Native Americans of the Columbia Basin
Getting started | Steps of the research process | Finding books | Reference sources | Indexes and databases | Internet evaluation methods | Internet sites | Contact me
Where to begin a research assignment can often times be the most daunting part of the research process. Below are listed some resources to help you start your assignment. In addition, please feel free to consult with the librarians for further assistance.
Student
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Reference Service
PSU Library Research Guides: Webguides for information on specific subjects
Off Campus Access to the Library Databases: Do your research from home
Citing Sources: Links to guides on proper citation/style methods
The PSU Writing Center: Writing help is available on campus.
Select Your Topic
Find Recent Books in the Online Catalog
Locate and use specialized Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Find specialized Bibliographies
Find articles in Databases
Evaluate the information you have and organize it for your research
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Vikat: http://vikat.pdx.edu/
Vikat is the Portland State University online catalog for books. Use VIKAT to search for books by keyword, author, title, subject. VIKAT locates journals by periodical title, not by subject. Boolean operators can limit or expand searches depending on which one is used.
Boolean Operators for more information see: http://www.lib.pdx.edu/instruction/survivalguide/Boolean.htm
| AND | Limits search by added word or phrase | ex: Salish and culture |
| OR | Expands search by searching for both words or phrases | ex: Nez Perce or Chinook |
| NOT | Limits search by excluding second word or phrase | ex: Chinook not salmon |
When searching VIKAT for books on Cyborgs try using Cybernetics as the keyword.
TO FIND THE LOCATION OF A CALL NUMBER CHECK THIS LINK http://www.lib.pdx.edu/help/faq/location_lc.html
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Reference sources like encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries are excellent tools to begin doing research with. They provide background information and analysis on a topic as well as offer citations to books and journal articles. Reference sources can be found using VIKAT and are shelved in the 2nd Floor Reference Area.
Suttles, W. (Vol. Ed.). (1990). Handbook of North American Indians, volume 7, Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution, Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. E77 .H25 vol. 7 | 2nd Floor Reference.
Walker, D. (Vol. Ed.). (1998). Handbook of North American Indians, volume 12, Plateau. Smithsonian Institution, Washington: US Government Printing Office. E77 .H25 vol. 12 | 2nd Floor Reference.
The Handbook of North American Indians from the Smithsonian Institution is a set of books that deals with the culture, prehistory and contemporary lifeways of Native American groups. Volumes 7 and 12 contain 59 chapters on Native American groups in the Pacific Northwest, including groups within the Columbia Basin.
Malinowsky, S. and A. Sheets. (1998). The Gale encyclopedia of Native American tribes: Volume three, Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc. E77 .G15 1998 | 2nd Floor Reference.
Malinowsky, S. and A. Sheets. (1998). The Gale encyclopedia of Native American tribes: Volume four, California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc. E77 .G15 1998 | 2nd Floor Reference.
The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes is a four-volume set of encyclopedias with entries on Native American groups. Each volume encompasses specific geographical regions and the groups within those regions.
Murdock, G. and T. O'Leary. (1975). Ethnographic bibliography of North America: Volume 3, far West and Pacific coast. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files Press. Z 1209.2 .N67 M87 1975 | 2nd Floor Reference.
The Ethnographic Bibliography of North America is an eight volume index that provides the user with citations to articles, books, and other resources dealing with the cultures and lifeways of the Indians of North America. Volume three deals specifically with the Pacific Northwest. It also has an online version called the Bibliography of Native North Americans.
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EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite: http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=web
A multidisciplinary database that includes full-text access to many of the journal articles it contains. EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite has a broad scope and is an excellent starting source for finding journal articles.
Abstracts in Anthropology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. GN 1 .A15 | 2nd Floor Reference.
Abstracts in Anthropology is a print index that contains abstracts to the current literature in the field of anthropology, including ethnohistory, archaeology, physical anthropology and other topics. Each record in Abstracts in Anthropology has a descriptive paragraph about the contents of the articles found.
America: History and Life: http://sb1.abc-clio.com:81/ and America: History and Life. ABC-Clio Information Services. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio. Z1236 .A48 | 3rd Floor Reference
Search for abstracts dealing with North American (United States and Canada) history from prehistory to the present. The database contains close to 265,000 journal articles, as well as other material types, from over 2,000 journals. Print copies of America: History and Life can be found in the 3rd Floor reference area.
Anthropological Literature: http://www.lib.pdx.edu/resources/databases/databases_A-K.html#a
An index that searches for journal articles, essays and books in Anthropology and Archaeology. Anthropological Literature indexes many of the major works and authors in Anthropology. Anthropological Literature is a citation index only, which means that only basic information is given on a particular record. Can be accessed from home without a proxy account.
Bibliography of Native North Americans: http://spweb.silverplatter.com/c125753?
The Bibliography of Native North Americans is an online version of the Ethnographic Bibliography of North America and contains citations to books, journal articles, and other resources. The citations in the Bibliography of Native North Americans do not contain abstracts.
GeoRef: http://www.lib.pdx.edu/resources/databases/db_descriptions.html#g
GeoRef is a database indexing journal articles, books, dissertations, as well as other sources in the field of Geology. Use GeoRef to search for information regarding the formation of the Columbia River Basin and related topics.
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Evaluation of Internet sources is a vital skill to develop. Issues such as authorship, accuracy, and currency are not clear on Internet sites: the burden of evaluating the information falls to the user. Setting up a system of evaluation is critical if you intend to use Internet sources for research or background information. We recommend the following criteria be used for web evaluation.
- Who is the intended audience?
- Who is the author and the author's
affiliations if any?
- Is there a bias or slant to the information?
- How current is the information?
Skills Evaluating Web sites. Elteto, S. Portland State University Library. Available: http://www.lib.pdx.edu/instruction/evaluating_websites.html
Evaluation Criteria. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It’s a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources. Beck, S. New Mexico State University Library. Available: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
Columbia Basin Web Evaluation Session
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American Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Library of Congress, American Memory Project. Available: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html
Columbia Basin Inter-tribal Fish Commission. Available: http://www.critfc.org/
Center for Columbia River History: http://www.ccrh.org/
Selected Resources on Columbia Basin Native Americans. Available: http://www.lib.pdx.edu/instruction/basinmap.html
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Please contact me for further information or assistance in doing research.
Reza Peigahi
Assistant Instruction Librarian
Millar Library 220D
(503) 725-4501
peigahih@pdx.edu
Fall Term Office Hours
Tuesday 5-6 pm
Wednesday 9-10 am
Thursday 12-1 pm
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H. Reza Peigahi