Reference Desk at Richards Memorial Library

www.RMLonline.org

Reference Services and Magazine/Journal Database Access

Cynthia Edson, Associate Director
Maggie Holmes, Adult Services
David Lockhart, Tech. Services

The Reference area is to the right of the Circulation Desk. A Reference librarian is usually available to assist you with your questions or research. You can also call for information during normal business hours--508-699-0122 or

A new service is being offered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners: a 24 hour Reference Service. Click on the logo to try this service.

Reference Collection

The Reference collection has a variety of print resources. (For standard reference material on the Internet, check out our suggestions.) Most materials can be read in the library or photocopied (ten cents a page) for personal use. Materials include:

Encyclopedias, almanacs, street guides and atlases

Moody's, Morningstar and ValueLine

Consumer Reports and NADA used car guides

Books for college and job searches

History, science, art, music and literature information

Medical dictionaries, PDR, and other medical resources

Massachusetts State Laws and other governmental information

RI and Mass. Manufacturers directories

Polk Directory for the area (provides cross lookup by name and address)

We have two computers with Internet access that can be used to connect to the wide variety of resources on the World Wide Web. The staff is ready to assist you in your searches. The magazine and newspaper databases provided through the SAILS library system are often a good place to start for recent information:

Periodical and Informational Databases

To search full-text magazines, journals and newspapers, go to the MBLC site and enter your library card userid or login to Library Catalog (above) and click Online Magazines & Research Tools in the side panel for the complete list.

Through iBistro these sources can provide you with full-text articles from a variety of sources. To reach these databases:

Scroll down to find the database you want (see below) and click on its icon.

Type in your library card number (all 14 digits.)

Databases available through the SAILS system

Gale Group -Infotrac: Biography Resource Center (includes content from Contemporary Authors), Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, Expanded Academic ASAP, General BusinessFile ASAP, General Reference Center Gold, Health Reference Center Academic, Info Trac K-12 Kids Edition, Info Trac K-12 Junior Edition, Professional Collection.

ProQuest Newspapers: Massachusetts Newstand as well as New York Times, Providence Journal and Wall St. Journal

Big Chalk/eLibrary: Searches magazines, newspapers, a/v materials, tv transcripts and reference books. Also good for finding pictures -- just limit search to images.

Hints for using Infotrac:

A general search looks for subject words. Advance search allows you to combine terms with AND or limit terms with NOT.
Click the articles with text box to get only hits that are fulltext.
Scroll to the bottom of the article to reformat for printing to save paper.
Read the "see also" suggestions at the end of the article to refine your search.

Also try Find Articles, an archive of articles from more than 200 Gale magazines and journals dating back to 1998.

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