Research Papers 101

A collaboration between the Library and the Writing Center has created guidelines for students in writing research papers. Available now is the PowerPoint presentation and coming soon will be a video of the presentation given on April 29th at 3:30 p.m. in the library.

Research Papers 101 - PowerPoint (pdf)

Citation Style Guides

Citation Style Guides - Guide to M.L.A and A.P.A. citation styles with many sample citations for commonly used LPC resources. Links to printed templates for citation of the most common resources and NoodleBib, an online bibliography composer.

Library Guides

Follow the links below to access a variety of LPC materials in bibliographies and guides to subject Internet sites provided by the library.

Administration of Justice

African American History Resources

Award-Winning Fiction - award-winners in contemporary literature, mystery fiction, and science fiction and fantasy

Career Information and Résumé Writing

Chemistry, Engineering, and Zoology Internet Resources

Comparative Countries & Cultures Research - Sociology

Cultural and Racial Minorities Resources Guide

Early Childhood Development

Economic Research Resources Guide

Election and Political Information on the Internet

England: 18th Century - Social, Political, Military, Aesthetic, Literary History, 1750-1850 (Includes Jane Austen information)

English & Literature Resources Guide

Fiction - award-winners in contemporary literature, mystery fiction, and science fiction and fantasy

French Language and Culture Materials at LPC

Health Information Links

Interior Design

Japanese American Evacuation and Relocation (1942-1945) Materials

John Steinbeck's East of Eden - Library Study Guide

Lewis and Clark Library Research Guide

Library of Congress Classification System - LPC Library Short Guide

Local History Resources

Local History Print Resources in the Library: Newton Local History Collection - a bibliography of books on the history of the Tri-Valley area, Alameda County, California, and the West

Mental Depression - Library Research Guide

Mythology - Library Research Guide

Nickel and Dimed - Library Resources

Oral Interpretation - Finding Texts

Photography - Library Research Guide

Political Science- Library Research Guide

Politics, Government, Law, Elections, Civil Liberties

Popular Culture - Library Research Guide

Popular Music and Lyrics Resources

Fiction - award-winners in contemporary literature, mystery fiction, and science fiction and fantasy.

Scholarly Journals or Popular Magazines: What are the Differences? LPC Library Short Guide.

Shakespeare Materials

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Study and Learning Skills Materials

Women in the Military - a research guide to the reference, check-out print and audiovisual materials, as well as the relevant research databases and Internet sources. Most of these materials have been donated to LPC Library by Mary Straight.

Other Resources

Latin American Fiction in Translation: A Bibliography - Compiled by João C. Barretto, Acquisitions Librarian and Coordinator of Collection Development, City College of San Francisco and LPC Adjunct Librarian

Literatura Chicana - A Bibliography of Creative and Critical Mexican American Writings through 1996, Compiled by João C. Barretto, Roberto G. Trujillo, and Andrés Rodríguez

College Information: Choosing, Applying, Scholarships

College Information

Alameda County Library: Learning Express Library - "Practice taking tests online with immediate scoring for ACT, SAT, GED and other academic exams... You will need to register to create a free account with Learning Express Library." You will need an Alameda County Library card to use this test taking database. Go to any Alameda County Library to get a card.

Assist- Statewide student transfer information for California

College Opportunities Online (National Center for Education Statistics/IPEDS) - "your direct link to over 9,000 colleges and universities in the United States ... to help college students, future students, and their parents understand the differences between colleges and how much it costs to attend college"

IIE Passport - information on programs and sponsoring organizations for students planning to study abroad, maintained by the Institute of International Education

OPE Campus Security Statistics Website - provides statistics on crimes at over 6000 colleges, covering the last three years (U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education)

students.gov - "student gateway to the U.S. government delivering government information and services across your campus & around the world"

Choosing & Applying to Colleges

CaliforniaColleges.edu - California College Explorer: California college exploration and guidance and counseling

California Community Colleges Online Application Center - information and access to California community colleges: college location, academic programs, services, entrance requirements, campus personnel email addresses and FAQ for information about financial aid, counseling, tuition and living costs, student life...

College Board Online - search through 3,200 colleges, request financial aid profile, get test dates, and apply to 375 colleges

Colleges in California - Undergraduates or Graduate - "... a resource for students and professionals looking for schools in the state of California. The website assembles a large network of California Colleges and Schools, including both academic and vocational schools, and both graduate and undergraduate programs"

CSUMentor - an online resource designed to help students and their families learn about the CSU system, select a CSU campus to attend, plan to finance higher education, and apply for admission. CSUMentor is free to use. The student will only pay the application fee charged directly by the CSU campus when an application for admission is submitted.

Guide to California Colleges and Universities - online guide to the University of California and California State University Systems, the California Community College System, residency requirements, independent colleges and universities, and private postsecondary and vocational education

National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES): Search for statistical and other information about schools, colleges, and libraries

University of California: It Starts Here - Browsing this site, you'll learn about entrance requirements and see how UC evaluates applications, includes undergraduate applications for all the UC campuses.

Scholarships & Financial Aid

California Student Aid Commission - the Commission's mission is to make education behond high school financially accessible to all Californians

FAFSA on the Web - Online "Free Application for Federal Student Aid"

FinAid: The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid - FinAid was established in the fall of 1994 as a public service. This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive annotated collection of information about student financial aid on the web.

Librarians' Internet Index: College and University Education - Annotated list of good websites

U.S. Department of Education Student Financial Assistance - "help for every stage of the financial aid process, whether you're in school or out of school"

Research & Term Papers

A+ Research & Writing for High School & College Students

Debate Central - debating strategies and techniques, critiques, evidence, structure, rhetoric, and argument; how to speak in public

Getting an A on an English Paper (Jack Lynch, Rutgers University) - tips to help you with the elements of a good paper: thesis, research, close reading, style and mechanics

Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation

How To Write A Research Paper - free resource from the Literature Resource Center discusses choosing a topic, crafting a thesis, identifying information sources, taking efficient notes, beginning and organizing paper, using parenthetical documentation, preparing a Works Cited page, and drafting and revising a research paper

Online Technical Writing: Online Textbook - "...an introduction to the kinds of writing skills you need in practically any technically oriented professional job" by David A. McMurrey

Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It - good student guide from Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services

Magazines vs. Journals - What are the Differences? LPC Library Short Guide

Student Writing Models from Writers Inc: samples of personal essays, descriptive writing, news features, eyewitness accounts, interview reports, persuasive writing, creative writing, cause/effect, comparison, writing about literature, research wrting,etc. Other links to writing topics, judging sources (MLA & APA), research links, etc.

Career & Job Search Information

America's Career InfoNet - wages and employment trends, occupational requirements, state by state labor market conditions, millions of employer contacts nationwide, and extensive online career resource library

Bureau of Labor Statistics' Projections - supplements Occupational Outlook with articles concerning the projected future of particular occupations

California Occupational Guides - "A series of about 300 information sheets covering individual occupations or groups of related occupations. They provide statewide information about job duties, working conditions, employment outlook, wages, benefits, entrance requirements, and training."

CareerOneStop - "nation's publicly-funded resource for jobseekers and businesses... Explore alternative career paths, compare salary data for different occupations, learn which careers are hot, get resume writing tips and job interview strategies, and much more."

CollegeGrad.com - The #1 Internet job search service for college students and recent grads, includes preparation, resumes, interviews, negotiations, salaries, career information, etc.

College Majors and Career Information - Career Services in Partnership with You: Rutgers University Career Services, New Brunswick

Job Hunters Bible - designed as a supplement to the book, What Color Is Your Parachute; leads you to many other good career sites

JobStar Central - one of the best sites to research careers, employers; find salary information, guides to resume; and access job listings (Careerjournal.com has joined with JobStar to offer users access to their excellent collection of career and job search information)

Librarians' Internet Index: Business, Finance, & Jobs - wonderful list of reviewed and summarized sites

Occupational Outlook Handbook - begin researching careers here. Paper copy in LPC Reference at HF5381.A1.O362

Occupational Outlook Quarterly Online - OOQ Online provides practical information on jobs and careers and covers a wide variety of career and work-related topics such as new and emerging occupations, training opportunities, salary trends, and results of new studies from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Copy of magazines in LPC Periodicals section

Riley Guide - employment opportunities and job resources on the Internet

Studentjobs.gov - searchable database of federal government employment opportunities for high school and college students by employment type, summer employment or internship, geographic location, and salary

WetFeet "...profiles of companies, careers, industries, cities and vast library of career advice articles provide a unique perspective to help readers find the right career, the right industry, the right company, the right job for them."

Reference Sources

Altapedia Online - full color physical and political maps and key facts and statistics on countries of the world

AltaVista: Babel Fish Translations - translate short passages and web pages to and from English to a number of languages and to and from several specific pairs of languages

ARTCYCLOPEDIA: Where the World finds Great Art - index to the online exhibits of artists, searchable by artist's name and browsable by movement, medium, subject of art, nationality of artist, or women artists

Ask A Librarian - ask real librarians questions on the Web through this "online reference service from the Library of Congress"

Bartleby.com - Great Books Online, including:

The American Heritage® Dictionary
Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus
The American Heritage® Book of English Usage
Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations and Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition)
Cambridge History of English and American Literature (an encyclopedia in 18 volumes)
Strunk’s The Elements of Style
American Heritage® Book of English Usage
The King’s English (H. W. Fowler)
The American Language (H. L. Mencken)
Emily Post’s Etiquette
Fannie Farmer’s The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book
The Age of Fable (Thomas Bulfinch)

Columbia Encyclopedia - 25,000 short alphabetical entries, covering the arts, business, computers, geography, history, literature, medicine, philosophy, politics and popular culture

Dictionary Directory - lists English language dictionaries and biographical, foreign language, medical, rhyming, sign language, symbols, etymology, geography, humanities, pronouncing, and science dictionaries

Encarta - gateway to 16,000 articles, multimedia, a new dictionary, and a world atlas

Encyclopedia of Television - "... includes more than 1,000 original essays... and examines specific programs and people, historic moments and trends, major policy disputes and such topics as violence, tabloid television and the quiz show scandal. It also includes histories of major television networks as well as broadcasting systems around the world and is complemented by resource materials, photos and bibliographical information."

Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century

History Channel Speeches - recordings of hundreds of speeches ranging from Hank Aaron to Mao Zedong

infoplease.com - atlas, almanac, dictionary and encyclopedia

LexiCool - a directory to 1,000+ online translation dictionaries and glossaries. Translate a word or two quickly or find an online dictionary.

LibrarySpot.com - "a free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons, families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information"

LiveRef(sm): A Registry of Real-Time Digital Reference Services - links to academic, research, public, government, and other libraries with real-time online reference services

Merriam-Webster Dictionary - includes an pronunciation guide and sound files for the pronunciation of many terms

Onelook - combined search of large number of general and specialized dictionaries

Online Books Page - indexes many e-books freely available on the web. Many are in the public domain, such as those from the Gutenberg Project. There are also some recent tiles that publishers have made available for free on the web.

quoteland.com - quotations by topic, literary quotations, humorous quotations, random quotations, how to identify a quote

Smithsonian Institution Libraries - browse for electronic versions of rare books including science and technology, natural history, American ethnology and other Smithsonian publications

Statistical Resources on the Web - A directory of the best resources for statistics on the Web and the place to start when you want to find a good source for statistics on most topics

Thesaurus.com

United Nations Cartographic Section - Over 100 general maps of the world available in PDF format. Requires Acrobat Reader

Urban Dictionary - a slang dictionary with your definitions

Voice of America Pronunciation Guide - pronunciations of names, people, places, and things in the news

Where To Do Research - subject directory that links primarily to reference sources with 100+ subject areas

Xpeditions- nearly 600 printable page-size maps designed for printing and copying from National Geographic and MCIWorldcom

Ask a Reference Question

Can't make it into the Library? Ask a reference question via e-mail. Please put "Reference Question" in the subject line of your email. Be sure to include your phone number or e-mail address, and one of the Reference Librarians will contact you with an answer.

Mail questions to:

Frances Hui, Tina Inzerilla , or Cheryl Warren.

lpclibrarian@laspositascollege.edu

Make a Suggestion

If you are a student at LPC and would like to submit a suggestion for a library purchase, you may come to the library and fill out a request form. Or you may print out the Request for Purchase and send it to us.

You are also welcome to make suggestions for purchase via e-mail. Please include the following information:

Author, Producer, Artist, or Composer
Title of Material
Publisher
Price
ISBN
Other information as appropriate
Your name, phone number, or e-mail address

Mail suggestions to:

Frances Hui, Tina Inzerilla, or Cheryl Warren