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English 390
Junior Seminar
Where to Look |
Searching | Evaluating
| Retrieving | Citing Sources
Where do I find things?
Finding Books: Using Catalogs
1.) Ariadne
- Search by Keyword
- Find and Use Subject Headings
- Browse the shelves by Call Number
2.)
MeLCat (Use for Books Only)
- Search by Keyword
- Find and Use Subject Headings
- About MeLCat
3.)
WestCat - Western Michigan's catalog
See the English Research
Guide: Finding Books
Book Chapters
To find chapters within books, go into the catalogs listed
above and do a keyword search on your topic, whether your
topic is an idea, a period of history, or a person. A keyword
search will search multiple fields of the record for a book,
such as title, author, contents, etc.
Example: toni morrison
Example: shakespeare and colonialism
In keyword search in Ariadne, you can also search for your
topic specifically in the contents note field, where chapter
titles are listed. To search the note field, your search would
look like this:
Example: n:shakespeare and women
If your topic is within the field of literature, you can
also find book chapters in the MLA Bibliography (an index
to the fields of language and literature).
MLA
International Bibliography <
about
>
Produced by the Modern Language Association.
Critical works on literature and languages.
Covers publications from 1963 to the present.
In the MLA Bibliography, you can limit your search to book
chapters by choosing "book article" in the Document Type Phrase option.
Essay and General Literature Index <
about
>
Cites essays contained in anthologies and collections published
in the United States, Great Britain and Canada.
Coverage spans the humanities and social sciences, including
literary works, art history, drama, and film.
Finding Journal Articles: Using Indexes
See the
English Research Guide: Using Indexes and Databases to help select an Index.
MLA Bibliography <
about
>
The Modern Language Association International Bibliography
indexes 3,000 periodicals as well as books, book chapters,
and dissertations. Subject matter includes critical works
on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Reviews
of literary and scholarly works are not included. There
are no abstracts.
Coverage: 1963 - Present.
Arts
and Humanities Search <
about
>
Coverage: 1980 - Present.
America:
History and Life <
about
>
America: History and Life is a bibliography of articles on
the history and culture of the United States and Canada from
prehistory to the present.
Coverage: 1964 - Present.
Historical
Abstracts < about
>
Historical Abstracts is a reference guide to the history of
the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States
and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
Published since 1954.
Humanities
Abstracts < about
>
Humanities Abstracts is a bibliographic database that covers
English language periodicals in the diverse subject areas
of the humanities.
Coverage: Indexing - 1984 - present; Abstracting - 1994 -
present.
Essay
and General Literature Index <
about
>
Cites essays contained in anthologies and collections published
in the United States, Great Britain and Canada. Coverage spans
the humanities and social sciences, including literary works,
art history, drama, and film. Indexing: 1985 to present.
Essay and General Literature Index (Print)
A good source for locating literary criticism in collections
of essays.
Reference Storage, AI3 . Es73, Library has: vol 1 - 1900 -
2001.
What Journals does the Library Own?
- In paper - Check Ariadne - search on your discipline or subject area, and in Step 2, limit the location to "Periodicals"
- Online - Check Online Journals at K - to find out what online journals the Library subscribes to
Which index includes the journal I'm looking for?
Websites
To find Web sites, use search engines and web indexes. See
Finding
Web Sites and Web
Indexes and Directories. See also Web
Sites by Subject and Finding
Web Sites on English.
WorldCat
< about
>
WorldCat contains bibliographic citations for high-quality
Web sites on a variety of subjects. When you search WorldCat
for Web sites, remember to check the box for "Internet
Resources" in the section called "Limit type to".
Sites are selected according to a collection development policy
that emphasizes quality, authoritativeness, and durability.
Searching... How do I find
things?
Subject Headings in Ariadne
American
Literature
American
Literature 19th Century
American
Literature 20th Century
English
Literature
English
Literature Early Modern 1500 1700
English
Literature 19th Century
Shakespeare
William
Tempest
Shakespeare William 1564 1616
Rowlandson,
Mary White
Equiano,
Olaudah
O'Brien,
Tim
Morrison
Toni
Morrison
Toni Criticism And Interpretation
What is Boolean Logic?
Boolean Logic uses three words (called Operators) to tie
concepts together:
AND, OR, NOT
Use these words to search catalogs, indexes, databases,
and the Web.
| Term |
Statement |
What does it do? |
Examples
(shaded areas indicate retrieval) |
| AND |
cats AND dogs |
searches for documents that
discuss both cats and dogs |
 |
| OR |
cats OR dogs |
searches for documents that
discuss either cats or dogs |
 |
| NOT |
cats NOT dogs |
searches for documents that
discuss cats but not dogs |
 |
Helpful explanations of Boolean Logic:
More on Advanced Searching...
See the Advanced
Searching Help Chart
How do I know if these sources
are any good?
Scholarly Sources
Scholarly Journals (Modern Fiction Studies)
- Authors are scholars or researchers in their fields.
- Authors cite their sources in footnotes, endnotes, and
bibliographies.
- Individual issues have little or no advertising.
- Articles must go through a peer-review process.
- Articles usually report original scholarly research.
- Most illustrations are charts, figures, or graphs.
- Authors use the specialized language or jargon of the
discipline.
Popular Magazines (Time, Atlantic Monthly)
- Authors are free lance writers or magazine staff members.
- Authors may mention sources, but rarely cite them in
notes or bibliographies.
- Individual issues contain many advertisements.
- There is no peer review process. Articles are reviewed
by editors or publishers.
- Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
- Articles are meant to inform and entertain an educated
audience.
- Language is written for the general adult audience (no
specialized jargon).
Scholarly or Not?
Use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (Ref. Desk Z6941
.U5)
Look for section called "Document Type"
It MUST say "Academic/Scholarly Publication"
to be considered scholarly!
Use these points to evaluate the credibility of
Websites:
1. Accuracy
How reliable is the information? Are there editors and
fact checkers?
2. Authority
What are the author's qualifications? Is the publisher
reputable?
3. Objectivity
Is the author trying to sway opinion? Is the information
free from bias?
4. Currency
Is the publication date indicated? Is the source up
to date?
5. Coverage
Does the site cover the topic comprehensively, or are
there information gaps?
Sites that provide guidance on evaluating Websites:
How do I Retrieve this Stuff?
Getting Books and Journals
See also: Library
of Congress Classification...
3.)
MeLCat (Use for Books Only)
4.)
WestCat - Western Michigan's catalog
Hours for Western's
Waldo Library (Main Library) 387-5059
Directions to
Western's Libraries
Getting Articles: Full Text Databases
JSTOR
< about
> Title
List.
Full text database of scholarly journals in many disciplines.
Project
Muse < about
>
Project MUSE offers the full text of Johns Hopkins University
Press scholarly journals.
Wilson
Select < about
>
Contains indexed and abstracted articles in ASCII full text;
records are from Readers' Guide Abstracts, Social Sciences
Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, among other abstract databases.
Coverage: 1994-Present. Title
List.
Proquest
< about
>
Proquest Research Library is a fulltext database that includes
graphics with the text for many articles. You may search the
entire database or select specific subject modules, such as
Arts, Women's Studies, or Humanities. You also may select
to search only peer-reviewed journals.
Off-Campus Access
to Licensed Resources
Advanced Search
Help
Websites
To find Web sites, use search engines and web indexes. See
Finding
Web Sites and Web
Indexes and Directories. See also Web
Sites by Subject and Finding
Web Sites on English.
WorldCat
< about
>
WorldCat contains bibliographic citations for high-quality
Web sites on a variety of subjects. When you search WorldCat
for Web sites, remember to check the box for "Internet
Resources" in the section called "Limit type to".
Sites are selected according to a collection development policy
that emphasizes quality, authoritativeness, and durability.
Citing Your Sources
See: How
to Cite Sources
See also Citing
Sources for help in citing print and electronic resources
in various bibliographic styles (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)
Examples of Citations in the MLA Format:
Book citation:
| Orgel, Stephen. Impersonations : the
Performance of Gender in Shakespeare's |
| |
England. Cambridge : Cambridge
UP, 1996. |
Journal Citation:
| Gilman, T. "Why Seems It So Particular
with Thee? Hamlet among the Revisionists." |
| |
Hamlet Studies: An International Journal
of Research on The Tragedie of |
| |
Hamlet,Prince of Denmarke 17.1-2
(1995) : 78-93. |
Chapter in a Book:
| Cohen, Walter. "The Merchant of Venice
and the Possibilities of Historical |
| |
Criticism." The Merchant of Venice,
William Shakespeare. Ed. Martin Coyle. |
| |
New York : St. Martin's Press, 1998.
251-300. |
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
5th ed., New York : Modern Language Association of America,
1999.
Reference, LB2369 .G53 1999.
ALWAYS check the style manual!! DO NOT rely on other
guides!
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