Research Guide for Beyond Big Brother: The Power of Surveillance
Prepared by Elinor Appel
NSCC Librarian (contact
info.)
Link to Academic Research at North Seattle Community College for more research information.
Books
Reference Books - use these books for background information and to look up specific topics. Reference books vary in their approach and content, so consider which angles are appropriate to your research. Some examples:
- Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, 4 vols. [Ref HV6017.E524 2002]
- Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, 5 vols. [Ref 1406.E53 1996]
- Encyclopedia of Propaganda, 2 vols. [Ref HM263.E53 1998]
- Encyclopedia of Women and Gender, 2 vols. [Ref HQ1115.E43 2001]
- Guiness Encyclopedia of Popular Music [Ref ML102.P66.G84 1995]
Circulating Books - use these books to find more in-depth information on your topic.
Refer to Finding Books for tips on searching the catalog using keywords and subject headings. Click on the subject headings you turn up to find more books on your topic. Examples of subject headings:
- Architecture--Psychological aspects
- Architecture and society
- Information society
- Information society--Political aspects
- Intelligence service
Once you find a title or two in the catalog, find them on the shelves upstairs and then browse the shelves in that area for more books on your topic.
Refer to Finding Articles for tips on how to search a periodical database using keywords and topics. Remember to "talk to the database" using Boolean logic or other search symbols.
- and – for combining concepts/keywords, will narrow the search: art and surveillance
- or – when you are using related terms, will broaden the search: spying or surveillance
- “ ” – when you are using a phrase: “big brother”
- * – when the terms have related stems: art* for artists, art, artist, etc.
- ( ) – to organize your search phrase: (“big brother” or surveillance) and (art or sculpture)
Good databases for your research are:
- ProQuest - general database with articles ranging from news to scholarly
- Academic Search Premier - another general database with a range of articles
- ARTstor - a database of images
- CQ Electronic Library - contains articles on policy issues and politics
- New York Times Historical Archives - news articles from the NYT between 1851-1999
Refer to Searching the Internet for tips on searching the Internet effectively using Google. Simply limiting your search by domain (site:edu or site:gov) is often a good way to start. Some related links are on the sidebar to the right.
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Page created by Elinor Appel. Last update: March 9, 2007.
