Welcome to the DCTC Library's History of Minnesota course guide. On this page you will find helpful information about the research and writing process, including links to help you evaluate and cite your sources.
The 2nd page has information about the resources in our library and how to find them using our catalog.
The 3rd page is a gateway to the Library's best online resources and web sites for this course, including some tutorials.
Let's get started!
Abraham Lincoln famously said you shouldn't believe everything you read online. And 82% of all statistics are made up.
There's a lot of misinformation out there. Digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield developed the SIFT method to help students evaluate information and make better decisions about what sources to trust:
Stop
Investigate the source
Find better coverage
Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context
Here are more guides to help you evaluate sources of information:
- Criteria for Evaluating Information (Otis College of Art and Design)
- Evaluating Information (Johns Hopkins University)
- Evaluating Resources (UC Berkeley)
- Evaluating Sources of Information (Purdue University)
- Online Verification Skills with Mike Caulfield (YouTube)
There are different styles for citing the sources you use in your assignments, but writing for English and the humanities usually requires MLA (Modern Language Association) style. The Purdue Online Writing Lab has an excellent guide to using MLA style, with lots of examples:
You can also go straight to the source:
Our catalog and databases provide citations for the books, videos, and articles you find in them. Just look for a link that says Cite or Citation, then select MLA style. It's easy to copy and paste citations into your bibliography!
"Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials."
This definition of plagiarism comes from page 1 of DCTC's Student Code of Conduct.
Citing your sources like this or in a bibliography is an essential part of the research process. It allows others to verify your information and gives credit to previous researchers and writers for their work.
The Center for Student Success offers tutoring to all DCTC students, including help with writing your paper and citing your sources. You can schedule an appointment by calling 651-423-8420 or visiting room 2-101.
Use our catalog, OneSearch, to find the books and videos on our shelves, plus ebooks and streaming videos.
The best way to begin your search is to enter one or two keywords on your topic. To narrow your results, use the Modify My Results options on the left side of the screen. You can also click on a relevant title and click on one of its subject headings to focus your search on that particular topic.
Please ask a librarian if you need help locating anything you find in our catalog.
If we don't have the book, video, or article you're looking for, you can request it via interlibrary loan (ILL) and it will come to you. It's easy! E-mail library@dctc.edu to let us know what you're looking for and we'll do the rest.
We have lots of books and videos about Minnesota history in our collection. If you like to browse, most of these are shelved in the F601-615 call number range. Ask a librarian if you need help finding anything.
Here are just a few of our books about Minnesota history:
Behind the circulation desk we have our Course Resources collection. These are books and videos that instructors have asked us to reserve for certain classes. Books for The History of Minnesota include A Peculiar Imbalance : The Fall and Rise of Racial Equality in Early Minnesota and A Popular History of Minnesota. Both of these books are also available online; just click on the links! Books on reserve must be used in the Library, except with permission from your instructor to check them out overnight. Ask a librarian if you're looking for one of these.
Minnesota History is a quarterly publication of the Minnesota Historical Society. We keep print issues from the current year and five previous years.
How has farming changed (or stayed the same) in Minnesota since the time covered in Haymakers? Newspapers are an excellent source for this kind of information. Here's how to find relevant articles from two of our databases.
U.S. Newsstream
- Open ProQuest U.S. Newsstream with this URL: https://login.dctproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/usnews.
- Search for farmer.
- Look at the left side of the screen. Your results should already be sorted by Relevance.
- Under Source type, click on Newspapers. Now we'll only see newspaper articles.
- Under Publication date, click on Enter a date range, type 2014 in the From box, then click on the Update button. Now we'll only see articles after January 1, 2014.
- Under Location, expand to see the different locations and click on More to see the full list. Scroll down and check the box to include Minnesota, then click the Apply button. Now we'll only see articles about Minnesota, but not necessarily published in Minnesota.
- Under Publication title, expand to see the different newspapers and click on More to see the full list. Check the boxes to include these four newspapers: Star Tribune, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, MinnPost.com, and St. Cloud Times. Then click the Apply button. Now we'll only see articles published in Minnesota.
Newspaper Source
- Open EBSCO Newspaper Source with this URL: https://login.dctproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=nfh.
- In the Publication box, enter MN. Now we'll only see articles published in Minnesota.
- Type farmer in the search box and click on the Search button.
- Under Publication Date, slide the left tab over to 2014. Now we'll only see articles after January 1, 2014.
ProQuest U.S. Newsstream and EBSCO Newspaper Source both include the Star Tribune, so there will be some overlap in results. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press is only available through ProQuest, while EBSCO is unique in offering newspapers from Rochester, Worthington, and Willmar, so you'll find different articles in each database.
One way to expand your search is to search for farm* instead of farmer. This will retrieve any article with words like farm, farmer, farming, farmland, etc. But it will also give you articles with the word Farmington.
To narrow your results, try adding keywords like drought, organic, soil, etc.
There are millions of full-text articles in our EBSCO, Gale, and ProQuest databases. The best way to begin your search is to enter one or two keywords on your topic. Each database is different, but there will be ways to limit and focus your results so that you find the most relevant and useful articles available.
Our EBSCO databases are an excellent place to start your search for magazine and journal articles.
Our Gale databases are another great place to find magazine and journal articles.
Search hundreds of U.S. newspapers, newswires, and news sites with ProQuest U.S. Newsstream.
Please visit the Library or e-mail library@dctc.edu if you have any questions about our online resources or if you'd like help finding articles on your topic.
Here are just a few of the ebooks about Minnesota history you'll find in our EBSCO eBook Collection:
A Popular History of Minnesota
Norman K. Risjord, 2005
A Peculiar Imbalance: The Fall and Rise of Racial Equality in Early Minnesota
William D. Green, 2007
Haymakers: A Chronicle of Five Farm Families
Steven R. Hoffbeck, 2000