Finding sources that meet the expectations of your professor may seem like a daunting task. However, Mizzou Libraries provides tools to simplify the process of finding high-quality, scholarly sources.
After you search the main search bar on the library homepage, you can limit your results to peer-reviewed sources by clicking this checkbox:
This way, you know the articles you’re viewing have been peer-reviewed and are scholarly.
Other databases may offer a similar option, but each is arranged and designed independently, so the wording or location may be different.
One more pedantic note–it is ultimately your job to determine the quality of source. If you are unsure, you can always chat with a librarian or come to the Research Help and Information Desk for assistance. We are happy to help!
Using Google for Research
February 28 3:15-4:15 pm
Ellis Library Room 4D11
How is the best way to use Google for research purposes? What is Google Scholar, and how does it differ from the various research databases in the Libraries? What are other features in Google that can assist me as a student?
We encourage you to bring your own laptop to this session. We will show you how to adjust your Google settings to locate Mizzou resources more easily.
John Tinney McCutcheon (1870-1949) is known as “the Dean of Cartoonists.” He traveled widely and frequently served as a correspondent during those journeys. For example, during the Spanish-American War, he was embedded with the U.S.S. McCulloch in the Philippines. McCutcheon was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1931 for his cartoon “A Wise Economist Asks a Question” and spoke at Journalism Week here at Mizzou in 1939.
Most of the editorial cartoons in this collection are original pen and ink drawings done for the Chicago Tribune between 1903 and 1944. Social issues, economics, politics, the Great Depression, and both World Wars are just a few of the subjects McCutcheon’s cartoons speak to. Click on any of the images below to enter the Digital Library and find out more information about the cartoon.
City PigeonsNew Members of the Club
Why the U.S. Must Be Strictly NeutralAn Exciting Finish to the Missouri Senatorial Race
The originals are located in Special Collections in Ellis Library, thanks to a generous donation from McCutcheon’s widow, Evelyn Shaw McCutcheon, in 1955. For those outside of Columbia, though, the Digital Library makes the collection available to anyone with an Internet connection.
Keep your eye on this digital collection. More images will be uploaded and additional information added soon. Additional details and a collection inventory can be found in the online guide on the Special Collections website.
The University of Missouri has long been a partner and sponsor of activities offered by Missouri River Relief, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the Missouri River. Now MOspace, the University of Missouri’s online repository, is partnering with Missouri River Relief to offer curriculum material to K-12 schools in Missouri. Common Trees of the Missouri River Bottoms: A Guide for Students is the first of these materials. Two Mizzou students assisted with its creation.
Missouri River Relief has removed 876 tons of trash from the river with the help of 23,000 volunteers over the past 16 years and has also reached 18,000 students through interdisciplinary and experiential educational events. Kristen Schulte, Missouri River Relief’s Education Coordinator, says these events are designed to “engage students’ innate sense of wonder and natural curiosity. We believe this approach inspires community engagement, academic achievement, and a sense of stewardship.”
Common Trees of the Missouri River Bottoms is not a foolproof taxonomic tree ID guide but instead a guide for a hands-on learning experience for elementary through high school students. It focuses on Missouri River floodplain trees’ bark rather than leaves, a unique approach to teaching and learning tree species. Many Missouri River floodplain trees are very tall with leaves out of reach, while tree bark is at the student level.
Kristen Schulte
Kristen knew that more young people would learn about Missouri River floodplain trees through this method if the guide were freely available online. As a graduate student at the University of Wyoming, she worked on Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps Resources Education Curriculum, seventeen lessons designed for the youth employed in the program. The curriculum is housed in the Wyoming Scholars Repository, which tracks how many times it has been downloaded. “When I started working for Missouri River Relief,” Kristen says, “I knew that we wanted to have a similar curriculum for the Missouri River, and it would be helpful to have the statistical information of the downloads, which we are not able to capture on our website. So I reached out to Noël and Felicity and they were supportive of the idea.”
Felicity Dykas, Head of Digital Services, saw the collection as a good fit for MOspace, and Noël Kopriva, Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Librarian, agreed. Felicity says, “One of our goals for MOspace is to preserve research and scholarship and to make these resources available to the Mizzou community and others worldwide.”
The reach of Common Trees of the Missouri River Bottoms has truly been international. It was added to MOspace in August 2017, and Felicity shares that “It’s already been downloaded more than 400 times, including by people in China, France, Serbia, and the United Kingdom, among other countries.”
Missouri River Relief is developing additional resources to be uploaded to MOspace, including Missouri River Curriculum, Missouri River Information Packets, and Missouri River STEM Challenges.
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
Although the Cycle of Success typically focuses on the relationships among the Libraries, faculty, and students, the Libraries also contribute to the success of all the communities Mizzou serves. The Libraries are an integral part of Mizzou’s mission “to provide all Missourians the benefits of a world-class research university.”
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
Photos by Notley Hawkins are now in display in the Bookmark Cafe. Subjects include our very own Columbia, Missouri, as well as rural scenes and natural vistas.
Notley Hawkins has lived in Missouri his whole life. Born and raised in Columbia, he studied painting and drawing at Columbia College with Sid Larson, a student of Thomas Hart Benton. He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia for his Master’s degree where he worked with noted artist and cartoonist Frank Stack (Foolbert Sturgeon). Notley did additional studies at the prestigious Skowhegan School in Maine.
Chainsaw Shrine Redux
He has held residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Ucross Foundation, and his work is in the collections of the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art, as well as many private collections. Notley he took up photography in 2005 after growing disinterested in painting and is now a full-time fine art photographer specializing in rural and bucolic images.
Research Strategies, Part 1
February 14 3:15-4:15 pm
Ellis Library Room 4D11
Learn how to find books in our library and how to request books from other libraries. Learn how to do basic research to find peer-reviewed journal articles.
Did you know that the Census Bureau completed a census on Negro newspapers in the 1930s? Are you curious about the population, income, and housing of Black farmers in the 1950s? Interested in learning more about childcare arrangements in the 1980s? The Census Bureau does much more than the decennial census. Reports cover agriculture, poverty, insurance, government, education and a host of other topics.
