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The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with
sources in the library and on
the internet useful for literary and literature research for
your research essay.
Getting Started
What do you need?
- A topic to provide a focus for your paper which is
on your course web page.
- Materials sufficient to support your research and
writing of 10-20 page research paper
- Materials for a presentation to the rest of the
class.
Think about what you know about these authors and titles that interests you
and meets the requirements for this assignment. Look for terms
and
personal names
in your notes and readings.
In most cases, you have a specific key writer, but there is a large body of literature and research to explore, so
you need to be able to focus to a particular aspect. It is advisable to do some beginning research on the topic
to be sure appropriate and sufficient resources are
available before committing much time or effort on a topic.
Books
Any well researched project uses books to support your
thinking and writing. There are two kinds of books you can investigate in the library--reference
and circulating. To find them, either do:
- KEYWORD searches using terms from your class readings and
notes,
- TITLE searches for
specific works by their exact title,
- AUTHOR searches for those who have been identified
as authorities on the topic, or
- SUBJECT searches on your author, another person, or
topic. (Subject headings can be tricky, so feel free to
ask for help.) Some possible subject searches:
Reference Books (in library use)
These are works like
encyclopedias, directories, and collections of reviews
that do not circulate from the library. They may be quick
overviews or in-depth studies and are frequently useful
for short facts or overviews, birthdates, statistics and
bibliographies of sources. There are a number of useful
resources mentioned in Baker and Huling's Research
Guide for Undergraduate Students which are held at
CSUSM. Some additional useful sources are:
-
Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism*
(REF PN 681.5 .C57)
-
Shakespearean Criticism*
(REF PR 2965
.S44)
-
Dictionary of Literary Biography*
(this
set is broken up by author type such as
'British Mystery and Thriller Writers Since 1960' or 'Holocaust
Novelists'.)
-
Literature Criticism From 1400 to 1800* (at
REF PN
86 .L56, use the last volume's index to determine where
your author is included in the set)
-
British Writers (REF PR 85 .B688) offers entries on a
variety of British writers from a lengthy time period,
check the supplements as well as main set.
*Note:
Gale, the publisher for
these series and others, has placed a free
comprehensive index to all their sets on the web. See this
page
for author, title or custom search. Once you know
the series title and volume number, you can check our
catalog for the location. Keep in mind, CSUSM does not
own all the series indexed, but we do have the major
sets.
Circulating Books (check out and take
home)
Find books on your topic by
using KEYWORD or subject searches. Some books are now
available in full text through the catalog. When you see a
WWW connection offered, click on that link to read the
book online (access is in 2 hour increments.)
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! |
Example of Catalog Screen
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 San Diego Circuit
This shows materials you may borrow from other San Diego
County universities. Either search from the CSUSM
catalog by clicking on OTHER CATALOGS in the beginning
search screen, or you can extend your CSUSM catalog
search to Circuit by clicking on the CIRCUIT button
towards the top of the screen. If you are already
looking at a specific item in the catalog, Circuit will
only search for that item, so be sure to work from the
keyword search results list to get broader results. You may request the item
online to be delivered to CSUSM for you. |
 Melvyl Catalog of
holdings for the entire University of California library
system. |
Journal Articles
Literature journals include some of the latest research in
the field and can be very helpful in your project. They
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 peer-reviewed prior to
publishing. NOTE: most databases do not
cover material published prior to the early 1980's, so you
may need to use print resources. Some databases do not offer
full text of the articles. Use the
 button
to check our other resources for full text.
Interlibrary Loan is available for documents that we
don't own.
Most Useful
MLA
(AKA Bibliography of the Modern Language Association.)
Includes abstracts of articles from critical literary and
language journals.
JSTOR
Full-text.
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. This collection offers articles published since the
late 1800's.
Project MUSE
Full text. Scholarly article collection
supplementing the holdings on many titles in JSTOR by
offering more currently published materials.
Contemporary Authors
Biographies and bibliographies of 90,000 authors in the U.S.
and around the world.
Twayne's Authors Series
This series provides literary criticism for approximately
600 authors, including critical introductions to the lives
and works of writers, the history and influence of literary
movements, or the development of literary genres.
Also Useful
Historical Abstracts
Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present.
Includes discussions on writers, in many cases discussing
their influence (by or on) others.
Oxford English Dictionary
A guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over
half a million words, both present and past. It includes
etymological analysis, listings of variant spellings, and
shows pronunciation using the International Phonetic
Alphabet.
Academic
Search Premier (via EbscoHost)
Full-text. A multi-disciplinary database
offering full text for nearly 1,850 scholarly journals,
including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed titles. Use
peer-reviewed limiter to focus on more scholarly materials.
WorldCat
The world's most comprehensive bibliography, with 40 million
records representing 400 languages. Covers mostly books,
showing the libraries that own each individual title.
Check the
CSUSM Literature Subject Guide for other suggestions
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 like those in languages you cannot read.
- Limit your searches 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--be aware of
alternate spellings used in earlier time periods (this is
where the Oxford English Dictionary comes in handy.)
- 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.
Some of the better sources on the internet:
Some primary sources on the Internet:
Citing Your Sources
As you write your paper, you'll need to cite passages and
ideas from the sources you've found. In order to cite
your resources properly, you need to follow the style
guide used by for this class, the MLA Handbook.
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MLA handbook for writers
of research papers. 6th ed. New York :
Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
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Need More?
Judith Downie,
Humanities Librarian
(760) 750-4374 OR come by my office (KEL
3424), I am available if my door is open (most of the
time) OR make an appointment by phone or
email.
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