Library Research Guide

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University Writing

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Anice Mills
Undergraduate Services Librarian

205 Butler Library
535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027

Telephone: (212) 854-0520
E-mail: amills@columbia.edu


This research guide identifies library databases and resources to support your research in the University Writing course.  If you need research help, feel free to contact me directly or stop by the reference desk in Butler.

Looking for guides to specific UWP readings? See Resources for Selected UWP Readings

New! Check out the Butler Blog.

Background Information

Find Books, Films, Music, E-Books

  • CLIO
    Columbia's online catalog for books, journals, films and music.
    Search Tip:      Use Quick Limit to find films or music; re-sort titles by newest first.
  • WorldCat
    Search for books and journals in major library collections around the world.
  • Borrow Direct
    A borrowing service offered by the university libraries of Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale, Harvard and MIT. It is designed to allow students, faculty and staff to request (and receive in four days) books directly from each other's collections.

 

Find Articles and Reviews

Search Tip: Click  in search results to get full-text.

How to evaluate the credibility of an online source. 

  • ProQuest
    Use the suggested topics to search by subject.
  • JSTOR
    Scholarly articles from more than 600 peer-reviewed journals in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Note: this database does not include the most recent issues of journals; there is usually a 4-5 year lag. 
  • EBSCOhost Research Databases
    Select All to search across a wide selection of scholarly databases.
  • Google Scholar
    Useful for broad searches of scholarly literature. Click Preferences option to link directly to Columbia's collection of e-journals.
  • Web of Science
    Provides access to the Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index. Click E-Link to see full text.
  • Project Muse
    Coverage typically starts with journal issues after 2000.
  • LexisNexis Academic
    Articles from newspapers, wire services; law reviews, case law, government documents.

 

Need help citing sources? See Citation Style Guides. For help writing your paper, contact the Writing Center.

Library Services

The Columbia University Libraries offer a wide range of research, instruction, and borrowing services to support all levels of academic research.

Hours & Study Spaces

Check the hours of our libraries, departments and services. We offer a variety of study spaces and venues.

Reference & Research Help

Librarians are available to assist you with research in person, via e-mail, phone, IM, or by appointment. If you need help, Ask a Librarian.

Library Essentials and Workshops

Library Essentials video available are short video tutorials to help you with your research. Many of the Columbia Libraries offer hands-on research skills workshops to help you make better use of the libraries.

Finding Library Materials

The Libraries' website is a gateway to collections and services, including access to a wide variety of databases and e-journals.

CLIO is the online catalog for the Columbia, Barnard, and Union Theological Seminary libraries. Search CLIO for print and electronic books, journals, videos and dvd's, sound recordings, newspapers, and other materials. Use CLIO to request materials from Offsite, renew books, place recalls and holds.

Borrow Direct enables you to borrow books directly from six other Ivy League university libraries in the event the book you need is either unavailable because it is circulating; or is not owned by a Columbia University library. Typical delivery time is 4 business days.

Interlibrary Loan is the service to use for all other items not available through Borrow Direct, such as journal articles. Delivery time may be within 1-2 days for articles; 2-3 weeks for books.

For more information about library services at Columbia, use the drop-down menus (under "Libraries & Collections," "Catalogs," etc. located at the top of this page).