Skip to Main Content

Immigration/The Economy/Ecological Issues: Home

English 1000

Finding Background Information

  • Encyclopedia of North American Immigration (REF JV6465.P68 2005)
  • Immigration and Asylum: from 1900 to the present. 3 vols. (REF JV6012 .I56 2005)
  • The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia 2 vols. (HC 102.A66 2003)
  • International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology (REF HM548.I584 2006)
  • Encyclopedia of World Environmental History 3 vols. (GF10.E63 2004)
  • Environmental Encyclopedia (REF GE10.E57)
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
  • Public Agenda Issue Guide
  • CQ Researcher

Finding Journal/Magazine Articles

Databases are electronic indexes that usually provide you with citations to journal, magazine or newspaper articles. Citations to book chapters, dissertations and other documents or kinds of information may also be included in some databases. In some cases, you will note that the fulltext of the item is available from the database. If the database does not include fulltext, you can use the FindIt@MU button to check for electronic access to the item or to see if a paper copy is available from the MU Libraries.

Below are some suggested databases to search for this topic. To access a complete list of the databases offered, go to the MU Libraries' Gateway and click on Databases

General Databases

  • Academic Search Premier
    Index to major journals and magazines in all subject areas. Many articles are full-text. Updated continually. Generally, coverage is 1984 to date. Click on "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" to limit search results to research articles.
  • Lexis/Nexis Academic
    Provides full-text of current and back issues of major newspapers, journals, newsletters, and news sources from around the world.
  • Factiva
    Contains business and financial data on companies from around the world. It also provides access to current issues and an archive of over 8000 publications including newspapers from around the globe.
  • CQ Public Affairs Collection
    Organized into 22 main topics with hundreds of subtopics, this collection features full-text access to descriptive articles, statistical and historical analyses, historic documents and primary source materials, as well as a directory of key government, nonprofit, and private organizations in each of the major policy areas.

Subject Specialized Databases

  • Sociological Abstracts
    Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and bhavioral sciences. Provides abstracts of journal articles, books, dissertations, conference papers, etc.
  • PAIS
    Emphasis on national and international economic, political and public policy issues.
  • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
    Indexes international periodical literature in Political Science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy.
  • EconLit
    Provides coverage of the worldwide literature on economics. Subject coverage includes accounting, domestic monetary theory, health economics, labor, quantitative economic methods, urban and regional economics, and welfare programs.
  • Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
    Abstracts and citations covering environmental sciences are drawn from over 6000 serials including scientific journals, conference proceedings, reports, monographs, books and government publications.

Finding the Full-Text of Journal Articles

If you're looking at results in one of the databases listed above, just click on the  button next to the article citation. The article will display if it's available electronically. If there is no online access, you'll be give the opportunity to look for a print copy in the Library Catalog . If you have an article reference, but are not currently in a database, go to the MU Libraries' Gateway page and click on the Electronic Journals link in the upper right hand side of the screen to enter FindIt@MU . Once in http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://finditatmu.library.missouri.edu/you're given the opportunity to search for a specific article or journal title. If electronic coverage is not available, check the Library Catalog to see if we have a print subscription to the journal.  MU Libraries does not subscribe to all journal titles. 

If you find a journal article that you need, but cannot find the article using FindIt@MU , fill out a journal article request form which is available from the https://ill.mul.missouri.edu/MUU/logon.htmllink near the middle of the About the Libraries section of the Gateway page. You will need to register the first time you use our interlibrary loan service which is called ILL @ MU . Usually you will receive the article electronically via email within a few days of placing your request.

Finding Books

Keyword Search :

Library Catalog .
Think of words and synonyms that describe the topic you are researching. Type keywords that describe your topic into the search box. You can use the asterisk as a truncation symbol. You can use quotation marks to search for phrases. Examples: illegal immigra* and econom* economy and technology ecology and united states Once you have a list of hits, select one that looks on-target, then examine the subject headings for that item. Try clicking on one of the subject headings for that book, to retrieve similar books. Subject heading searches generally pull up more relevant hits than a keyword search.

Subject Search : Try a Subject Search after doing keyword search. For a Subject Search, you need to use Library of Congress subject headings.

Suggested subject headings :  

  • Emigration and Immigration  
  • Emigration and Immigration United States  
  • Emigration and Immigration United States Economic Aspects  
  • Emigration and Immigration United States Governmental Policy  
  • Emigration and Immigration United States History  
  • Emigration and Immigration United States Social Aspects  
  • Illegal Aliens  
  • Illegal Aliens United States  
  • Immigrants United States  
  • Ecology  
  • Ecology United States  
  • Human Ecology  
  • United States Economic Policy  
  • United States Economic Conditions  

If you do not find enough books on your topic to meet your needs, change your search to "ALL MERLIN." By doing so you will be checking the library holdings at UMSL, UMKC, UMR, and MU all at once. Still not enough? Click on the MOBIUS Union Catalog button. This expands your search to about 50 additional libraries in our network. Most books you find through MERLIN or MOBIUS are requestable online, just click on the "Request Item" link. Books requested through MERLIN or MOBIUS take two to three working days to arrive.

Websites

Librarian

Profile Photo
Rachel Brekhus
she/her/hers
Contact:
168 Ellis Library

(Mon and Fri only). I work from home by default Tuesdays and Thursdays, but come to campus for in-person classes and meetings as needed.

MU faculty and staff can reach me quickly in Teams chat.

Students can reach me using the Email Me and Student Appointments buttons above.
Website

Instructor

Rose Bunch