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 or material you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007.

(Online and Olin Reference F 351 .A534 2007)

There are portraits of each of the region’s twelve states, followed by entries on society and culture, community and social life, economy and technology, and public life. Articles cover the region’s surprising ethnic diversity—-a vast array of foods, languages, styles, religions, and customs-—plus essays on the Midwest history, culture and values, and conflicts.

The Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. 6 volumes in print. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006.

(Online and Olin Reference E 185 .E54 2006)

Published with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Articles cover the historical and cultural development of people of African descent in the Americas at the beginning of the twenty-first century, including the black experience in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the United States and Canada.

Encyclopedia of American Social History. 3 volumes. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1992.

(Olin and Uris Reference HN 57 .E56 1992)

A monumental synthesis of American social history. Contributions by historians and scholars from ethnology, geography, literature, religion, anthropology, and sociology discuss the major issues such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, and sexual and political orientation.

The Encyclopedia of Homelessness. 2 volumes in print. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004.

(Online; in print: Olin and Mann Reference HV 4493 .E53 2004)

Covers the origins of homelessness, current research, and strategies for its prevention. Articles on eight major American cities and more than 30 cities and nations around the world. Adding depth are bibliographies, a directory of street newspapers, a filmography, and more than 20 primary-source documents offering historical and contemporary perspectives.--From American Libraries, May 2005.

Literature Resource Center. Gale Group.

(Online)

Literature Resource Center is a literature reference database designed for the undergraduate student. LRC combines 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.

FIND SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIAS ON ANY TOPIC:

Reference Universe is a searchable database of subject encyclopedias. Click on the open book icon to search our catalog for the call number and location.

The Cornell Library Catalog currently includes all items from all Cornell libraries and items on order or in process. Included in the Cornell Library Catalog are books, periodicals, audio-visual materials, and government documents, as well as many other resources in the libraries at Cornell. The catalog provides the call number, the name of the library, and the circulation status for each item.

Help Using the Cornell Library Catalog
Search Commands, Subject Searching, Keyword Searching, and other functions of the online catalog are explained on these pages.

Understanding Library of Congress Call Numbers

Use these indexes to find articles in journals, magazines, and news sources. These may be full text online as a .pdf or .html file, or they may be available only in print form. If the article is now linked directly in the database, the best way to figure out the format and availability is to search the Cornell Library Catalog by the journal title.

The indexes below can all be found using Find it!/Databases in the Library Gateway.

Academic Search Premier.

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

MLA International Bibliography.

An international index and database providing references to scholarly articles from over 4000 journals in literature, folklore, literary theory, semiotics, and linguistics. 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.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

A searchable full-image database covering three major American newspapers from the beginning: The New York Times (1851 to 2003), The Washington Post (1877 to 1990), and The Wall Street Journal (1889 to 1989).

ProQuest Research Library.

Indexes and abstracts over 2000 general interest magazines and scholarly journals. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Many articles 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.

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.

Periodicals are aimed at a wide variety of audiences. For help evaluating the articles you find, see Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals.

The Internet is a democratic tool: anyone can write or say virtually anything they wish 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? See Five Criteria for Evaluating Web pages.

Using MLA Style

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition. Copies in Olin and Uris Libraries are shelved behind the reference desks Ref Z 253 .M68 2003.

MLA citation style (Library Gateway Help)

Managing Citations using RefWorks

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. For more information and to sign up for an account: http://www.refworks.cornell.edu .

Library Gateway Help

CU Library Catalog Help

Reference Desk Phone Directory

A research consultation with a reference librarian can be arranged when you need in-depth, personalized research help.