finding Periodicals – online

See also, my recent post on finding periodicals in print.

Periodicals include journals, magazines and newspapers. If you want to search for scholarly articles, old newspaper issues, literary reviews, etc. online, you can do so on the Libraries’ Homepage, under “Article Databases & More.” Use the “Find Databases” drop down menu to browse through subject areas, or find a specific database by its alphabetically sorted title.

If you’re anywhere on campus, you’re already logged-in! If you’re working off campus, you’ll be prompted to enter your last name and Student ID Number once you click “go.”

Each database has its own unique interface, but they share some common features. You can search for article titles, authors, subjects & keywords, limit your search by publication date, or include only peer-reviewed journals in your search.

Of course, the databases aren’t all the same. Some offer links to a full-text copy of articles when available. This is great! Some of them only serve as humongous, search-able bibliographies, and give citations to articles (which you can find or order in print at the library, or maybe elsewhere online). The usefulness of such databases lie in being able to quickly and comprehensively find citations to resources on a certain topic. It’s really the easiest way to find out what’s been written about your research topic. The librarians are happy to help you track down copies of books and articles, once you’ve obtained a citation.

(And remember, if you’d like us to have material(s) not available in the CUA Libraries or the Consortium delivered to the CUA Circulation Desk, just fill out an Interlibrary Loan Request.)

If you have any questions about how to use a specific database, or want suggestions on which ones would be beneficial to your research, always feel free to stop by the Information Desk.

Finding Periodicals – in print

First off, let me explain what a periodical is. It’s something published periodically! That includes scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers.

The most recent copies of these publications can be found on the second floor of Mullen, in the Main Reading Room.

But can you imagine if we kept all copies of journals, magazines, and newspapers stacked in the library? There’d be too many, and they’re so clumsy, they’d be flopping all over! Libraries have developed two solutions to this problem.

The first, is to bind them together. Once we’ve acquired a year’s worth of journal issues, we have them bound into one book. You’ll find bound periodicals on the first floor of the stacks. Here you’ll find issues from last year and earlier, usually going back to around 1980.

But still, we only have so much room. Bound periodicals from very long ago are kept in off-site storage, at the WRLC center. You may notice this notation in a catalog record. It will say something like, ” Vols. 2-49 (1949-1996) out of the following holdings held at WRLC Center; available by request.”

To make this request, click on the “Request through Consortium Loan Services (CLS)” link at the bottom of the catalog record.

When it comes to periodicals, you’re probably interested in a specific article contained in the issue. It’s really simple to obtain just that article! Note the publication information on the request form – give the title, author, issue & volume number, pages, etc. – however much you know! – about the article, and the staff at the WRLC center will scan it for you, and post it electronically to your MyAladin account.

To access the article, log-in to “MyAladin.” You’ll find this linked on the Libraries’ Homepage, at the bottom under “Quick Links.” Enter your last name & university ID # – and Ta Da!

P.S. — you can search for a Journal Title through the online catalog.  Just use the drop down menu and change “Keyword” to “Journal Title.”