HE112:
RHETORIC AND INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE: Library Tips
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Starting Your Research -- Library Catalog -- Reference Resources -- Web-Based Resources How To Search -- Evaluate Your Resources -- Where To Go If You Need Help
STARTING YOUR RESEARCH
- A good place to start is by using the following steps to help
you in the research process:
- Identify and develop your topic (what question(s) are you
trying to answer?)
- Find background information (a good place to start is to use
reference resources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks,
etc.)
- Use Innopac, the Library's catalog, to find books and other
materials
- Use indexes to find periodical articles
- Find Internet resources, if appropriate
- Evaluate what you find
- Cite what you find using a standard format
LIBRARY CATALOG
Books and other materials in the Nimitz Library can
be located through the online catalog (INNOPAC). Search under author,
title, keyword(s), or subject. For example, to find books by an
author, search under the author's name such as Shelley, Mary. To
find books about an author, search under the author's name as a
subject or use the keyword search to find books about an author
(Tolkien) or a title (Frankenstein) or a concept (gothic). Consult
the Library of Congress Subject Headings, 5 volumes Near the Reference
Desk, for additional subject terms to search or look at the subject
links in the INNOPAC records.
The Nimitz Library catalog will indicate what books,
periodicals, government documents, etc. are available in the Library.
Most of these materials can be checked out.
CALL NUMBERS (how library materials
are arranged)
Remember that Library of Congress Classification arranges
materials by subjects. The first sections of the call number represent
the subject of the book and allows you to browse the bookshelves
by subject. For Example:
- PS represents American literature
- PR represents English literature
REFERENCE RESOURCES
Sources for gaining background information in literary
studies include:
- Dictionaries and Handbooks (for brief overviews and definitions
of terms)
- Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. 4th ed. (REF PN41.B4 1996)
- Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. (REF PN41.C67
1991)
- Glossary of Literary Terms. 6th ed. (REF PN41.A184 1993)
- Handbook to Literature. 6th ed. (REF PN41.H6 1992)
- Oxford Companion to American Literature. (REF PS21 .H3 1995)
- Oxford Companion to English Literature. (REF PR19.D73 1995)
Collections of Criticism and Biographical Information
(for biography and criticism)
- Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. 35+ volumes.
(Index Table 3a)
- Contemporary Authors. 168+ volumes. (Index Table 3-4)
- Contemporary Literary Criticism. 113+ volumes. (Index Table
4)
- Dictionary of Literary Biography. 202+ volumes. (Index Table
3)
- Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. 75+ volumes. (Index
Table 4)
- Twentieth-Century Literature Criticism. 81+ volumes. (Index
Table 4)
- Shakespearean Criticism. 47+ volumes. (REF PR2965.S43 1984)
WEB-BASED RESOURCES
The Nimitz Library subscribes to several reputable
indexes and full-text journals that are available from the Nimitz
Library Home Page (http://www.usna.edu/Library).� Select
Britannica Online
for background information and carefully selected Internet links.�
From the Nimitz Library Home Page under Databases
choose Humanities Full
Text for references to journal articles in all fields
of the Humanities including literature, history, philosophy, music
and art or the MLA Bibliography
for references to articles in journals, chapters in books and dissertations
in languages and literatures. Also select Databases
to search Project Muse
or JSTOR (for
full-text scholarly journals in the Humanities).
HOW TO SEARCH
When should you use keywords, subject headings, phrases,
single words?
Keywords usually give you more resources (a broader
search).
Subject Headings, which use a standardized vocabulary, usually
give you more specific resources on your topic.
Boolean Logic (the logic used in constructing online
searches)
Boolean Operators (especially OR and AND) allow
you to combine words in a logical way to get the results you want.
EVALUATE YOUR RESOURCES
USE THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO EVALUATE RESOURCES (especially from the web):
- Who wrote it and can you tell the author's affiliation or
background?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What is the scope or coverage of the resource?
- Why was it written/published (is the material objective or
biased)?
- When was it published?
- Where was it published (who is the publisher?)?
- How is the information presented (is there any supporting
material?)
- How accurate does the information appear?
Which Search engine should you use?? Try the following
sites to help you evaluate them:
WHERE TO GO IF YOU NEED HELP OR HAVE
QUESTIONS
- Reference Desk in the Nimitz Library (x32420)
- Michael Macan, Reference-Bibliographer for English (x36927)
-- MM / January 2006
Comments or suggestions?
URL: http://www.usna.edu/Library/Literature/He112hdt.html
Last updated: 31 October 2005 |