OxfordEnglish Dictionary: Online and in print on the Ref Wall. This is the primary dictionary for the historical study of word meanings. Each entry begins with the term, followed by definitions, and each term has examples from printed sources, ranging as far back as could be traced.
Dictionary of American Regional English: Ref PE2843 .D52 1985.
CambridgeDictionary of American English: Ref PE1628 .C22 2000
What’s Up? A Guide to American Collegespeak: Ref PE3727.S8 D78 2003
Historical Dictionary of American Slang: Ref PE2846 .H57 1994
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Ref E169.1 .H614 2002
Encyclopedias:
Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture: Ref E169.12 .E49 2001
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics: Ref P29 .E48 1994
The Guide toUnited StatesPopular Culture: Ref E169.1 .D399 2001
International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: Ref PE29 .I58 2003
Catalog Searching (for Books):
Begin with Keyword Searching. Use the following search tips:
Boolean operators:
AND: narrows by combining terms
OR: expands by allowing choice
NOT: narrows by excluding terms
Other Search Tips:
* searches any variant spelling (child*à child’s, children, children’s)
? replaces any single character (wom?nà women or woman)
The catalog DOES NOT search determiners (a, the, an) or prepositions well
You can also click on the hyperlinked Subject Terms within a book record to find out approximately how many books in the library use that same term for description.
Helpful Subject Headings:
English Language—Dictionaries
English Language—Grammar, Historical
English Language—United States—Slang—Dictionaries
English Language—United States—Social Aspects
English Language—United States—Standardization
Language Acquisition
Racism in Language
Second Language Acquisition
Sexism in Language
Indexes and Abstracts (for Articles):
LLBA (Linguistics and Language Behaviors Abstracts): This is the primary index is for linguistics, social language use, and communicative behavior.
MLAIB(Modern Language Association International Bibliography): This is the primary database for research on any aspect of literature, and is the second index for study of language.
ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature): This index is the British counterpart to the MLAIB. Of particular use are the sections on language use, including Grammar, Vocabulary, and Dialects.
Communication Abstracts: Coverage includes general, mass, interpersonal, small group and organizational communication, as well as theory, advertising and marketing, broadcasting, journalism, public relations, radio, public opinion, speech, and television. Coverage includes not only communication literature but also literature in other disciplines that is relevant to communication researchers.
Communication and Mass Media Complete: This database offers indexing and abstracting (with some full text) for many of the leading journals in communications.
Web of Science: Use to search these two databases: Arts & Humanities Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index. Two unique features of this database are its inclusion of cited references and a “find related records” option.
IfIt’sNotFulltext:
How can I see articles?
Many of our databases include the full text of articles. In some cases, though, the full text of an article may not be available online in the database you are using due to publishers' restrictions or the prohibitive cost of providing them online. Increasingly, when you search for articles in the library's databases you will see the button on your results list or on the screen showing the citation/abstract of the article.
Serial Solutions is a service offered by Joyner and Laupus Libraries that allows you, at the click of a button, to go from an article citation in one database to a full text copy of that article in another, or to see if a particular article or specific journal is available in full text electronic format. It also allows you to find out if that journal is available in print at either Joyner or Laupus.
What if the article I want is not available full-text online?
If the article is not available online, you can check the Joyner Library catalog or the Laupus Health Sciences catalog to see if it is held in printed form. The button does this for you automatically from within databases. If you live within Pitt County you would need to come to the library to make a copy of the article. If you are a distance learning student living outside of Pitt County, you can have articles copied and sent to you, using Interlibrary Lending.
Citation Linker: If you already have a citation from someone else’s bibliography and want to find out if we have that article, key it into the Citation Linker. When you click the Find IT! Button at the bottom of the page, you will generate an menu of options that works like the one described above.
Don’t forget about Interlibrary Loan!
If Joyner doesn’t have the book or journal article you need, request this item by interlibrary loan.
Journal articles are often delivered electronically within a few days.
Books may take a couple of weeks to become available.
Getting Help:
Come to the Reference Desk or call us at (252) 328-2266
Chat with or Instant Message a Reference Librarian (AIM: JoynerRef)
