Aaron's Research Keyring (ARK)

Most of the research starting points, search engine pages and lists of links on the Internet do not give the researcher a logical system of searching for academic research information. A comprehensive search requires some research outside the internet, of course. This introduction will guide anyone doing research for a research paper toward a more comprehensive and logical approach to research. The first step is to make a Bibliographical Search to find out what exists on a subject or topic.

On this page:

Reference Books and Guides
Library Catalogs: Sources for Finding What Books Exist on a Subject
Search Guides to Current Books
Dissertation Abstracts and Archival Catalogs
Internet Indexes, Search Engines, and Topical Guides
Government Documents & Statistics

Reference Books and Guides

Use Guides to Reference Books (especially when you are not familiar with resources on the subject or don't know how to find material on a research question).
Use Reference Book Guides to Evaluate and Select the Best Reference Books.

Library Catalogs: Sources for Finding What Books Exist on a Subject

Union Catalogs and the Great Research Library Catalogs

The National Union Catalog - available in sets of bound volumes in larger libraries. Also a cooperative online catalog of manuscript and bibliographic collections is available. The general catalog includes information on books in many libraries. You can also search online in other National Libraries if your subject is more likely to be found there.
The OCLC Online Union Catalog - WorldCat - this database is online and can be accessed through a school or institution that subscribes to its services. You can also access it by selecting Advanced Search in Google or Yahoo and then typing "worldcatlibraries.org" in the Domain search box. Enter your book title or other search terms in one of the search boxes and enter your state or zipcode in the location box on the results page to determine libraries that have the book in your area (First Search service: also see First Search Database list).
The Great Research Library catalogs online (if you do not have access to WorldCat)

Research Libraries

Library of Congress

Harvard Library (Hollis system)

The British Library

Bibliotheque Nationale de France

New York Public Library

Yale Library

Oxford University

Berkeley (Univ. of Calif.)

University of Toronto

University of Michigan

University of Chicago

Princeton University

Boston Public Library

Search Specialized Library Catalogs

Theological Libraries

Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary Library
Andover Newton Theological Seminary Library
Harvard Divinity School Library Library Info / HOLLIS Catalog
Boston University School of Theology Library Library Info / Catalog
Episcopal Divinity School LibraryLibrary Info / Catalog
Boston College Library Library Info/ Catalog
Trinity International University /TEDS Seminary (Deerfield, Ill.)
Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia)

Search Guides to Current Books (not comprehensive but helpful)

Book Publishing Record Annual Cumulative (BPR)
The Gutenberg Project
Publisher & Sales
Questia - Research service with full text Books and Periodical articles- subscription required for most books
Subject Guide to Books in Print

Sources of Current and Forthcoming Books

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble Bookstores
Blackwell’s Bookstore, Oxford-browse by categories;
Bookfinder-(bookfinder.com- 60 million used books)
Book Publishers’ Catalogs –current forthcoming books
Borders Bookstores
Forthcoming Books (subject guide) pub. by R. R. Bowker
Powell’s Bookstores (used new books)
Waterstone’s Bookstores

Guides to Book Reviews

Book Review Digest (Requires First Search subscription to search online)
New York Times Book Review Index (current Reviews)

Indexes to Periodicals Newspapers

General Periodical Indexes (Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and Infotrak / Infotrak Academic) Ingenta Periodical Search
Lists of Online Periodicals (Ecola Periodical Guide; Electronic Journal Access); Theological Periodicals
Specialized Periodical Indexes - Guide to H.W. Wilson Databases
Newspaper Indexes- Archives/Indexes; Online Newspaper List

Dissertation Abstracts and Archival Catalogs

Digital Dissertations ProQuest (last two yrs. available to public free), Dissertation Abstracts International & Comprehensive Dissertation Index
Guides to Archival Materials

Internet Indexes, Search Engines, and Topical Guides

Subject Gateway and Topical Guides: each of the following links is one of the best starting points for academic research in that general subject area. Each gateway provides many links to the field and sub-topics, without being overly technical. Using this gateway avoids commercial and non-academic sites, and is thus better than Yahoo type directories.

Anthropology & Culture

Generalities & Reference

AllTheWeb (http://www.AllTheWeb.com)
AltaVista (http://ragingsearch.altavista.com)
Ask (http://www.ask.com)
HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com)
Gigablast (http://www.gigablast.com)
Go.com (http://www.go.com)
Google (http://www.google.com)
Metacrawler - (Meta Search Engine)
Surfwax - (Meta Search Engine)
Teoma Search Engine (http://www.teoma.com)
Wisenut (http://www.wisenut.com)
Vivisimo - (Meta Search Engine)

Internet Directories

AcademicInfo (academic subject directories)
Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections (http://infomine.ucr.edu)
Internet Archives Search (websites as they were in the past)
Librarian's Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org)
Open Directory Project (http://www.dmoz.org)
Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)

Government & Documents Statistics

United States Government Information

FIRSTGOV-easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources.
Legislative Information - the Thomas website including the Congressional Record
Executive Branch of the U.S. Govt. - Agency/Department Index
Judicial Information - Sources of legal info & judicial rulings
GPO Access Site - index to official govt. information of all types
State and Local Governments - directory of official state government websites & other resources
Massachusetts State website - See communities menu for information on the states 351 communities
Boston Redevelopment Authority - Helpful information on Boston demographics, the Boston Atlas and Neighborhood information. See also research publications

Statics and Demographics

U.S. Census Search Site
General U.S. Census Website
Fedstats website - central source for statistics and info from 70 different federal agencies; one stop source of data
Guide to Statistical Sources University of Michigan's Guide describes and links to statistical sources on all subjects both for the U.S. and foreign countries.
World Factbook Country Profiles - current statistics on all countries
United Nations Statistics Resources