DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY

Our 7-step strategy insures that you will find the information you need quickly and efficiently and cite it properly.

FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Use Reference Universe, a database you can search to find subject encyclopedias on any topic. Be sure to click the "Restrict Search to Titles in your Library" checkbox to limit your search to titles that we own. Click on the open book icon to get the Cornell call number and location. Amaze your friends with your erudition.

Selected Individual Reference Titles:

Encyclopedia of German Literature. 2 vols. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000.
(Olin Reference PT 41 .E53x 2000+)

Authors make up the majority of the more than 500 entries which conclude with bibliographies of works by the author, including English translations, as well as secondary scholarship. In addition to authors, literary movements and periods and types of literature (fairy tales, travel literature) are included. Also, the intersection of German literature with such topics as fascism, film, homosexuality, and religion is explored. Entries for important cities (Berlin, Vienna) and historical developments (National Socialism) provide the background of persons, places, issues, and events.

A Historical Dictionary of Germany's Weimar Republic, 1918-1933. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997.
(Olin Reference DD 84 .V56xx 1997)

An excellent introduction to the people, events, culture, arts, and organizations in Germany during the Weimar.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. 4th ed. 4 vols. Detroit: St. James, 2000.
(Olin Reference and Uris Reference PN 1993.45 .I61 2000 + and online)

Written for film students and film buffs alike, this set features thorough coverage of legendary films, actors, actresses, directors, writers, and other production artists through detailed essays and commentary by experts. Entries include biographies, filmographies, comprehensive credits, production information, major awards, and bibliographies. Article on Fritz Lang

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.

Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture, 1871-1990. 2 vols. New York: Garland, 1998.
(Olin Reference DD 14 .M64x 1998)

Signed articles on important people, organizations, and concepts in Germany and German culture since 1871. Excellent bibliographies.

The Oxford Companion to German Literature. 3rd. ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.
(Olin Reference PT 41 .G23 1997)

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.

Additional titles suggested by your instructor:

Weimar: A Cultural History, 1918-1933. (Uris DD 239 .L31 1974)
The Weimar Era and Hitler, 1918-1933: A Critical Bibliography. (1977) (Olin Z 2240 .S77 ++)
The Nazi Era: A Select Bibliography of Published Works from the Early Roots to 1980. (Library Annex Z 2240 .K27)
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. (Olin Ref DD 256.5 .G865 1991 +)

German film holdings in the Cornell Libraries.

An online list of German-language films owned by the Cornell University Libraries, sortable by director and by title. Compiled by Kizer Walker, the bibliographer for German studies. 7 March 2007.

You can find materials owned by the Cornell University Library in the Cornell Library Catalog. This includes books, journals, magazines, newspapers, videotapes, audiotapes, music CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, manuscripts, microfilm, microfiche--in short, anything the library owns.

You can search by author, title, subject heading, call number, or journal title. You can also search by keyword--any combination of words in the author, title, subject, contents, and notes fields. Words are combined using the Boolean operators AND, OR, or NOT. You will have an opportunity to practice this searching in class.

This Web-based catalog also allows you to recall or put a hold on items that are currently checked out by other library users. Clicking on the Requests button and logging in allows you to see what you have checked out; you can also renew your books from this page.

For more information about using the catalog, click on the Help button on the catalog home page.

Things to remember about the Cornell Library Catalog:

• The online catalog lists the holdings of all twenty Cornell libraries.

• You cannot find journal articles in the catalog. Only the titles of journals, magazines, and newspapers are listed along with the years and volumes that we own. See the next section for more information about finding periodical articles.

Library of Congress Classification Outline
(Online at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html)

Your online guide to the call numbers we use and what they mean.

Select subject headings for this class:

German literature--20th century
German literature--20th century--History and criticism
Germany--History--1918-1933
Germany--Social life and customs--20th century
Germany--Intellectual life--20th century
Germany--History--1933-1945

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

[EBSCO] Academic Search Premier.

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).

Historical Abstracts.

Published since 1954, Historical Abstracts indexes publications (articles, books, and theses) written about the history of the world ouside North America from 1450 to the present. It currently covers over 1,700 journals published worldwide in over forty languages.

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 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 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.

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.