Finding References and Documentation

Using the Library

For folks in the SCA, one trick is to keep a printout list of books and articles you're trying to find, and budget time on Sundays on the way home from an event to drop by the local university libraries when you travel to other towns for events. You need a definite "shopping list" so you can get in, check just for those items, and get back out quickly, but it can be very useful.

Otherwise, on a weekend or day off, plan ahead to hit the library. Take your "want" list with you and see how much you can turn up. Most college and university libraries allow non-students to use the library, although often you won't be able to check out books. However, it's simple to photocopy a journal article, and every university library I've ever visited had copy machines for public use.

Another fun way to play in the library (when you have time to spare) is when you find a periodical/journal that has an interesting article, see if the library has an index volume and flip through that for other good articles. Every so often I go in and pull down all the Scandinavian Studies and Folklore volumes that I haven't been through yet, and just flip through looking for articles of interest. In the bound journals, which are usually a year hardbound together, you can usually find the contents page of each issue without too much trouble and scan down that for possible interesting items.

Library Card Catalogs Online

To maximize your results in any given library, nowadays you can almost always access their card catalogs online. Try going to Google (http://www.google.com) and put in the university name and "library", for instance:

+"University of Texas" +Austin +library

This turns up the UT-Austin Library webpage as the top hit. Then you find the link to the card catalog and search it right there in the comfort of your own home. Note the call numbers on your "Want" list as you find items. On journals, look for the journal title, not the article title. I keep the card catalogs of the colleges/universities nearest me bookmarked for quick reference. Some Ansteorran locations with colleges/universities that have online card catalogs include:

Adlersruhe (Amarillo, TX)

Bjornsborg (San Antonio, TX)

Blacklake (Midland/Odessa, TX)

Bonwicke (Lubbock, TX)

Bordermarch (Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX)

Brad Leah (Wichita Falls, TX)

Bryn Gwlad (Austin, TX)

Chemin Noir (Bartlesville, OK)

Crossrode Keep (Big Spring, TX)

Dragonsfire Tor (Stephenville, TX)

Eldern Hills (Lawton/Fort Sill, OK)

Elfsea (Fort Worth/Arlington, TX)

Emerald Keep (Waco, TX)

Ffynnon Gath (San Marcos, TX)

Glaslyn (Denton, TX)

Graywood (Nacogdoches, TX)

La Marche Sauvage (McAllen, TX)

Lindenwood (Irving, TX)

Loch Ruadh (West Fort Worth/Weatherford, TX)

Loch Soilleir (Clear Lake, TX)

Mendersham (Abilene, TX)

Middleford (Killeen/Fort Hood, TX)

Moonschadowe (Stillwater, OK)

Namron (Norman, OK)

Northkeep (Tulsa, OK)

Raven's Fort (Huntsville, TX)

Rosenfeld (Tyler, TX)

Seawinds (Corpus Christi, TX)

Shadowlands (Bryan/College Station, TX)

Stargate (Houston, TX)

Steppes (Dallas, TX)

Stone Bridge Keep (Victoria, TX)

Tempio (Temple, TX)

Three Bridges (University of Texas at Arlington)

Trelac (San Angelo, TX)

Wastelands (Enid/Fairview/Ada, OK)

Wiesenfeuer (Oklahoma City, OK)

Using Interlibrary Loan

Another way to get access to books and articles that you can't find in your local library is through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Go to your library and ask the reference librarian for information on obtaining materials through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Surprisingly small libraries have been able to get really obscure documents for me via ILL. Sometimes your local branch library can handle an ILL request, sometimes you have to go to the main branch of the library - just ask, the librarians will be happy to tell you how it's done in your library. Usually ILL involves a small fee to cover photocopying and shipping articles to you. You can also get books this way, and in the case of books they usually loan the book to your library, and you will then either check it out from your library or else you may have to use it while at the library, depending on the practices of the library which owns the work.

For Interlibrary Loan (ILL), you need as much info about the book/article as you can get. All the info that's in a standard bibliography listing is what you should strive for as a minimum. If you don't have a title, then you really won't be able to get much from ILL. However, if you know the author, try Googling on the author's name (http://www.google.com), or run an Amazon.com search for the author, which will often get you the rest of the bibliographic information you need for ILL. Also, try the online college library card catalogs as described above - there you can usually search by author or by subject as well as by title.

Electronic Resources at your Library

Ask your local library's reference desk librarian about databases in which you can search for journal articles as well - there are a bunch targeted at various disciplines out there, and your reference librarian should be able to show you what they have and how to use them. Again, this will get you the full bibliographic info. Sometimes your library may also have access to electronic versions of the articles via a subscription which you may be able to take advantage of, be sure to ask!





This page was last updated on:
on