New Urbanism and Sustainability in the Southwest
|
PLANNING 497s/597s UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LIBRARY
520-621-4869 Main - A209 |
Background Information
Encyclopedia Britannica Online is another place to find overview information. When you enter this database, simply type in your topic and the first few entries will get you started.
Information Please is a great online source for locating background information. Use subject headings listed below to help you find your topic.
Internet and Library Resources
Citation Guide -- how to cite journal articles, newspaper articles, online articles, web sites, books, lectures, interviews, and e-mail. For your assignment, you will be using the Chicago Manual of Style.
Critically Analyzing Information Sources -- how to evaluate book and journal resources
Plagiarism Tutorial (Searchpath- Western Michigan University Library)
Short tutorial that is part of a module on citing sources with tips on avoiding plagiarism and examples of good and bad paraphrased statements with commentary. Brief explanation of copyright. Short quiz with feedback for each question and score at end.
RefWorks -- web-based bibliography and database manager for creating personal databases by importing references from text files or online databases. Users can automatically format papers and bibliographies in seconds.
General:
Planning: Research by Subject - A guide to online and print resources in Planning.
Spatial Data and Statistics:
Arizona Electronic Atlas -- interactive mapping site whose goal is to bring data together in one site. Map themes available include Natural Resources, People and Society, Business and Economics, and Environment and Population. Maps can be printed or downloaded. Most of the data can be downloaded as shapefiles.
Bureau of the Census -- Includes the 1990 and 2000 Census of Population and Housing, American FactFinder, and the Economic Census.
Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe -- great source to use for federal, state, local and international statistics. The statistics are either online or in the library (either in print or on microfiche).
Statistics Resource Finder -- Comprehensive information on over 300 Web and print statistics resources ranging from Tucson and Arizona data, to country-level, to worldwide statistics. Coverage includes information on demographic, economic and historical data resources.
Statistical Resources on the Web -- Great place to start for links to a multitude of statistical resources.
Finding Articles
Differences between Scholarly and Popular Articles -- guide to how to tell the difference between scholarly and popular articles.
Use Finding Articles to find articles in journals, magazines and newspapers. For articles related to regional planning, the indexes listed below are good places to start.
Academic Search Complete
This is an excellent multidisciplinary index. It includes journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on almost every topic. About 2/3 of the articles are full-text. Try a variety of keywords, link concepts with and. Here are some examples:
new urbanism and growth
communities and sustainability
southwest and sustainability
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
This specialized index includes abstracts and citations to articles related to architecture, urban planning, design, historic preservation, and landscape architecture. Full-text is not available. To check to see if UA Libraries subscribe to a particular journal indexed by Avery, check in the Library catalog. Be sure to use the online help if you need it.
GeoBase
Index and abstracts to articles about geography, earth sciences, ecology, planning, geology and remote sensing from journals, books, proceedings, reports and dissertations. Includes a direct link to the library catalog.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Mostly full-text, this database includes newspaper articles, transcripts, and a variety of other sources. Click on the News icon. Then click on the link to General News or Transcripts. Use the Guided Search feature. Often newspapers are the best resource for information related to a specific project, such as Civano here in Tucson.
E-Journals A-Z
Mostly full-text access to all electronic journals and texts with UA campus-wide subscriptions.
These are also listed in the library catalog.
Newspapers
For the most current information about a topic, or if you are focusing on a topic that is of more local significance than it is of national significance, newspapers (scroll to News/Newspapers) should be your first stop. It is often useful to go to the hometown paper. For access to local papers worldwide, try OnlineNewspapers.
JSTOR
JSTOR is an electronic archive of scholarly journals. It has both search and browse functions. Be sure to use help, if you need assistance.
ONLINE JOURNALS
The following planning journals are available online:
The Annals of Regional Science
Arid Lands Newsletter
Cities
Computers, Environment & Urban Systems
Critical Planning
High Country News
JAPA
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Journal of Planning Education and Research
Landscape and Urban Planning
National Capital Planning Commission Quarterly
Progress in Planning
Papers in Regional Science
Urban Studies
Finding Books
Use the Catalog to find books related to your topic. The following are just a few of the subject searches that you might find useful. You can also try KEYWORD searching on your main topic AND any other keywords (e.g., zoos and habitats, etc.) related to your topic.
A subject search will provide you with an alphabetical listing of topics for this subject.
Creating and Finding Maps
Arizona Electronic Atlas is an interactive atlas that allows you to create, manipulate, and download accurate and current maps. You can also download data that you can import into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software such as ArcView or ArcInfo.
For additional geospatial data and links, go to the Library's GIS page
Print maps can be found through the Library catalog and are found in the Map Collection.
Web Searching
There are hundred of search engines available on the Web. Here are three that I recommend. If you find information on the web, make sure you EVALUATE the site before relying on it as a reputable source!
General Tips about Finding Information for your Research
The Library does not own every journal or book that you find in the indexes. To see if we own a book or journal, you will need to search the title of the book or journal in the Library's catalog.
When you find a citation (short description) of a journal article, and that article is not full-text, you will need to search the journal title in the library catalog. Remember to search for the journal title and not the article title.
If you don't initially find enough or the right kind of articles in an index, think of other words you could substitute. You will need to play around with your search terms to find the ones that work best.
You can access any of these indexes or databases from home, but you will need to have your Catcard number on hand, a current borrower's record in the Library's database that links your name and your Catcard number. If you are trying to access this from home and are having trouble, here is instructions on how to connect [need link] from home.
You can also access these databases from any computer on campus, including the ones in the Main, Science, and Fine Arts Libraries.
Finding information is just one part of the research process. The other half is writing a paper that accurately expresses your views and demonstrates that you understood both the research process and the information you found. If you need help with this part of the process, you can get help from the UA Writing Center. The Purdue University's Online Writing Lab can help you get started.
If you need help in finding information for your class, contact: Chris Kollen.
8/26/04 McCord and 8/18/05 Kollen
© 2004, 2005, Arizona Board of Regents. All rights reserved.