http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/complit1036.html
Research Guide for
Comparative Literature 103.6: No Place Like Home.
Developing a Search Strategy
Finding Background Information
Finding Books
Finding Periodical Articles Finding Networked Resources
Finding Internet Resources
Evaluating Sources
Citing Sources
DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGYSearch strategy is a library term for the process of finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner. Using a search strategy insures that you will find the information or material you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Research Steps:
- Choose your topic
- Find background information
- Find books on your topic
- Find periodical articles
- Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
- Evaluate your sources
- Cite your sources
For online help using on library research strategy and using library resources, try using Library Research, a Hypertext Guide - online, hypertext-based tutorial on library research.
- FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Guides and Handbooks
Print Reference Resources
See the bibliography handed out in class for additional titles
- Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1978- .
(Cornell Library Gateway; Uris Ref PS 129 D55+; selected volumes in Olin Ref PS 129 D55+)
An ongoing set of volumes designed to provide biographic, bibliographic and critical material on major writers of America and Great Britain as well as some writers of Canada, France and Germany. Each volume is arranged alphabetically by the writers covered. There are numerous portraits and often there are appendices containing special information. A list of further reading concludes each volume. An index to all volumes appears at the end of each latest volume. Olin buys selected volumes.
Articles from the Dictionary of Literary Biography are available in full-text online versions in the Cornell Library Gateway. Search for this database by title there or go directly to the Dictionary of Literary Biography or the Literary Research Center.
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Contemporary Literary Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, and Other Creative Writers. Detroit: Gale, 1973- . Vol. 1- .
(Cornell Library Gateway; Uris Ref PN 771 C762)
Designed as an ongoing series of selective excerpts from critical writings (books and periodical articles) on recent authors. Writers treated are those who are either now living or who have died since January 1, 1960. In addition, consideration is given to writers of current interest and authors of mystery and science fiction writing. Full citations to the source follow the excerpts. Arrangement of each volume is alphabetical by author's surname. Index to authors covered in series is cumulated in each volume. Olin Library has volumes one through eighteen in the stacks.
<As of January 1999 SELECTED articles from Contemporary Literary Criticism are available in full-text online versions in the Cornell Library Gateway. Search for this database by title there or go directly to Contemporary Literary Criticism or the Literary Research Center.
Networked Reference Resources
- Library of Congress Country Studies. Washington: Library of Congress, various dates.
(Cornell Library Gateway)
Online, full-text versions of books in the Area handbook series, prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Most books in the series deal with a particular foreign country, describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors.
- The Literature Resource Center
(Cornell Library Gateway)
"The Literature Resource Center (LRC) is a complete literature reference database designed for the undergraduate student. LRC combines biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information to deliver a complete reference/resource package on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Centering on respected Gale sources, including Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Literary Criticism, this data set is augmented with full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material illuminating an oeuvre or era. In partnership with Merriam-Webster, Inc., LRC offers the Encyclopedia of Literature including over 10,000 entries for authors, works, literary landmarks, literary and critical terms, mythological and folkloric figures, fictional characters, literary movements, and prizes. LRC also offers The Scribner Writer Series, more than 1500 original biocritical essays on authors of all nationalities and time periods. And The Twayne Authors Series: Twayne's US Authors, Twayne's English Authors and Twayne's World Authors, providing literary criticism, history and influence of literary movements, and the development of literary genres for approximately 200 authors.
Full-text scholarly journals accessed in searching for information on authors or titles of works are: American Scholar, 1995-1998, The Antioch Review, 1995-1998, Commentary, 1995-1998, Commonweal, 1995-1998, Criticism, 1995-1998, CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction,1995-1998, Essays in Criticism, 1995-1998, The Explicator,1995-1998, Modern Drama, 1995-1998, Modern Philology, 1995-1998, The New Republic,1995-1998, New Statesman 1995-1998, Notes and Queries, 1995-1998, Poetry, 1995-1998 Publishers Weekly, 1995-1998, Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, 1995-1998, The American Poetry Review, 1995-1998 The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 1995-1998, The Southern Review,1995-1998, Studies in Short Fiction, 1995-1998, Studies in the Novel, 1995-1998, TriQuarterly, 1995-1998, Victorian Studies, 1995-1998, and World Literature Today, 1995-1998." (Gale database description page)
There are many other networked reference resources, including online encyclopedias and dictionaries, available in the General Interest and Reference section of the Cornell Library Gateway including the following databases:
- Britannica Online offers the full text of the multivolume paper encyclopedia set, including its numerous bibliographies, maps, and photographs, as well as supplying links to related Web sites for many of the topics covered.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.
- Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary
- Roget's Internet thesaurus of English words and phrases
FINDING BOOKS
Cornell Library Catalog Plus, Olin Library Card Catalog
FINDING BOOKS
Cornell Library Catalog Plus, Olin Library Card Catalog
- How to Use the Cornell Library Catalog
Search Commands, Subject Searching, Keyword Searching, and other functions of the online catalog are explained on these web pages.
- The Cornell Library Catalog includes the holdings of all 17 of the libraries on the Ithaca campus, in addition to those of the Geneva Experiment Station. (The Medical College Library, located in New York City, has a separate catalog.) The catalog contains records for books, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, periodicals, serials, sound recordings, and visual materials received and cataloged since 1973. There are also records for most pre-1973 items, and for items that are on order or in process.
- Connect to the Cornell Library Catalog
When to Check the Card Catalog
- When the book you want was published before 1973 and it's not in the Cornell Library Catalog, check the card catalog located in the John M. Olin Library. This card catalog contains cards for authors, subjects and titles filed in an alphabetical, word-by-word arrangement for books cataloged through December 1972. Whenever you cannot locate the material you need, ask at a reference desk for assistance.
- The Cornell Library Catalog includes the holdings of all 17 of the libraries on the Ithaca campus, in addition to those of the Geneva Experiment Station. (The Medical College Library, located in New York City, has a separate catalog.) The catalog contains records for books, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, periodicals, serials, sound recordings, and visual materials received and cataloged since 1973. There are also records for most pre-1973 items, and for items that are on order or in process.
Cornell Library Catalog records provide the name of the library that holds the item, the call number (shelf location within a library) and the circulation status (whether or not an item is checked out to a user), as in the following example:
values, by Robert M. Pirsig.
AUTHOR/NAME: Pirsig, Robert M.
PUBLISHED: New York, Morrow, 1974.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| LOCATION: | CALL NUMBER: | STATUS: |
|---|---|---|
| Olin Library | CT275.P67 A33 | Chkd-Out, Due: 05/11/1999 |
| Uris Library | CT275.P67 A33 | Not checked out |
The Cornell University Library uses Library of Congress subject headings as the standard for subject searching. Unlike searching by keyword, where any term or wording of a topic can be entered into the computer, subject searching requires you to use the exact wording of an official Library of Congress subject heading in order to retrieve search results.
FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
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.
Indexes and Abstracts
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts are Reference resources 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.
Abstracts are specialized indexes that also include summaries of the content of the articles with their citations.
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts also come in several formats: traditional and historical bound paper volumes, stand alone CD-ROM computer workstations, and more recently as networked databases available via the Internet.
Networked indexes and abstracts come in a variety of versions and interfaces: telnet, Web, InfoShare (linked to the Catalog), and full-text, to name a few. For more information about finding Networked Resources available through the Cornell University Library, go to Finding Networked Resources.
Full-text Articles
An ever growing number of periodical indexes offer access to the full-text of articles electronically. Use the Cornell Library Gateway to find full-text resources.
Selected Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
- MLA International Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association,
1963- .
(Cornell Library Gateway; also in print at Olin Ref)
An international index and database providing references to scholarly articles from over 4000 journals dealing with languages, literature, folklore and linguistics. It is useful for finding literary criticism of a particular author or work, as well as articles on literary theory, women's studies, popular culture, and performing arts. The online version of MLA covers 1963 to present. The print version, available at Olin Ref (Z 7006 .M68), covers 1921 to the present.
MLA International Bibliography (Web version) OCLC Web interface
- Periodical Abstracts/ABI Inform. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1986- . (Cornell Library Gateway)
Indexes and abstracts over 1600 general interest magazines and scholarly journals. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Many of the articles found by searching in this database are available in full text electronic formats. The database can be divided by subject (general or business), format (newspaper or magazine and journal articles), or by date (current covers articles published from 1997 to the present, backfile covers 1986-1996).
Cornell Library Gateway
The Cornell Library Gateway provides a unified approach to finding information about the Cornell University Library and to selecting and connecting to our diverse and growing constellation of networked electronic resources and services.
Buttons on the left side of the screen will always be available to help you navigate among a variety of choices. The Cornell University Library Catalog is at the top of the array to make it easy for you to connect and search for books, journal titles and many other types of materials at Cornell. Networked Resources, the default display on the right side of the screen, enables you to identify and connect to networked electronic resources, such as periodical indexes, full text documents or numeric data files. About CU Library leads you to a wealth of information about the Library, including individual library web sites. Services provides information about library services such as circulation, instruction and reference, and enables you to make a variety of requests, electronically, for services such as book renewals and interlibrary borrowing. Help provides information on a wide variety of general and technical topics that will help you understand and use the CU Library as well as the Library Gateway. And if you need personal help you can click on "Ask a Librarian" at the bottom of each page. Last, but not least, the CUInfo button enables you to connect easily to the Cornell University information system.
Networked Resources contains titles, descriptive information, and links to over 1,200 networked electronic resources, including periodical indexes, numeric and spatial data files, catalogs, audio-visual materials, and full text documents such as electronic journals and reference sources. It is a "database of databases." There are two main ways to search for databases in your areas of interest: searching and browsing.
Click on the top search box to select the type of resource you are interested in, such as indexes or full text, or all types, then type a keyword or keywords in the second search box. The Networked Resources database will then generate a list of resources (databases) that match your search request.
Below the Search boxes you will find a menu of subject categories. Click on a subject category to browse lists of resources available in that subject area. Or, you can browse the lists of New Resources, "Greatest Hits" (frequently used databases), or the Alphabetical List of titles contained in the Networked Resources database (over 1,200 titles and growing).
Once you have identified the networked resource you are interested in, you can then connect to it directly to gather the information you need to perform a search on your specific topic in the file or database you have selected.
SEARCH ENGINES AND SUBJECT GUIDES
Use search engines or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software that allow you to search the contents of web pages and Subject Guides are web pages that use menus and lists to sort and classify web sites.
Question Authority! The Internet is a very democratic tool, in that anyone can write or say virtually anything they wish to on it. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. Does the individual or institution have a particular bias or concern or agenda in presenting their information. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative?
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.
How to Critically Analyze 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 from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria 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.
FINDING NETWORKED RESOURCES
Searching for Databases
Browsing for Databases
FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES
SELECTED INTERNET RESOURCES
EVALUATING SOURCES
CITING SOURCES
RESEARCH HELP ONLINE
Return to Table of Contents
REFERENCE HELP
You can ask your questions at our reference and information desks, over the phone, or by e-mail.
- Reference Desk Schedules in Olin and Uris Libraries
- Olin Library Reference phone number: 255-4144
- Uris Library Reference phone number: 255-2339
- Olin Kroch Uris Reference e-mail address: okuref@cornell.edu
Question? Ask a Librarian
February 6, 2000
Michael Engle, moe1@cornell.edu
Reference Services Division, Olin Kroch Uris Libraries
Cornell University Library
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/complit1036.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, olincirc@cornell.edu