Research Guide for Comparative Literature 108.01:

Behind the Iron Curtain: Socialism and Everyday Life

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/complit108_01.html

Stalin Poster

  Developing a Search Strategy

  Library Gateway Overview

  Finding Background Information

  Finding Books

  Finding Periodical Articles

  Finding Images

  Finding & Evaluating Internet Resources

  Citing Sources

  Research Help Online

  Reference Help in Person

     

DEVELOPING A RESEARCH 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. Finding periodical articles
  5. Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
  6. Evaluate your sources
  7. 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.

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LIBRARY GATEWAY
Library Catalog | Find it!: Articles Databases e-Journals Images | MyLibrary | Ask a Librarian | Individual Libraries

The Cornell University Library Gateway is the Cornell University Library's homepage on the World Wide Web. The Gateway lists information about the CU Library and provides access to library resources and services.

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FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Guides and Handbooks

The materials listed below are a selection of reference resources for finding background information and context for topics you will be covering in this class. Note the call numbers and library locations for those 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.

Guides, Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Biographical dictionary of Marxism
Gorman, Robert A.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986
(Olin Ref   HX23 .B6, also in ILR Ref - Catherwood Library )

This work includes more than 210 clearly written and concise entries, with a useful appendix giving groupings by nationality. Besides basic biographical data, each profile provides a synopsis of the person's principal ideas and writings. A brief bibliography lists primary and secondary materials for further study.

Cambridge encyclopedia of China
Hook, Brian, ed.
2nd ed. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991
(Kroch Asia Ref   DS705 .C17 1991 +, also Uris Ref   DS705 .C17 1991, Mann Ref   DS705 .C17x 1991)

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China provides an account of China and all things Chinese - geography, politics, customs, food and drink, the arts. This work covers history, from ancient times through to the momentous events of the late 1980s.

Cambridge encyclopedia of Russia and the former Soviet Union
Brown, Archie, Michael Kaser and Gerald S. Smith, eds.
2nd ed. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994
(Uris Ref   DK14 .C17 1994)

This new edition covers all aspects of both pre- and post-Soviet Russia, as well as the Soviet era. The table of contents outlines the topical arrangement, including chapters on peoples, religion, history, language and literature, the arts, science, politics, the economy, society, and international relations. Heavily illustrated with photographs, maps, and charts, this is an excellent background source on Russia. Includes an extensive index and a bibliography.

China today: an encyclopedia of life in the People's Republic
Luo, Jing, ed.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005
(Kroch Asia Ref   DS777.6 .C458 2005 +)

Containing over 200 entries written by scholars working in various disciplines in both the U.S. and China, this two-volume resource provides such useful information on the politics, economics, society, and culture of both the People's Republic and Taiwan since 1949.

Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, and Culture
martínez-Fernández, Luis ...[et al.], eds.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003
(Olin Ref   F1754 .E53x 2003)

A two volume encyclopedia of all aspects of Cuba and Cuban culture. Organized in twelve topical chapters e.g., "Geography" "Contemporary Economy." Appendices include historical documents. Includes a very useful selective bibliography of works in English.

Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe: from the Congress of Vienna to the fall of communism
Frucht, Richard, ed.
New York: Garland Pub., 2000
(Olin Ref   DJK6 .E53x 2000 +)

Alphabetically arranged entries include biographies, geographic entities, military events, literature, historical events, movements, etc. All entries include a bibliography.

The encyclopedia of political revolutions
Goldstone, J., ed.
Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1998
(Uris Ref   JC491 .E63x 1998)

The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions chronicles 2000 years of political revolutions and features approximately 300 articles providing answers to specific questions as well as in-depth treatment of events and trends. It includes descriptions of specific revolutions, important revolutionary figures, and major revolutionary themes; generous use of illustrative material; special analyses of the role of women, art, literature, and music; biographies of seminal figures; and cross references, bibliographies, and a detailed index.

An encyclopedic dictionary of Marxism, socialism and communism
Wilcynski, J.
Berlin; New York: De Gruyter, 1981
(Olin Ref   HX17 .W66)

This classic work includes economic, philosophical, political, and sociological theories, concepts, institutions, and practices.

Historical Dictionary of Marxism
Walker, David M.
Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007
(Olin Ref   HX17 .W36 2007)

The Historical Dictionary of Marxism covers the history of Marxism and all its thinkers and schools of thought in a comprehensive manner. This is done, through a chronology, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-reference dictionary entries on basic terms and concepts, significant thinkers and doers, and also the parties and countries that followed it.

Historical dictionary of socialism
Lamb, Peter and James C. Docherty
2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006
(Olin Ref   HX17 .D63 2006)

Primarily concerned with the historical roots and contemporary condition of socialism, the second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Socialism offers information on writers, activists, ideas, political parties, institutions, and political movements.

Modern China: an encyclopedia of history, culture, and nationalism
Wang, Ke-wen, ed.
New York: Garland, 1998
(Uris Ref   JC311 .M54x 1998)
Available online through the Library Catalog

Covers people and important political and cultural developments in China since the mid-nineteenth century. Each entry cites one or two references for further research.

Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History
Wieczynski, Joseph L., ed.
60 Vols. Gulf Breeze, FL: Academic International, 1976-2000
(Olin Ref   DK14 .M68)

A massive work drawing information from major Russian reference sources, both historical and contemporary, as well as from standard monographs, articles and other writings. Bibliographic references have been supplemented with important English-language titles. Supplementary volumes 46 - 55 cover topics omitted in the main sequence, especially material on cities and towns, and biographies of individuals deceased since publication of earlier volumes. Volumes 56 - 58 are indexes by entries and authors; topics; time period.

Supplement to the Modern Encyclopedia of Russian, Soviet and Eurasian History
Rhyne, George N., ed.
Annual. Gulf Breeze, FL: Academic International, 1995-2006
(Olin Ref   DK14 .M68 Suppl.)

Arranged alphabetically by topic, with the purpose of including recent subjects as well as updating older entries with newly available sources. The set has been re-titled since volume 56 as Modern Encyclopedia of Russian, Soviet and Eurasian History to reflect fuller treatment of non-Russian areas and cultures.

Modern Germany: an encyclopedia of history, people, and culture, 1871-1990
Buse, Dieter K. and Juergen C. Doerr, eds.
2 Vols. New York: Garland, 1998
(Olin Ref   DD14 .M64x 1998 +)

This two volume work covers all aspects of German civilization from 1871 to 1990. Signed articles are written by experts, who also provide some bibliography, much of it in English. The articles have many cross-references and the work is enhanced by a thorough index. Good for background on the late 19th and 20th Century Germany.

Political Handbook of the World
Annual. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.
(Olin Ref   JF37 .P76 +, also Uris Ref   JF37 .P76)

Excellent political background essays on all countries of the world. Information on individual political parties and forms of government. Called Political Handbook and Atlas of the World from 1928 to 1970.

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FINDING BOOKS

Cornell University Library Catalog

Help Using the Cornell Library Catalog

Search Commands, Subject Searching, Keyword Searching, and other functions of the online catalog are explained on these pages.

Connect to the CU Library Catalog

Click on the banner at the top of all catalog web pages to return to the CU Library Catalog homepage.

Contents of the Catalog

The Cornell University Library Catalog includes the holdings of all 17 libraries on the Ithaca campus, in addition to those of the Geneva Experiment Station. 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.

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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.

Full-text Articles

An ever growing number of periodical databases, such as ProQuest, JSTOR and others, offer access to the full-text of articles electronically. Individual journal titles available full-text online can be found via Find It! E-Journals.

Periodical Databases

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
Available online through Find it!: Databases, or the Library Catalog

A general periodical database that provides citations and abstracts for articles from over 4,100 journals and includes full text from over 3,170 journals. You can limit your search to peer-reviewed articles (scholarly articles).

ProQuest Research Library
Available online through Find it!: Databases, or the Library Catalog

Indexes and abstracts over 2,000 general interest magazines and scholarly journals covering a wide variety of subjects and academic disciplines. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected newspapers, television and radio programs. The Library subscribes to most of the periodicals indexed. Many articles are available full-text. Use the Cornell Library Catalog Basic Search to find other journals, newspapers, and magazines.

PAIS International
Available online through Find it!: Databases, or the Library Catalog

Contains citations to public policy literature of economics, government, law, international business, political science, public administration, and other social sciences. It includes references to journal articles, books, government documents, reports and pamphlets in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

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FINDING IMAGES

There are a number of databases available for finding images located in the Images category of Find it!.

Image Search Options

Use the Quick search form to search for images by keyword or words. A Quick search retrieves images from the following databases: AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive, American Memory (Library of Congress web site), Artstor, Catalog of Art Museum Images Online (CAMIO), NYPL digital (New York Public Library Digital Gallery), and RLG Cultural Materials.

Use the Images Subject Area list to identify and search additional image databases.

Look for the     icon in other Subject areas for subject specific image resources.

Other Visual Resources

Recommended Sites

AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive
Available online through Find it!: Databases, or the Library Catalog

AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive is an electronic library containing the AP's current photos from their 50 million image print and negative library, as well as charts, graphs, tables, and maps from the AP's graphics portfolio.

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FINDING & EVALUATING INTERNET RESOURCES

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?

Sites of interest to this class

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CITING SOURCES

APA Citation Style
(American Psychological Association)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.)

Africana, Hotel, Management, Olin, and Uris Libraries
BF 76.7 .P83x 2001x
(located at the Reference Desks)

Also in ILR and Mann Reference at
BF 76.7 .A51 2001

APA Citation Style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

APA Reference Examples for Electronic Source Materials (Excerpted from the 5th edition of the Publication Manual)

APAStyle.org (APA's web site)

MLA Citation Style
(Modern Language Association)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
(6th ed.)

Olin and Uris Libraries Z253 .M68 2003
(located at the Reference Desks)

MLA Citation Style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

 

Managing Information Using Bibliographic/Citation Software

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

NEW!   RefWorks/EndNote walk-In

Drop in with a problem or question. Bring your own laptop or a copy of your paper and a RefWorks/EndNote expert can trouble-shoot citation and bibliography formatting problems. Librarians can also show you how to:

  • get citations from a favorite database
  • move citations from EndNote to RefWorks or vice versa
  • create a customized bibliographic style
  • adopt effective information management strategies

When: Fridays 2-4 pm, September 7 - December 7 (Except Thanksgiving weekend)
Where: Olin Library Electronic Text Center
(Main level, near LibeCafé, directly behind the Olin Reference Desk)

Can't wait until Friday?
Send question about any aspect of RefWorks/EndNote to:
CiteManage-L@cornell.edu

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RESEARCH HELP ONLINE

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REFERENCE HELP

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        Evaluate your learning in this class        

14 February 2008 (nm)
Deb Schmidle, dj13@cornell.edu
Reference Librarian
Cornell University Library
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/complit108_01.html
Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
PSA: Public Services and Assessment
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, olincirc@cornell.edu