Asian Studies 1109: Asian Religions in American Literature, Art & Politics
[Focus on Asian American Religions]

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/asian1109.html

Standing Buddha in Royal Attire
Herbert E. Johnson Museum of Art 		Developing a Search Strategy
Cornell University Library
Finding Background Information
Finding Books
Finding Articles
Evaluating Sources
Annotating a Bibliography
Citing Sources
Research and Reference Help

   Nancy Skipper, Reference Librarian,
   nss3@cornell.edu

  

Developing a Search Strategy

Search strategy is the process of finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner. Using a search strategy insures that you will find the information and materials you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Research Steps

  1. Choose your topic
  2. Find background information
  3. Find books on your topic
  4. Find periodical articles
  5. Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
  6. Evaluate your sources
  7. Cite your sources

Return to Top

Cornell University Library

The Cornell University Library provides access to library resources and services.

  • Catalog (Cornell plus WorldCat libraries) includes Cornell online subscriptions and print holdings as well as records for materials available in thousands of libraries to facilitate borrowing. Also includes a small selection of journal articles.

    Classic Catalog (Cornell only) includes the complete Cornell print and online subscriptions, books, journal titles, databases, videos, etc.

  • Articles and Database Names provides access to over 1000 online indexes and abstracts, almanacs, catalogs, dictionaries, directories, and encyclopedias. You may search a specific database, or locate article citations in more than one database simultaneously. In some cases, these citations will provide links to the full-text of the article online.

  • E-Journal Titles links to over 20,000 electronic journals licensed by Cornell University Library. (Also listed in the library catalogs.)

  • Ask a Librarian lists numerous ways you can ask us your questions.

See Help to read about Frequently Asked Questions.

Return to Top

Finding Background Information

The materials listed below are a selection of reference resources for finding authoritative background information and context for topics you will be covering in this class. Note the call numbers and library locations for these materials and check the reference collections for additional sources of background information. The authors of articles in reference books often provide bibliographies of selected books and articles for further study.

Multidisciplinary, online

Sage eReference

A database of 47 reference books published by SAGE covering the social sciences, including such areas as African American studies, anthropology, communication and media studies, criminal justice, economics, education, gender & sexuality studies, history, politics, psychology, social issues, and sociology. Includes and article on "Asian American Communities" in the Encyclopedia of Community.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Provides the full text of many encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and directories in the social sciences and humanities, including the Encyclopedia of Religions.

Specialized Subjects

Asian American Encyclopedia
Ng, Franklin, ed.
6 Vols. New York: M. Cavendish, 1995.
Kroch Asia Ref   E184 .O6 A827x 1995 +

Six volume set about the Asian immigrant experience in the United States and the communities that Asian immigrants and their descendants have created in this country. Contains over 2,000 entries ranging in length from brief definitions to 4,000 word essays. Covers topics such as arts, education, government and politics, science and technology, sports and other fields. Also includes significant events as well as shifts in U.S. immigration policy.

Encyclopedia of American Immigration
Ciment, James, ed.
4 Vols. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2001.
Uris Ref   JV6465 .E53x 2001

The definitive reference on American immigration from both historic and contemporary perspectives. It traces U.S. immigration from the earliest colonial settlements to the present, focusing on critical issues as well as the groups of people involved. Every major immigrant group and every era are documented and examined through detailed analysis os social, legal, political, economic, and demographic factors. Archival and contemporary photographs, along with hundreds of pages of documents and illustrations, further illuminate the information provided.

Encyclopedia of American Social History
Clayton, mary Kupiec, Elliott J. Gorn and Peter W. Williams, eds.
3 Vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992.
Olin Ref   HN57 .E56 1992

This 3-volume encyclopedia uses the scholarship of historians, sociologists, geographers and anthropologists to present various aspects of American social history, including periods of social change, patterns of everyday life, family history and science, medicine and technology. Includes a brief chapter summarizing Asian American immigration on pp.873-90, vol. 2.

Encyclopedia of Religion
Jones, Lindsay, ed.
15 Vols. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005.
Also available in print,
Olin Ref   BL31 .E57 2005 +

This second edition, which is intended to reflect both changes in academia and in the world since 1987, includes almost all of the 2,750 original entries -- many heavily updated -- as well as approximately 600 entirely new articles. Preserving the best of Eliade's cross-cultural approach, while emphasizing religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture, this new edition is the definitive work in the field for the 21st century.

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America
Lehman, Jeffrey, ed.
3 Vols. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.
Uris Ref   E184 .A1 G14x 1999

Essays on approximately 150 culture groups of the U.S., from Acadians to Yupiats, covering their history, acculturation and assimilation, family and community dynamics, language and religion.

See also:

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America Primary Documents
Lehman, Jeffrey, ed.
2 Vols. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.
Uris Ref   E184 .A1 G15x 1999

Primary documents, including letters, articles, cartoons, photos, and songs, illuminate the experience of culture groups in the U.S. from colonial times to the present.

Return to Top

Finding Books

Library Catalog (Cornell plus WorldCat libraries)

Featured on the Library Homepage, the Catalog includes Cornell online subscriptions and print holdings as well as records for materials available in thousands of libraries to facilitate borrowing. Also includes a small selection of journal articles.
For a more specific Catalog search, use the Advanced Search link provided on the Library Homepage.

Classic Catalog (Cornell only)

The original online catalog for electronic and print holdings of the Cornell University Library.

Catalog comparison chart and search tips

 

The Library Catalog Advanced Search and the Classic Catalog allow you to specify certain search commands, like Subject Heading, Author Name, etc.

Here are some typical Subject Headings:

IMMIGRANTSCHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTSASIAN AMERICANS
SOUTH ASIANSSOUTHEAST ASIAN AMERICANCHINESE AMERICANS
KOREAN AMERICANSTHAI AMERICANSJAPANESE AMERICANS

These Subject Headings may be used in combination with the following Subject Subdivisions:

RELIGION
RELIGIOUS LIFE
EVANGELICALISM

 

While available on the Library Homepage, these services are still offered through the Classic Catalog

  • PATRON INFO -- To manage your Library account, renew materials.

  • REQUESTS -- To recall books, request delivery from the Library Annex, request Library to Library Book Delivery.

  • BORROW DIRECT   (Try first for books) -- Specialized rapid loan for BOOKS only, if title not available in the library catalog, or already charged. Delivery takes about 4 business days.

  • INTERLIBRARY LOAN -- To borrow materials -- books, dissertations, journal articles, DVD's, etc. -- from other libraries, when item is not listed in the Cornell classic catalog.

Return to Top

Finding Articles

Periodical articles are an excellent source for detailed analysis or up-to-date information on a topic. These articles are from materials that are published "periodically" or in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or even irregular intervals. They are found in newspapers, magazines, journals, yearbooks, and other sources.

Periodicals are available in several formats: bound paper volumes (like books), microfiche or microfilm, and increasingly as electronic text.

Periodical Indexes

Periodical Indexes are Reference resource databases that identify and locate articles in periodical publications. They are often subject-oriented and list author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication in entries called bibliographic citations. For information about bibliographic format and how to cite resources that you use in your research, go to Citing Sources.

To connect to online periodical indexes, click on the links below or search by title under Database Names in the library Homepage.

 

Multidisciplinary

Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost)

EBSCO Academic Search Premier provides full text for nearly 4,650 academic multi-disciplinary serials, including full text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles. This database is updated on a daily basis.

Research Library (ProQuest)

Research Library, formerly known as Periodical Abstracts, is an interdisciplinary database available through the ProQuest online system. It indexes and abstracts over 1,600 general interest magazines, news sources and selected scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities and sciences. Provides inks to the full text of many articles. Also includes citations and abstracts for selected television and radio programs.

 

Specialized Subject

ATLA Religion Database

Comprehensive database designed to support religious and theological scholarship in graduate education and faculty research. The file contains citations from international journal titles and multi-author works in and related to the field of religion.

Bibliography of Asian Studies

Contains more than 640,000 records on all subjects pertaining to East, Southeast and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present. also indexes many articles pertaining to Asian American studies.

MLA Bibliography

Provides citations for items from over 4,000 journals and series published worldwide. Indexes books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. Contains in each record a bibliographic citation for a journal article, book, or other item including information about the libraries that own the library resources.

SocINDEX

Contains citations and full text articles from over 300 journals dating back to 1895, over 500 books and monographs, and over 6,000 conference papers. Also provides additional citations and abstracts from more than 600 fully indexed and over 1,000 selectively indexed journals. Covers all subdisciplines of sociology, including anthropology, criminology, demography, economic development, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, family, politics, religion, social psychology, social education, substance abuse, urban studies, and others.

 

Full Text Journal Collections

JSTOR

A searchable database containing full text back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, business and other fields. Contains over 50 titles pertaining to sociology through various date ranges.
NOTE: The most recent 3-5 years of journals are not available through JSTOR.

Project MUSE

Searchable database that provides access to the full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers such fields as literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others.

Return to Top

Evaluating Sources

Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.

Critically Analyzing Information Sources lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.

Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites offers a table of suggestions.

For additional suggestions specific to Web sites, see Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools.

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography.

Return to Top

Annotating a Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. An annotation is more than just a summary. The purpose is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Return to Top

Citing Sources

APA Citation Style
(American Psychological Association)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.)

Africana, Mann, Olin, and Uris Libraries
BF 76.7 .P83 2010
(located at the Reference Desks)

APA Citation Style
(Library Homepage Research Help)

APA Reference Examples (Excerpted from the 6th edition of the Publication Manual)

APAStyle.org (APA's web site)

MLA Citation Style
(Modern Language Association)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
(7th ed.)

Africana, ILR, Mann, Olin, and Uris Libraries
LB 2369 .G53 2009
(located at the Reference Desks)

MLA Citation Style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

 

Citation Management

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also interfaces directly with Word, making it easy to import references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice. RefWorks workshops are offered at Uris Library, Mann Library.

EndNote allows you to build your own database of bibliographic references from a variety of resources, including library catalogs and periodical indexes. EndNote interfaces with several standard word processing programs and provides direct connections to resources, making it easy to import references and incorporate them in your writing. EndNote (or RefWorks) is highly recommended for researchers. EndNote workshops are regularly held on campus at Uris Library, Mann Library.

Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity

Return Top

Research and Reference Help

  (Online chat/I.M. provided by Cornell staff 10am - 5pm Mon - Fri)

Olin Reference e-mail address: okuref@cornell.edu

Reference Desk Schedules in Olin Library

Olin Library Reference phone number: 255-4144

OKU Research Consultations

OKU Workshop Schedule

Writing Walk-in Service (Knight Institute) -- available in Olin Library

Return to Top

21 October 2009 (nm)

Nancy Skipper, Sociology Liaison, nss3@cornell.edu, 255-5176
106 Olin Library, Cornell University Library
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/asian1109.html


Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, okucirc@cornell.edu