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Library Research Guide for German Studies 111:
Workshop in German Studies 


Faust, Tragédie de M. de Goethe, 1828
by Eugene Delacroix (French; Paris) 1798 - 1863
Copyright The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Developing a Search Strategy
Finding Background Information
Finding Books
Finding Periodical Articles
Internet Resources
Citing Sources
Research Help Online
Reference Help in Person

Question? Ask a Librarian

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.
 

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. 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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FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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 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.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS, DICTIONARIES & OTHER REFERENCE SOURCES

The Oxford Companion to German Literature. 2nd ed. / Garland, Henry and Mary Garland. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986.
(Uris Ref PT 41 G23 1986; also Olin Ref)
Intended as a "companion to the historical and cultural background to German literature as well as to the writers and works themselves. Spans the period from c. 800 to the early 1970's, and the aim has been to cover in a reasonably representative way every period of the literature of each German-speaking country." (Preface). Entries vary in length from a few lines to a page, and are arranged in alphabetical order.

A History of German Literature. 5th ed. rev. and enl. / Robertson, J.G. London: Blackwood, 1966.
(Uris Library Reference PT 91 R65 1966)
A chronological account of German literature, from the earliest times through the present. Discusses schools of thought and the works of individual authors. All of Part V (pp.349-523) is devoted to the 19th century. There is a good bibliography at the back of the work, as well as an Author Index.

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1978- .
(Uris Library Reference PS 129 D55; also in Olin)
Provides biographic, bibliographic, and critical material on American, British and European writers as well as selected aothors from other regions. Fourteen volumes are devoted to German literature. Check the latest volume in the set for a cumulative index by author and a list of volume coverage.

Encyclopedia of World Art. 16 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959-1968.
(Uris Library Reference N 31 E56+ 1959; also Olin, Fine Arts)
The English translation (from Italian) of the most ambitious and authoritative reference work on art. It includes art of all periods, places and genres, with exhaustive studies of art forms, schools, cultures and related subjects such as aesthetics, psychology, and the lore of art. Though arranged alphabetically, it is essential to use the index volume, especially for biographical information, since many specific topics are included in the more general articles and may be scattered throughout several volumes. Another important point is that the plates (most of which were selected because they were hard to find elsewhere) make up approximately one half of each volume. Bibliographies at the end of most articles run to several pages in length.

Dictionary of music and musicians. 5th ed. / Grove, George, Sir, London, Macmillan; New York, St. Martin's Press, 1954.
(Uris Library Reference ML100 .G883 1954)
A nine volume set providing encyclopedic entries on composers, musical styles, individual works, instruments etc.

The Grove dictionary of art
An encyclopedia of 41,000 articles covering art and artists worldwide. It is a "comprehensive art reference work covering all forms of the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic and decorative arts, and photography, from prehistory to the 1990s" (publisher's web site)

Grove music
Covers all topics related to music, including musical instruments, compositional forms and techniques, places of import and scientific topics. Biographical entries cover composers, performers and writers. Incorporates contents of the former New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. and the New Grove Dictionary of Opera.

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.

Selected Library of Congress Call Numbers

M Music and Books on Music
ML Literature of Music
N Fine Arts
P Language and Literature
PN Literature
PT Germanic Literatures
 

For more online sources for background information:

From the Library Gateway, click on the eReference Collection link. There is a search box where you can type in the name of a resource or you can choose the category General Interest and Reference to find lists of resources for background information.

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FINDING BOOKS

Connect to the Cornell Library Catalog

The Cornell Library Catalog currently includes all items from all Cornell libraries cataloged since 1973, some pre-1973 items, and items on order or in process. Included in the Cornell Library Catalog are books, periodicals and government documents, as well as some other materials located in the libraries at Cornell. The catalog provides the call number, the name of the library, and the circulation status for most materials.
 
Much of the material you find will be located in Kroch Library's Asia Collections.

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

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.

Understanding Library of Congress Call Numbers

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FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Journal, magazine and newspaper 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. 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. An ever growing number of periodical indexes offer access to the full-text of articles electronically. For more information about finding electronic reference sources through the Cornell University Library, go to Finding e-Reference Resources.

Selected Indexes and Abstracts:

Art abstracts (OCLC Web: 1984- ).
More than 250 key international, English-language arts publications. Includes periodicals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, competition and award notices, exhibition listings, interviews, film reviews, and more. Covers art, archaeology, art history, city planning, computer graphics, crafts, film, interior design, landscape architecture, photography, television, textiles and video.

MLA bibliography (OCLC Web : 1963- ).
MLA bibliography is the largest and most comprehensive database covering scholarship in the modern languages, linguistics, literature, folklore, and drama, including film, opera, radio, television and theater. Literary criticism and literary theory are covered extensively. Approximately 4,000 journals and series are screened, and entries for books are included. Entries appear both for collections of essays and for their contents.

RILM abstracts of music literature. 1969- <Abstracts only for current years>
Thousands of citations on international music corresponding to the printed RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. Includes all data from the RILM printed year 1969 to the present.

Periodical Abstracts/ABI Inform. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1986- . (Library Gateway - e-Reference Collection)
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 1996 to the present, backfile covers 1986-1995).

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. Dates of coverage vary. (Library Gateway - e-Reference Collection)
A web-based database providing access to full text resources on topics including current and general news; business and financial information; newspapers; company directories; government and politics; medical and health topics; accounting, auditing, and tax; federal and state laws; legal cases; and regulations. Resources include TV and radio news transcripts. Updated daily.

To find more periodical indexes:
From the Library Gateway, click on the eReference Collection link. There is a search box where you can type in the name or subject of a periodical index, catalog, directory, dictionary or encyclopedia. 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.

FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES

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?

Selected Web Sites:

German Studies Web
The German Studies Web is designed to provide access to scholarly resources in German Studies, including all German-speaking countries. The resources organized here have undergone a selection and evaluation process. If needed, annotations have been provided augmenting the research value of these resources to scholars. The coordinator for the German Studies Web is Reinhart Sonnenburg (Dartmouth College). The German Studies Web contains contributions from German Studies bibliographers nationwide.

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CITING SOURCES

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RESEARCH HELP ONLINE

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REFERENCE HELP

You can ask your questions at our reference and information desks, over the phone, or by e-mail.

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Question? Ask a Librarian

Olin*Kroch*Uris Reference Division
Reference Home Page

Cornell University Library |Cornell Library Catalog |CUinfo |

November 2, 2001
Maureen Morris, mm342@cornell.edu
Reference Services Division, Olin Kroch Uris Libraries
Cornell University Library
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/gerst111.html
 
 


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