Finding Scholarly Sources
for English
ENGL 1020E
Christy Sich
October 16th, 2012
Huyette, Marcia. The Annotated Frankenstein.
Christy’s Literary Anecdote
Learning Objectives:
After today’s session, you should be able to...
• Develop a research topic
• Evaluate sources
• Choose the best research tools for your essay
• Get additional help when you need it
Looking at Sources
Group Activity (5 min)
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•
•
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What is it?
What do you know about the author(s)?
Can you tell where the author(s) get their
information?
Would you use this source for a paper?
The Research Process
Wohlpart, A. James. “A Tradition of Male Poetics: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as an Allegory of
Art.” Midwest Quarterly 39, no. 3 (Spring 1998): 265:79.
Turning a Topic into a Search
Is the monster in Frankenstein a
depiction of male creativity?
Courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil
e:Punch_AntiIrish_propaganda_%281882
%29_Irish_Frankenstein.jpg
Constructing a Search
• Identify concepts and list synonyms
Frankenstein AND Shelley AND
(creativity OR imagination)
• Use truncation (insert * at end of root word)
• Connect keywords using AND and OR
Choosing the Best Resources
• Find books using the Library Catalogue
– look at the Tables of Contents when available
• Consult Western Libraries Program Guides
– Find subject-specific databases and reference tools
recommended by a librarian
Finding Books
Popular vs Academic Journals
Magazines
• geared to a general, nonacademic audience
• covers a wide range of
popular interest topics
• usually glossy with
pictures and advertising
• does not usually contain
bibliographies and is not
“refereed”
•
•
•
•
•
Academic Journals
they contain original
research or experimentation
written by and for scholars
or specialists
further research sources are
cited with footnotes or a
bibliography at the end of
the article
they contain little, if any
advertising
Sometimes “refereed” or
“peer reviewed”
Modified from: http://library.mcmaster.ca/faq/what-a-magazine-newspopulargeneral-interest
Peer Review / Referred Journals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLGp7LC2Nbw
Types of Databases
Types of Bibliographic Databases
Art Full Text
English Program Guide
• Use the English Program Guide to find
resources specifically geared to literature.
English Program Guide
The Mighty MLA
Why is searching the MLA International Bibliography
better than searching Google?
• Contains over 2.5 million records that pertain
specifically to language and literature.
• Includes publications not available on the Web.
• Professional indexing staff and scholars
• Materials covered come from reputable
publishers in over one hundred countries.
• Indexers use controlled vocabulary as subject
headings = more precise searching
• Each citation contains the information users
need to create a bibliography.
Source: Modern Language Association. “About the Database." 2005.
September 16, 2008 <http://www.mla.org/publications/bibliography/howtouse_mlabiblio/about_the_database#why>.
Ulrich’s
• Use this database to look up information
about a journal to discover whether it is
peer-reviewed / refereed or not
Ulrich’s
Not
Refereed!
Ulrich’s
Refereed!
Should You Need More Help:
Thanks for Listening!