Instructor: J. Reynolds
Class Section: SLS1101
Class Name: College Success

Guide to Your Special Dispatch: 
Country Profile Report

Your Assignment | Getting Started
Finding Books | Finding Articles | Internet Resources
Getting Assistance | Library Home Page

 

Getting Started

You have a been assigned a country -- now what?


What do ya know? -- Begin by assessing what you do know.  Write down everything you already know about your topic.  Now, what are you missing?

Background information -- even if you know quite a bit about your country, it is a good idea to spend some time getting general background information and refreshing your memory. 

So, where do you get general background information?

You can search general encyclopedias for information on many topics including countries, of course.  Your instructor (or the Director of Central Intelligence, for the matter) may not allow you to use a general encyclopedia as a cited source for your report; however, you certainly can use the encyclopedia to inform yourself about your topic.

General Encyclopedias: Encyclopedias that cover a wide variety of topics.  

The library has several General Encyclopedias.  

Almanacs: Almanacs are good general reference resources for basic facts too.

Specialized Resources in the Reference Collection: Specialized resources deal with one specific topic or discipline.  You might check the library's reference collection for specialized resources for statistics, culture, geography, or politics for information on your country.

  • The Statesman's Yearbook: 
    The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World
    REF JA51 .S7 2002
  • Ethnic Groups Worldwide: a Ready Reference Handbook
    REF GN325 .L46 1998

  • Countries and Their Cultures
    GN307.C68 2001 v.1-
     

  • Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
    REF F1406 .E53 1996
  • Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East
    REF DS43 . E53 1996
  • Encyclopedia of African History and Culture
    REF DT3 .P27 2001

These titles are located in the Reference Collection. You can search for these titles, and many others, by using the Online Catalog. For more information about using the Online Catalog see the "Finding Books" section of this guide.

Finding Books

Use the Online Catalog to find books in the library

PCC's Online Catalog - LINCC
is accessed through the
PCC Library Web Site
http://www.polk.edu/it/library

This is how you use the "Basic Search"

 

Click on the title of the items in the results list 
to get the call number, location and availability.

If you are having difficulty locating the materials you need, 
ask the librarian for assistance.

Finding Articles

To find articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals you can use a print index tool or an electronic index tool (a database).  Some libraries have only electronic indexes, some only print indexes, and some libraries have both or some kind of combination of the two.

Print Indexes - don't let them scare you
(you may appreciate them one day when the Internet is down)

The Winter Haven Campus Library has 2 print Index resources:

Print indexes are simple to use...
(There are instruction pages at the beginning of the indexes too)

  1. Pick the year you want to search
  2. Look for your topic in the alphabetically arranged index
  3. Copy down the complete citation information (or xerox copy it)

A nice thing about the print indexes is that they go back many years.  The electronic resources are working on that, but if you want to search for articles in the New York Times from the 1950's, then the print indexes are the place to go. 

Another nice thing about the print indexes... 

they work even when the electricity and the Internet won't.

Databases / Electronic Indexes

The PCC Library has many databases that can search for all kinds of articles.  

You can access many of PCC's databases through the Internet.

Go to the PCC Library Web Site
http://www.polk.edu/it/library
and click on the link to the Databases page and then click on
"Remote Access Databases"

You will be asked for your Borrower ID when you use a PCC database from home.
Your Borrower ID is you Student ID number or Student ID# (Social Security Number)
Call the library if you receive a message that your ID number is invalid.


Academic Search Premier 
provides access to magazine, journal and newspaper articles

Academic Search Premier is a general resource - it provides articles from a wide range of academic areas including business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science and education. Academic Search Premier provides full text access* to over 1250 journals dating back to 1990, and provides index access* to nearly 2880 journals dating back to 1984.  Click on "General" from the Databases by Subject page to see other databases similar to Academic Search Premier.

*Some databases index information and provide citations to help you find the information you need, some databases provide the full text of articles from magazines, newspapers, reference books..., some databases provide full image files - they provide the article with photos, graphs and charts just as the article appeared in its original source.

 

Some other databases that you'll find useful for this project:

NOTE: Choosing a Database

One of the biggest problems students have is finding the right tool for the job. 

Do you think you would find statistics for DUI accidents in the World of Poetry database?

Internet Resources

You can find anything on the Internet - right?

Well... maybe not.

Be very choosy about the sources you use.
One of the great things about the Internet is that anyone - ANYONE- can post information to the WEB;
doctors, your neighbor's 3rd grader, my sister (very scary), maybe even a very talented pet.

There are several search engines and directories available on the
PCC Search Engine and Directories Page
http://www.polk.edu/it/library/search.htm

Remember: For best results, read the help screens

Some suggested Internet Web Sites to use for this project...

Getting Assistance

Remember - we are here to assist you - so please ask!

Created summer 2002
This class guide was last updated 12/2002

Send comments and suggestions to referencedesk@polk.edu

Polk Community College Libraries
Polk Community College
Winter Haven, Florida