COML
120:
Cultural Crossings: Reading Across Differences
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/complit120-1.html
|
|
|
Developing a Search Strategy
Search 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 and materials 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 more information
about library research strategy and using library resources, go to Research
Strategy: a tutorial -- an online, hypertext guide to library research that
is a part of Library
Gateway Help.
Finding Background Information
Subject Specific Reference Sources
The Greenwood
encyclopedia of multiethnic American literature / edited by Emmanuel
S. Nelson.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, c2005.
Olin Library Reference PS153.M56 G74 2005+
Comprehensive introduction to the diverse range of ethnic American writing.
Included are more than 1100 alphabetically arranged entries by more than 300
scholars. While most of the entries are biographical, others cover genres, ethnic
stereotypes, seminal works, significant places, major historical events, key
pieces of legislation, and various other topics that are part of the context
of multiethnic America literature.
New Immigrant
Literatures in the United States
A.S. Knippling, ed.
Olin Library Reference: PS153 .M56 N53 1996
A
comprehensive introduction to the contributions of immigrants to the post-World
War II literature of the United States. The book is organized into sections
devoted to Asian American, Caribbean American, European American, and Latin
American literatures, with individual chapters treating such previously neglected
groups as Pakistani Americans, Korean Americans, and Finnish Americans.
Encyclopedia of postcolonial studies / edited by John C. Hawley.
Published: Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2001.
Olin Library Reference PN849.U43 E53x 2001
"More than 150 alphabetically arranged entries by expert contributors overview and assess the effects of globalization on literary and cultural studies in the 21st century"
Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in English, edited by Eugene Benson and L.W. Conolly.
London; New York: Routledge, 1994. 2 v.
Olin Library Reference PR9080.A52 E53x 1994 +)
Also available online as part of LION: Connect to full text
"In two volumes, this Encyclopedia documents the history and development of [post-colonial literature] and includes original research relating to the literatures of some 50 countries and territories. In more than 1,600 entries written by more than 600...scholarsit explores the effect of the colonial and post-colonial experience on literatures in English worldwide."
Literature
Resource Center.
Farmington Hills, MI : Gale Group.
A complete literature database combining biographical, bibliographical, and
contextual information on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry,
drama, history, and journalism). Draws from Gale Group's core literary databases,
including Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography,
and Contemporary Literary Criticism. Provides additional search capability
for Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature and Gale Literary
Index.
Gale virtual reference library
Provides the full text of many encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and directories.
General Interest and Reference
- Encyclopędia Britannica Online
- Oxford Reference Online
- Columbia Encyclopedia
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Merriam-Webster Online
- Roget's Thesaurus
- Language Tools
Finding Books
- About
the CU Library Catalog
The Cornell University Library Catalog includes the holdings of 19 Cornell University libraries. (The Weill Cornell Medical 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. - Interlibrary
Loan Services
Use ILLiad (InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) to borrow materials from other libraries. - Borrow
Direct
A new rapid book request and delivery system that enables Cornell faculty, staff, and students to search the combined library catalogs of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, and directly request expedited delivery of circulating items.
Finding Articles
Two approaches to finding articles:
|
1. Search a Specific Database
Recommended Databases:
General/Interdisciplinary
ProQuest Research Library [Restricted to Cornell]
Includes an extensive number of periodicals, covering general interest magazines and
scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities and sciences. Also included
are citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Full
text of many articles is provided.
Anthropological/Sociological
AnthroSource [Restricted to Cornell]
Current issues of the American Anthropological Association journals and bulletins, plus searchable archived issues of all the Association's publications, <1888-2003>. Covers political, medical, cultural, and legal anthropology; ethnology; education; humanism; archaeology; nutrition; gender issues; and linguistics.
Sociological Abstracts [Restricted to Cornell]
Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Subjects covered include community development, culture and social structure, demography and human biology, environmental interactions, family and social welfare, health and medicine and law, religion and science, social psychology and group interactions, welfare services, and women’s studies.
Historical
Historical Abstracts / America: History and Life [Restricted to Cornell]
A complete bibliographical reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, covering over 2000 journals published worldwide.
Literary
MLA International Bibliography [Restricted to Cornell]
An international 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.
LION (Literature online)
Articles, monographs and dissertations from the Annual bibliography of English language and literature (ABELL); full-text articles from literary journals; and biographical information on widely studied authors.
2. Search a number of databases at the same time using Find it!
The Find it! feature on the Library Gateway allows you to perform a simple search across multiple databases. For more precise searching, it is best to search the databases individually. See the Recommended Databases above.
Using Find it!, you can do a simple search in 4 general resources or you can select a list of subject-specific databases to search.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.
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.
Evaluating
Web Resources
Lists ways to analyze the Web sites you find.
Evaluating
Web Sites: Criteria and Tools
See this page for additional suggestions specific to Web sites.
Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites
Offers a table of suggestions.
Citing Sources
|
APA
citation style Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) Olin, and
Uris Libraries 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
Olin and Uris Libraries MLA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages) MLA Style (MLA's web site)
|
Managing Information using Bibliographic/Citation Software
Research and Reference Help
- Library Gateway Help
- CU Library Catalog Help
-
- Reference Desk Directory
- Reference
Desk Schedules in Olin and Uris Libraries
- Olin Library Reference phone number: 255-4144
- Uris Library
Reference phone number: 255-2339
January 25
, 2008
Maureen Morris, mm342@cornell.edu
Reference Librarian
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