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USSY 285N - The American Dream

This research guide will compliment the in-class library orientation for Professor Leitman's course entitled The American Dream: Real and Imagined

Get Online Help

Reminder: Online Access

  • Library resources require going through CWRU Single Sign-On.
  • The best method is to follow links from the library website.
  • When logged in and a browser window is not closed, access should continue from resource to resource.
  • Remember to close your browser when done.

Catalog and OhioLINK

The library catalog can be used to find books by keyword and subject on your topic.

Notice that there are many subheadings- transcendentalism for books related to transcendentalism in general, or Transcendentalism in Literature for books specifically dealing with that topic.

You can also refine your catalog searches by using the Advanced Search mode for the online library catalog and applying some limits, such as a publication date range.  And, make sure to apply these searching principles as you gather information about your topic:

  • Break topic down into concepts & keywords
  • Use Boolean operators and truncation in database searching
  • Browse subject headings in catalog/database thesaurus or citation record
  • Limit by material type, date, location,...etc.

 


Also remember that using the Search OhioLINK button will expand your search- useful if you need a book when our copy is unavailable, or if we don't own a specific book that you need.

You can also use Search OhioLINK if you want to expand your keyword or subject heading search from our holdings to those of the larger OhioLINK consortium.

And, you can apply the same search refinements and limits in OhioLink as you would in the Case Libraries online catalog.

 


For more details on using the catalog, see the research guide for First Seminar, where there are also video tutorials on using these tools.

 

Special Collections materials

Similar to the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Kelvin Smith Library has many old or rare books in our Special Collections unit on the 2nd floor of the library.  Some of these books may relate to your research topic.  You can find records for books in this collection using the Case Libraries online catalog.

If you come across these items in the online library catalog, you will note that their location is "Special Collections".  You are welcome to use these titles!  Simply contact our special collections librarian, Sue Hanson, to arrange an appointment to use these books:

 kslspecialcollections@case.edu

(216) 368-0189


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