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Paris Research Guide 

The following guide is intended to provide general direction and assistance to researchers seeking information on Paris, France. This is not an exhaustive guide, but rather a place to start.

Locating Library Materials at UNF and in Other Library Systems

The authoritative source for locating materials in the UNF Library's print and media collections is the library's catalog. Available from the library's home page on the Internet, the catalog allows the researcher to locate materials in the library using a variety of approaches, including keywords, titles, author names, and subject headings. Although it is generally the least precise way to search, keyword searching is frequently the best approach for retrieving a browsing list of resources related to a topic.

Using the UNF Library Catalog

To begin a keyword search in the UNF Library Catalog, follow the link from the library's home page to the UNF Library Catalog, choose the Search for Keyword(s) option "Keyword(s) Anywhwere," and enter words that describe the topic that you wish to pursue. The example below is intended to search for materials on the history of Paris, France.

The library catalog keyword search works best when you choose the most important concepts from your question and enter them as single words. By default, the system ferrets out all materials in the library that have all of the keywords somewhere in the description of the item. This may mean title words, author words, subject headings, and even tables of contents.

The above search produces over 550 items in the UNF Library, so refining the search is probably a good idea. Of the first three listings, the second item looks as though it might be a good starting place. The subtitle Biography of a City suggests that it would have a history of Paris.

You will locate the above item on the 4th floor of the Library in the General Collection. Call numbers beginning with the letter A and running through the end of the P call numbers are located on the 4th floor. Call numbers from Q through the end of the Z call numbers are located on the 3rd floor of the Library. Materials in the General Collection can be checked out at the 1st floor Access Services Desk. Present the books and your Osprey Card (campus picture I.D.) to the attendant on duty.

In the browsing list produced from your search, e ach item's title is underlined and linked to a further description of the item. The description includes a physical description of the item (how many pages, availability of illustrations, running time [for movies or music], etc.), what subjects are covered in the item, names of additional authors, and additional information that might help a library user decide whether the item will be useful. Subject headings will also be linked so that you can cross-reference an item to related materials on the shelves. In short, all items in the library's catalog are cross-referenced using subject headings, author names, title words, call numbers, and any other pertinent information. As you work more with the system, you will find all kinds of short-cuts built in that will save you hours of time as you scan through the library's collections.

The full description of the second item in the list is represented above. Notice that this particular item is a book that is over 500 pages long. The description also includes the complete table of contents for the book.

Simple keyword searching is not the most efficient means for finding specific materials in the library's collections, but it will give you a starting place. To do a more specific search on the history of Paris, you can start with keyword search, identify a book that clearly deals with the history of Paris like the second item in the list above, review the complete description of the book in the catalog by clicking on the book title, and then do a new search that focuses on the history of Paris by clicking the subject link included in the book description. Notice in the description above, the catalog uses a very specific format for describing materials by subject. The subject listing for Paris history is actually shown as "Paris (France) -- History."

When you click a subject link in a catalog description, the resulting list of items is arranged by subject categories instead of by item title and date. The following screen demonstrates the result of a subject link in the catalog. Note that the subject listing groups materials first on Parisian history in general and then by time period. This organized subject listing should help you further refine your search. Notice that to the left of each subject listing is a number. This indicates the number of items for each of the listed subject areas. For example, you could expect to find at least 10 items that focus on the subject "Paris (France) -- History -- 1789-1799."

To search directly by LC subject heading, choose the Browse Organized Lists search option in the library's catalog instead of the Search for Keyword(s) option. Enter the subject heading in the exact order that it is shown. There is no need to enter parentheses or hyphens. An example is listed below followed by the result screen from the entered subject search.

If you do not find enough material on your topic listed in the UNF Library, you can also search other libraries in the State University System of Florida and then request the loan of those materials through the library' s Interlibrary Loan system. To switch to another library catalog in the Florida system, click the "Change Databases" options in the library's catalog and then make your selection.

You may want to search many catalogs at once. The quickest way to do that is to use WorldCat to search library catalogs worldwide.

Searching Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

To launch a search of library catalogs world wide, try using FirstSearch's WorldCat. WoldCat is a bibliographic database of books, manuscripts, computer data files, maps, computer programs, musical scores, films and slides, newspapers, journals, sound recordings, magazines, and videotapes cataloged into library collections all over the world. The database has added more than 48 million items since 1971 and covers materials created before 1,000 BC to the present in over 400 languages.

The default search screen in WorldCat offers keyword, author, title, ISBN, and year searching. The example below shows the same keyword search that was used in the UNF Library catalog above. Note that there is a huge difference in the number of items retrieved in WorldCat.

The same keyword search in WorldCat produces a whopping 37,487 items in libraries worldwide. If any of the items discovered are available at the UNF Library, the caption "UNIV OF N FLORIDA, CARPENTER L" will appear to the right of the Libraries Worlwide link. The number posted immediately to the right of the Libraries Worldwide link is the total number of libraries owning the item. For example, the second item listed above, Is Paris Burning?, is owned by 2567 libraries worldwide. In the above example, the first two items are available at UNF. Just as in the UNF library catalog, each item in WorldCat has further description available. Just click the title of the item to view a complete description of an item.

While Interlibrary Loan provides researchers with the means for borrowing materials from anywhere in the U.S., you should keep in mind that materials coming from out of state may take several weeks to arrive. In short, plan ahead and start your research early.

Using Interlibrary Loan to Obtain Materials Not Available at UNF

As you search for information, you will discover materials not currently available in the UNF Library's print, media, or electronic collections. Carefully document the resources that you identify (be sure to note author name(s), full title information, publishing information, dates, and any other identifying characteristics) and make a request of the UNF Library to locate the materials for you. Your requests can be entered electronically using UNF Library's ILLiad system (available by clicking Interlibrary Loans on the library's home page.

If you have never used ILLiad before, you will first need to sign up for an ILLiad account. Choose the Logon/Registration for FIRST TIME USERS option on the ILLiad greeting screen to enter your user name (your current library number) and to choose a password. Once you have completed the ILLiad registration process, you can use the system to request materials from any library in the United States.

Interlibrary Loans are normally provided to current UNF researchers at no charge. Special charges for loans or copies will be levied only after the UNF Library has received your prior approval.

Locating Journal Articles and Other Research via UNF Library's Research Database Collections

Journal articles will keep you up to date on developing situations. Of the library's many research databases, the following are most likely to help you locate information on historical aspects of Paris. Please note that you must first log in using your library number (located at the bottom right corner of your Osprey card) in order to access these databases from off campus. To login and return to this page, click here.

Search techniques will vary from system to system, but nearly all of the databases support keyword searching of author, title, subject, and abstract indexing. The full text systems will also allow searching through the entire text of every article included in the system, thus making locating elusive materials a surer thing.

If you locate journal articles or other materials that you need that are not available in UNF Library's print or electronic collections, consider using the library's Interlibrary Loan System (ILLiad) to get them. (See "Using Interlibrary Loan to Obtain Materials Not Available at UNF" above.)

Using Historical Abstracts to Locate Articles

Historical Abstracts is the authoritative resource for finding articles analyzing world history (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History & Life) from 1450 to current. Coverage begins with 1955 and focuses on academic publications.

To search Historical Abstracts, follow the library's link from the Databases by Subject page or type in the name of the database in the Find Database by Title search box on the library's home page. The database opens in a search screen that allows searching by keywords or by subject terms. The sample screen below demonstrates searching by keyword.

By default, the database searches all publications indexed by Historical Abstracts for all the keywords entered into the Keywords search box. Sending the search results in a listing of 1144 items, arranged in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Each item has a brief description that includes type of publication, author, article title, source publication information (Citation), and any translation information that is available for foreign language articles.

The first item in the result listing is an article from the French journal Histoire des Sciences Médicales published in 2004. The article is entitled "Les Collections Anatomiques Realisees Durant la Guerre de 1914-1918 au Musee du Service de Sante des Armees" and appears on pages 233 - 242 of volume 38, issue number 2 of the journal. The translated title is "The Anatomical Collections from World War I at the Museum of the Army Health Services." Keep in mind that Historical Abstracts is international in its scope and will include indexing for articles in languages other than English.

Further description of the article is available in the "Expanded Record."

Once you have reviewed the full description, you can "Collapse" the description to return to the brief article descriptions.

Additional search options are available in Historical Abstracts' Advanced Search mode.

Advanced search offers searching by keywords, by subject terms, by author/seditors, by titles/translations, and by a number of other criteria. This search mode also allows limiting by type of publication: articles, books, collections, or dissertations. When searching in Advanced mode, you can look up terms, authors, journals, etc. by using the book icon to the right of each search option. This will place you into an alphabetical search of concepts indexed in the database based on type of information. When keyword produces an unusually large number of results, try switching to the Advanced search to further limit the results.

Using Article Linker to Locate the Full Text of Articles.

Historical Abstracts is not a full text database; in other words, full articles are not directly available through the database. As you browse through the result listings in Historical Abstracts, you will notice a button at the bottom of each description labeled "Article Linker." Clicking the Article Linker button results in an additional window opening with options for finding the article.  If the full text is available online in any of the library's databases, Article Linker will list those options first.

In the sample above, you'll notice that three different databases provide the full text of the referenced article from the journal Isis. Had there been no copies of the journal article online, further retrieval options available in Article Linker include searching the library catalog for the print journal or securing a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad).

Many of the library's databases do not directly offer the full text of the articles, but this should not dissuade you from using them. For many disciplines, the primary research database is not a full text database. Primary examples include Historical Abstracts for historical research, PsycInfo for psychological research, and Medline for medical research. These databases cover far more information than any of the full text databases available for these subject areas, so you should always consult the database based on its coverage rather than on the convenience of finding full text. With Article Linker you can easily link to full articles from a non-full text database if the library has the full text available.

Reference Works in the UNF Library

To lay the groundwork for your search by determining dates, exact names, and other relevant facts, try consulting one of the following standard reference sources available in the UNF Library's 2nd floor Reference Collection.

Web Resources

The following Web sites may be useful for tracking down information on Paris, past and present. Take great care when using Web sites as resources for academic research. Try to determine who is providing the information, if it is legitimate, and if it is suitably detailed and authoritative for scholarly use. For general tips on evaluating Web sites and other electronic resources, refer to Evaluating Sources -- A Checklist for Electronic Sources.

Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Available: http://www.bnf.fr/

Centre Pompidou.
Available: http://www.cnac-gp.fr/Pompidou/Accueil.nsf/Document/HomePage?OpenDocument&L=2

France.com
Available: http://www.france.com/

The Louvre.
Available: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home_flash.jsp?bmLocale=en

Le Monde.
Available: http://www.lemonde.fr/

Musée d'Orsay.
Available: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/ORSAY/orsaygb/HTML.NSF/By+Filename/mosimple+index?OpenDocument

Paris.
Available: http://www.paris.org/

Parisfranceguide.
Available: http://www.parisfranceguide.com/

Serveur Officiel de la Ville de Paris.
Available: http://www.paris-france.org/

Website of the City of Paris.
Available: http://www.v1.paris.fr/en/

Yahoo's Internet Guide to Paris.
Available: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501740-paris_vacations-i

Citing the Materials That You Have Used.

Take great care to document the important information about the sources you have identified as you search for them. Most of the databases allow you to mark and print or email the article references, which will provide you with written documentation for use later in your bibliography or works cited page. Information typically required for citing a book includes author's name, title, place of publication, publisher, and date. Information typically required for citing a journal article typically includes the author's name, the article title, the journal title, the volume, issue, and date, and the inclusive pages for the article. The databases usually provide all this information, thus eliminating your having to reconstruct it from copies of the articles.

When setting up your bibliography, use the documentation style recommended by your professor. Two of the most frequently used styles are MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association). Reference Librarians Jim Alderman and Barbara Tuck have created a quick guide to both MLA and APA citation styles and make it available through the library's Web site. If you would like to use this guide, link to the Citation Guide (Bibliographic Styles) available from the Library's research help collection.

For complete guidance on either of these documentation styles, consult the full style manuals available at the Reference Desk on the second floor of the library.

Most of the major database systems subscribed to by the library also work with a documentation management system known as RefWorks. The library subscribes to RefWorks for the benefit of UNF researchers. You will need to sign up to use RefWorks. This, in turn, gives you a password controlled personal database of research materials that you have identified using UNF's research systems. With RefWorks you can send information directly from the databases, store it in your own RefWorks account, and then create correctly formatted bibliographies in any of over 100 different styles, including APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago. For more information about RefWorks, visit the library's Web site and link to RefWorks Info under the Quick Links section of the page.

This guide was created and is maintained by Reference Librarian Jim Alderman.
Updated 01/06.