literary periods, 1800-present english 2301 20 february 2014 jeff lilburn english literature...

Literary Periods, 1800-PresentEnglish 2301

20 February 2014

Jeff LilburnEnglish Literature LibrarianMount Allison University Libraries & Archives

Today’s Class

• Where to find appropriate secondary resources• What is peer-review• How to search library catalogues and

article databases (to find books & articles)• Search Strategy and Keyword Selection

Primary Sources

• A primary source provides first-hand information on the topic.

• The author or artist personally participated in the event under discussion, such as a science experiment, a humanitarian mission, or the creation of a work of art.

Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources present an argument, interpretation, conclusion, or summary based on information found in primary sources.

In Literary Studies

• Examples of primary sources?

In Literary Studies

• Examples of primary sources?…A novel, short story, poem or play

In Literary Studies

• Examples of primary sources?…A novel, short story, poem or play

• Examples of secondary sources?

In Literary Studies

• Examples of primary sources?…A novel, short story, poem, play

• Examples of secondary sources? Criticism and analysis of literary works, such as:

…A book about the plays of David Mamet…A scholarly journal article about Hamlet…A book chapter about Virginia Woolf’s novels

_____Source for previous slides (and where to find more information and examples):

– Primary and Secondary Resources: A Research Guide, http://www.mta.ca/library/primary_secondary.html

http://www.mta.ca/library/primary_secondary.html

What is a Scholarly Source?

• Keep in mind that your assignment asks you to annotate the sources you use

• Your annotations will need to include evidence of the scholarly authority of each source

• Read your assignment instructions carefully

What is a Scholarly Source?• Usually written by experts in the field (look for:

credentials, author affiliations)• Usually peer-reviewed (critically assessed by other

scholars and experts in the field prior to publication)

• Engages and builds on previous research on the same subject (see next bullet)

• Always cites all sources quoted or referenced in the book or paper (articles and books aimed at a non-academic audience don’t normally do this)

What is a Scholarly Source?• Generally published in a peer-reviewed

journal (articles) or by a university press or publisher specializing in scholarly works (e.g.: Oxford University Press)

• Makes a contribution to the field (presents an original argument or interpretation)

What is Peer Review?

What is Peer Review?

“Scrutinizing Science: Peer Review.” Understanding Science. University of California Museum of Paleontology. 4 October 2011 <http://www.understandingscience.org/article/alvarez_01>.

Most Common Scholarly Secondary sources in Literary Studies?

• Books, such as a single-author book about the works of Margaret Atwood.

• Book chapters, such as essays published as chapters in edited collections (e.g. The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood)

• Journal articles (articles published in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals)

Where to find Secondary Sources

Mount A Library Catalogue– Use to find books, ebooks, and book chapters (also

movies, music, government publications, and more)

Library Databases (such as the MLA Database, JSTOR, Project Muse, ProQuest)– Use to find articles in scholarly journals (and, in some

cases, in magazines and newspapers; in some cases books & book chapters)

The MtA Library Catalogue

• A catalogue of what’s available at our library.

• Use to find books, ebooks, movies, journals, magazines, newspapers and more…

• But not articles. More on this later.

Known-item Searching

• When you already know the title or author name of a book, you can search by TITLE or by AUTHOR.

• This type of search is called a Starts With, or Browse search (it permits you to browse an alphabetical list of titles, authors, etc.)

Examples:

–Title: Mill on the Floss (omit initial articles)–Author: Eliot, George (last name first)

Keyword Searching:Finding Books About a Topic or Author

• Search for books on a topic or for books *about* an author or his/her works

• Search for a word, words or a phrase anywhere in the library catalogue record (eg: words from the author, title, subject, and publisher fields, etc.).

• Combine words and phrases using AND, OR, NOTExamples:

eliot and waste land and modernismatwood and (gender or women or men)

Example (keyword):richler and biography

Example (Title):Jane Eyre


Example (Title):Northanger Abbey



Call Number

Click for More Detail

Title, Author, Publisher, Year of publication



Call Number

More Detail

Title, Author, Publisher, Year of publication

Subject Headings

Some records (but not this one) include a “Contents” note that provides the Table of Contents (chapter titles).

This is more common for collections of essays (edited anthologies) than it is for single-author books such as this one.



Known-item search: Author

Searching by Subject

• Subject searches use Library of Congress SUBJECT HEADINGS.

• These are standardized headings assigned to a book when it is published to describe what the book is about.

• A single book may have just one or, more likely, several different Subject Headings.

Author names can be used as subjects• You can search by Subject using an author’s

name to find books about that author.

Subject Headings:

CLICK!

Finding Articles

Where to search for Journal Articles

Articles are NOT indexed in the Library Catalogue. • So: you cannot use the catalogue to find articles.

Articles are indexed in various library databases, such as:• The MLA Database• Project Muse, JSTOR, ProQuest…• And other databases listed here: Indexes and

Databases: English Literature

MLA Database

• Index to scholarly research in several languages covering topics in language, literature, linguistics, folklore and film.

• Also indexes (selectively) books and essays published in edited collections (chapters).

• Not a full-text database, but will help you identify articles (and books, chapters…) that we may have in print or in another database (such as JSTOR, Project Muse).

MLA Database

In case you were wondering…

• Yes, the “MLA” in the name of this database is the same as that in the MLA Handbook, and MLA citation style (Modern Language Association).

• No, the MLA Database does not use MLA Style.

You will have to supply the Style.

atwood and oryx and crake

MLA Database Main Search page


MLA Main Search page



Take time to review and assess your search results to find the items that are most relevant to you.



These Subject Terms help describe what the article is about and they are clickable, like “tags.”



How to find out if this article is available at the Library?



Where to look to find out if the journal is available in digital format

Description of the volumes we have in print format. The Library does not have print issues from 2010.

Journal Title



Click!

RECAP: Finding Articles Once You Have a Citation

(but don’t yet have the full text)

Use the Library Catalogue and/or Journal Finder to search for the title of the journal (not title of the article).

Sample citation:

Stewart, Alan. "Shakespeare And The Carriers." Shakespeare Quarterly 58.4 (2007): 431-464.

This journal is available in four library databases. Note that the years available vary from one database to another.

Mount A. Libraries Journal Finder


Issues for 2007 (vol 58)

Interlibrary Loan

When the book or article you need isn’t available…

You can request them using the library’s interlibrary loan service.

Other Databases

• JSTOR, Project Muse, Wiley Online, Oxford Journals Online, ProQuest, Taylor & Francis and more– All of these are searchable and include full-text

access to scholarly articles

JSTOR Advanced Search Page

Can limit to one or several of the 328 individual journals in Language & Literature

Keyword Selection &Search Strategy

• When starting a search:– Identify the “key” words that best describe your

topic. – Then, try to think of related words (synonyms,

broader or more specific terms, etc.)– Try to account for variations in spelling and

language (e.g. theatre/theater, catalog/catalogue)

Keyword Selection

Sample essay topic:

Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works of American playwrights.

What are the relevant keywords?

Keyword Selection

Sample essay topic:

Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works of American playwrights.

However…Keyword search:

poor and american and playwrights = 0 items !

Keyword Selection

What to do…Try using synonyms, related words (broader or

more specific), variant spellings (theatre, theater), etc.

In other words: try to account for the various ways different authors may express the same or similar ideas or topics.

Keyword Selection

Our keywords: Poor:American:Playwrights:

Suggest synonyms, related words, etc.

Keyword Selection

Our original keyword search:poor and american and playwrights = 0 items

Using a few synonyms and related words:(poor or poverty or class) and (america$ or

united states) and (play$ or drama or theatre or theater) = 55 items!

Keyword selection matters. Search strategy matters.

A few tips:• Don’t rely on just one or two searches• The first words used to describe a topic are

probably not the only words you could use to search for information on that topic

• Take time to think about other ways to search for information on your topic (to find items that were not retrieved the first time)

• The sources you find first or most easily may or may not be the best sources for your topic

Keyword Search Tip!

Truncation Symbol• $ in the Library Catalogue• * in most other library databasesExample:

Canad$ will find: Canada, Canadian, Canadians, Canadiana…

Annotated Bibliographies

• Place your annotation immediately after the citation – do not begin on a new line or new paragraph.

• Formatting Guidelines: see MLA Handbook section 5.3.1 and 5.3.3

• For more examples, see the Concordia Libraries How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography guide

https://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/annotatedbibliog.php

Annotated Bibliographies: MLA Handbook 5.3.1

“An annotated bibliography, also called Annotated List of Works Cited, contains descriptive or evaluative comments on the sources.”Example:

Harbord, Janet. The Evolution of Film: Rethinking Film Studies. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Print. A synthesis of classic film theory and an examination of the contemporary situation of film studies that draws on recent scholarship in philosophy, anthropology, and media studies.

How to Get Help

• Ask me: [email protected] • Research Help Desk– In Person: Mon.-Thurs. 9-5, 6:30-10; Fri. 10:30-

4:30; Sun. 1:00-4:30– Email: [email protected]– Live Chat: Chat link on the Libraries’ home page– Phone: 364-2564

• Look for the “Ask a Librarian” link on the Library’s home page

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mta.ca/library/ask_a_librarian.html

Examples of Primary Sources:

• Original research (results of an experiment, an archeological dig)

• Government Records (Parliamentary Proceedings, Bills, Acts)

• Personal works (diaries, letters)• Works of Art (paintings, sculptures,

photographs)

Examples of Secondary Sources:

• A biography • A book review• Commentary, criticism or analysis (of a work

of music or a work of art)• Histories

Academic Integrity:Using Information Ethically

• Know how to cite your sources– MLA Citation Style• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th

edition (multiple copies available at LB 2369 .G53 2009 in the library’s reference collection)• MLA Quick Guides available on the Library website’s

(click on How-to and Help Guides)

– Other commonly used styles include APA and Chicago


• Why cite?


• Why cite?– To give credit where credit is due (i.e.

acknowledge the contributions of others)– To permit your reader to find the sources you used– To provide evidence that you have consulted and

engaged with relevant scholarship– To ensure that your reader can distinguish your

ideas from those of others

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of taking credit for someone else’s work.

Do you like my painting? I painted

it, really I did!

da Vinci, Leonardo . Mona Lisa. 1503-1506. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Avoiding Plagiarism• The basic idea is to give credit where credit is

due. This is done by providing a citation whenever you are using someone else’s words, or paraphrasing a portion of their ideas.

When examining life, one could say that all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

Plagiarism

As Shakespeare said, “all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” (AYL 2.7.139-40)

Not Plagiarism

Using Web Sources• Open Access Journals– Google Scholar, Directory of Open Access Journals,

Open Access Collections page• How to determine if the information you found

from a website is reputable– Consider things like:

• Who is the author? A scholar, expert, don’t know? • Who is responsible for the site? A university? • Are any sources cited? Are they scholarly? • Is the information current? • Is there enough information available for you to write a

proper citation? If no, why not?

How to Evaluate Search Results• Do the resources you have found fit your requirements? • Why do you want to use this information?• Is there enough bibliographical information on the page to

form a proper citation? • Are factual claims backed up with evidence and

supporting references?• Do other sites and sources seem to say the same thing or

is there dissention?• Are the arguments sound? Obvious bias? Is it out of date?

For more info: See the Evaluating Web Sources Guide

milton and paradise lostgender or women or men or masculinity


Chapter Title

Book Title


Chapter Title

Book Title

Title would appear here… if we had it.

We don’t have this book in our Collection, but you can still get itby submitting an interlibrary loanRequest.

literary periods, 1800-present english 2301 20 february 2014 jeff lilburn english literature...

Documents

interpretation slide

keyword selection slide

examples of secondary

northanger abbey slide

year of publication

author search

jane eyre slide

biography example title