The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with finding scholarly sources required for your Ancillary and Text Analysis #3 on "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya. 

	Getting Started
	Books
	Articles
	Searching the Internet
	Citing Your Sources
	Need More?

Getting Started

When you begin your research on the arguments in "Bless Me, Ultima" you will discover both scholarly and non-scholarly material has been published. You need to locate the scholarly works in order to become part of the informed conversation surrounding this text. 

In order to analyze a work, it is helpful to see what other critical commentary has been published on that work. These writings can be found in literary analysis and literature criticism or critiques. The labels may be different, but the intent of the work will be similar--that is to review and discuss the novel you are researching for intent, writing style, symbolism and more. You might be tempted to use book reviews, but avoid these as they are simply summaries of the book (frequently written by the book's publisher or non-scholar) and will not be of use in your research paper.

Your professor requires three (3) scholarly items to provide support for your argument  That means this material is not a popular press or emotion-based piece. We will look at some material in class and for help on what is a scholarly source, click here.

As you may also examine arguments from another of the works you have read this semester in conjunction with "Bless Me, Ultima" you might want to visit one of the GEW web pages for "In Praise of Shadows" or "West of Jesus" for additional resources.

Books

To find books, either do KEYWORD searches using terms from your class readings and notes, TITLE searches for specific works, or SUBJECT searches for your author or the topic you are addressing. Some possible subjects:

• Magic Realism (Literature)
• Anaya, Rudolfo A. -- Criticism And Interpretation  
• American Fiction -- Mexican-American Authors -- History And Criticism 
• Dreams -- Religious Aspects
• Family -- Mexico
• Traditional Medicine

REFERENCE books are a useful place to get started:

• Contemporary Literary Criticism aka CLC (REF PN 771 .C59, check the last volume's index for the volumes concerning Anaya)
• Dictionary of Literary Biography (Anaya is in volume 82 at REF PS153.M4 C48 1989)

Finding Books

	CSUSM Library Catalog Do a KEYWORD search on the topic by typing the word or phrase in the search box. Since keywords can have multiple definitions and therefore, uses, once you locate a useful title, examine the SUBJECTS for precise 'labels' to identify your topic. While looking at each item, note authors who are writing on your topic and the call number for browsing the stacks. Check to see that they have bibliographies (listing of the research sources used) to substantiate the book's claims. A scholarly publisher is helpful also! TIP: When looking for books ABOUT an author, such as analysis or criticism of their works, you will do a SUBJECT search using the lastname, firstname format (e.g., Anaya, Rudolfo). Subject headings may include sub-categories such as the author's chosen genre or treatments such as criticism.
	Example of Catalog Screen
	San Diego Circuit This is a catalog of materials from San Diego County universities including CSUSM. If you need to find more material on a topic or a copy of a CSUSM book that is checked out, search to the Circuit collection by clicking on the CIRCUIT button towards the top of the screen. When you find an item you want, request the item through the "request this item" link and pick it up at CSUSM.

Journal Articles

Journals are a good source for finding very detailed information on your topic. To find articles, you need to start with a research database and preferably one that indexes scholarly sources as they are based on careful research and go through a high-level review prior to publishing.

Use the link to find full text if it is not available in the database you are searching, and if time allows, Interlibrary Loan for documents that we don't own full text.

MLA
Includes abstracts of articles from critical literary and language journals.

JSTOR
Contains complete full-text back files (EXCEPT for the latest five years) of core scholarly journals in such areas as sociology, history, economics, political science, mathematics, African-American studies, Asian studies and others.

Contemporary Authors
Biographies and bibliographies of 90,000 authors in the U.S. and around the world (also in the print Reference collection at at PN 771 .C5)

Chicano Database
Abstracts for books, journal articles and other material about Mexican-Americans.

Project MUSE
Full text. Scholarly article collection.

Sociological Abstracts
Provides access to the latest international findings in theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and political science.

Academic Search Premier (EbscoHost)
Full-text. A multi-disciplinary database offering full text for nearly 1,850 scholarly journals, including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed titles. Be careful of the 'peer-reviewed' limiter as not everything returned is a scholarly text.

Searching the Internet

There are ways to search the internet quickly and effectively. Use Advanced or Expert Search whenever possible to focus your results and eliminate sites you can't use (e.g., those in languages you cannot read.) For some help on evaluating websites for scholarly (or at least better-quality) content, click here.

Finding better information on the web

• Limit to high quality domains: .edu (university servers), or .org (museums and associations).
• Use appropriate language to accurately describe your topic.
• Spell names or phrases accurately.
• Look for bibliographies or references to the works used for the site's contents.
• Know your topic!
• Carefully evaluate what you find for bias, conflicting, or incomplete information.

Citing Your Sources

As you write your paper, if you are using passages and ideas from the sources you've found, you must cite them in a bibliography in order to avoid plagiarism. In order to cite your resources properly, you need to follow the style guide used by this class, the MLA Handbook. 

MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 6th ed. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2003. Quick Summary (CSUSM bibliography format for MLA) Citing Sources in Your Paper (CSUSM) Diana Hacker's Guide on MLA Style KnightCite for MLA (citation generator, use with caution) Library copies (print in REF and Stacks at LB2369 .G53) Concise Wadsworth Handbook (print in REF at PE1408 .K6746 2005)

Need More?