Contents: Search Strategy Background Books and Media Articles Reviews Web Sites Evaluating Citing Writing Help Research Help

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.

The Seven Research Steps

1. Choose your topic

2. Find background information

3. Find books on your topic

4. Find periodical articles

5. Find relevant Web sites

6. Evaluate your sources

7. Cite your sources

FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Credo Reference

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

Searchable database of 100 reference sources on a variety of subjects. Excellent bilingual dictionaries (French, German, Italian, Latin, Portugese, and Spanish) published by Collins. Enter search terms, get results, and click to see the full-text of the encyclopedia or dictionary entry.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures.

Daniel Balderston, Mike Gonzalez and Ana M. López, editors. 3 volumes.
New York: Routledge, 2000.
(Olin Library Reference F 1406 .E515x 2000)

An extensive guide to the people, groups and institutions, events, artistic movements, and ideas that have formed the twentieth-century culture of this diverse geographic area.

Europa World. Updated annually.

The Country Profiles section contains excellent historical essays for individual countries, emphasizing recent history. Also a very good source of institutional and government contacts and statistical data for countries.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. 4th edition. 4 volumes. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.

(Available online in Gale Virtual Reference Library; also in print--see below)

The online version of International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers provides web access to the entire text of the 4th edition of the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, ed. Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast. The four print volumes are available in Olin Reference and Uris Reference PN 1993.45 .I61 2000.

Library of Congress Country Studies.

(Available online at http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/misc/aqw4146)

This Web site contains the online versions of books previously published (1988-98) in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army. Because the original intent of the series' sponsor was to focus primarily on lesser-known areas of the world or regions in which U.S. forces might be deployed, the series is not all-inclusive. At present, 101 countries and regions are covered. The date of information for each country appears on the title page of each country and at the end of each section of text.

Literature Resource Center [Farmington Hills, MI]: Gale Group.

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

The Literature Resource Center (LRC) is a complete literature reference database designed for undergraduate students. LRC combines biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information about authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Includes Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Literary Criticism.

Oxford Reference Online: Literature Oxford: Oxford University Press.

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

The Literature section contains a collection of twelve reference books on various aspects of literature and literary history. Entries are short, providing concise defintions of important literary terms.

Political Handbook of the World. New York: McGraw-Hill. Updated annually.

(Olin Reference JF 37 .P76 +)

Contains background essays on the political history of the countries of the world with more emphasis on recent developments. Includes a brief description of the area, the political background, a summary of the constitution, the foreign relations, and current issues. Also describes the major political parties, the legislature, cabinet, news media, and intergovernmental representation. For details on earlier developments, consult the editions in the Olin or Uris stacks.

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.

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

To find audio-visual or media titles owned by the library, do a keyword search for videorecording and [your topic]. For example, to find DVDs from or about india, search videorecording and india in Command Keyword.

Media titles from Kroch, Olin and Uris Libraries are housed in the Media Center on the Lower Level of Olin Library. This includes DVDs, VCDs, videotapes, and audiotapes.

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

Finding Videorecordings and Audiorecordings in the Cornell University Library.

HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index Online.

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

HAPI Online contains authoritative, worldwide information about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region and Hispanics in the United States. From analyses of current political, economic, and social issues to unique coverage of Latin American arts and letters, HAPI Online contains complete bibliographic citations to articles, book reviews, documents, original literary works and other materials appearing in more than 500 key social science and humanities journals published throughout the world from 1970 to the present. Many of the citations are linked to full text where available.

JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive. New York: JSTOR.

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

Covers from the beginning of the journal (earliest is 1665) up to within three to five years of the present [the "moving wall"]. Rich in book reviews and review journals for specific subjects and disciplines, JSTOR is a fully-searchable, full-text database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business, and other fields. List of journals included and years covered.

LexisNexis Academic

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

Use for newspaper articles. Covers 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.

MLA International Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association, 1963 to date.

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

An international index and database providing references to scholarly articles from books and over 4,000 journals dealing with literature, folklore, literary theory, semiotics, 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.

Project MUSE. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

(Available online at http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/muse/any6882)

Searchable database that provides access to the full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others.

Research Library [aka Periodical Abstracts]. Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1986- .

(Library Gateway--Find Databases)

Indexes and abstracts over 2,000 general interest magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals, including the movie and book reviews that appear in them. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. The Library subscribes to many of the periodicals indexed, and the full text of many articles indexed is available in ProQuest as well.

Find additional book review sources in our subject guide, Book Reviews: A Finding Guide.

FILM REVIEWS

Film Review Annual. Englewood: J.S. Ozer, 1981/1982- . (Olin Ref PN 1995 .F48)

Issued annually, this source reprints reviews from a wide range of newspapers and magazines of full length films released in major markets in the U.S. Arranged by title of the film, entries include credits and playing time. Indexed by critics, cast, producers, and directors.

Media Review Digest. Ann Arbor: Pierian, 1973-. (Uris Ref AI 3 .M961)

Formerly Multi Media Reviews Index (1970-1973), this is "an annual index to and digest of reviews, evaluations and descriptions of all forms of non-book media appearing in a great variety of periodicals and reviewing serves." Films, filmstrips, spoken word records and tapes and miscellaneous non-book items are included. Each entry provides a brief description, citations to reviews and a review rating.

Find additional film review sources in Film: A Selected Bibliography of Reference Sources, our online guide to research on the cinema.

WEB SITES OF INTEREST

Blackboard

(Access to your class web site at http://www.blackboard.cornell.edu)

ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America

(Available at http://drclas.fas.harvard.edu/revista/)

"ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, published three times yearly, focuses on different themes related to Latin America, Latinos/as, and the Iberian peninsula. The magazine-length publication brings together different voices on each theme, highlighting the work of Harvard faculty, students, alumni, and Visiting Scholars." [ReVista home page]

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.

Try our newest tool for citation management, RefWorks. Refworks is an online citation manager: download your citations to RefWorks, add them to your paper, and generate your bibliography in all the standard formats, including MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian. Click here to see the schedule and to register for one of our free RefWorks workshops.

• MLA Citation Style (from the Help section of the Library Gateway)
• How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography (a guide to writing annotations for bibliography entries)

• Writing Workshop Walk-In Service is available ar four locations to help you. Tutors can discuss questions about the writing process or about particular pieces of writing such as letters of application, personal statements for graduate and professional school, creative writing, proposals and reports, as well as academic papers at any stage of their composition. The tutoring staff also works with questions of self-confidence about writing, critical reading and analytic thought, and the active use of the imagination.

• Reference Chat Service
• Olin & Uris Reference Desk Hours
• Olin Library Reference phone number: 255-4144
• Uris Library Reference phone number: 255-2339
• Olin and Uris Reference e-mail address: okuref@cornell.edu