General Education Research Guide
The Vick Library provides access to information in many different forms--books, periodicals, computer databases, sound and video recordings, microforms, and more. The guide is designed to acquaint you with some of the best resources that provide access to information across disciplinary lines--that is, those that are not limited to a specific field of study.
Reference Works
Interdisciplinary reference works include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and yearbooks. The Vick Library's collection includes a wide variety of English language dictionaries. Standard desk dictionaries are available on most tables around the library. More comprehensive dictionaries include the following:
The Oxford English Dictionary [20 volumes]
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language
Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary
The Vick Library keeps a reasonably current print edition of the following general encyclopedias:
Academic American Encyclopedia [21 vols]
Collier's Encyclopedia [24 vols]
Compton's Encyclopedia [26 vols]
Encyclopaedia Britannica
World Book Encyclopedia [22 vols]
The following yearbooks are received on standing order:
Statesman's Year-book
The World Almanac and Book of Facts
Electronic Resources
The Vick Library provides access to dozens of electronic resources. Together these tools provide effective access to periodical literature in virtually every segment of the institution's curriculum.
To see a list of links to Web-searchable periodical databases, click here.
Websites
Acronym FinderA searchable database of 173,000+ acronyms. Provides expansions of known acronyms. Lists acronyms that expand to contain given keywords.
Bartleby.com
An on-line collection of reference works featuring the Columbia Encyclopedia, American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's II Thesaurus, Simpson's Contemporary Quotations, and Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
Information Please
An on-line collection of reference works featuring the Information Please almanacs, the Columbia Encyclopedia, a dictionary, and a world atlas.
LibrarySpot
A Web site that links to a variety of reference tools, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, libraries, and more.
Refdesk.com
A Web site that organizes links to a variety of encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, news sources, and much more.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Statistical tables addressing a wide variety of topics related to life in the United States.
World Biographical Index 7 (K. G. Saur Publishing)
A database that provides 2.8 million short biographical entries for notable persons. Entries list name(s), years of birth and death, occupation, and references to relevant entries in numerous biographical dictionaries. Coverage extends to individuals in most parts of the world and spans a wide variety of occupations.
xreferplus: digital reference library
Search engine for a suite of reference works covering humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Searches encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, and quotation books simultaneously.
yourDictionary.com
A Web site that features dictionaries of 200+ languages, 30+ multilingual dictionaries, and an engine that translates between major European languages.
Periodicals
The Library subscribes to many magazines and journals in various subject areas. Click here to type a periodical title search.
Dewey Class Numbers
Most of the Vick Library's collection is organized according to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). Below is an overview of the major divisions of this system.
Class Subject Area(s)
000 Generalities
100 Philosophy and Psychology
200 Religion
300 Social Sciences
400 Language
500 Natural Sciences and Mathematics
600 Technology (Applied Sciences)
700 The Arts / Fine and Decorative Arts
800 Literature and Rhetoric
900 Geography and History
Subject Headings & Subdivisions
The Vick Library catalogs its materials according to the prescriptions of the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The LCSH system provides for several types of subject terms:
Type of Heading Example(s)
Personal names Abraham (Biblical patriarch)Jesus Christ--CrucifixionLincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Corporate names Baptist Bible Fellowship International
Geographic names China--Politics and governmentSaint Louis (Mo.)—History
Names of creative works Bible. English--Versions--AuthorizedRosenthal, Marvin J. Pre-wrath rapture of the church
Topical terms Child developmentMissions, MedicalTribulation (Christian eschatology)
Many headings can be subdivided by topical, geographic, or form subdivisions:
Topical subdivisions --Biblical teaching--Biography--History--Moral and ethical aspects--Religious aspects--Christianity--Social aspects
Geographic subdivisions --United States--Missouri
Form subdivisions --Bibliography--Dictionaries--Pictorial works--Sermons
Several copies of the LCSH volumes are available in the Library. Check with the Circulation/Information Desk for more information.
Other Resources
For additional help in locating resources on your topic, consider pursuing these strategies:
Search the catalogs of other libraries believed to have substantial holdings on the subject
you are researching. You can request materials on loan from other libraries through the
Vick Library's document delivery and interlibrary loan program.
Consult bibliographies on your subject. Book-length bibliographies held by the Vick Library are
shelved in the Reference Collection with a call number beginning with 016. Digits are added after
the decimal point to indicate the subject matter of the bibliography; for example, a bibliography on
theology would be classed at Ref. 016.23 (230 is the Dewey call number for theology).
Last Updated: August 9, 2007
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