Rhonda J Peterson
English 101
There are many resources to use for researching your topic. We have
books, magazine, journals, and newspaper articles in databases, and web
sites. Below are just a few of the resources to help you with your
research.
Books: Top
Most of the Literature books are in the P section of the Library.
We use Library of Congress system here. To Find any books use the
CCBC Dundalk Library Catalog. You can search by author, title, subject or
keyword.
Some reference books that might help you with literature, plays and
short stories are:
Short Story Criticism Ref PN 3321.S56
Short Stories for
Students Ref. PN 3373>S54
Drama Criticism Ref PN
1601.D59
Drama for Students Ref. PN 1701>D7
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama Ref. PN 1625.M3
Other Books :
Contemporary Literary Criticism Ref PN 771 .C 59
Twentieth-Century Literart Criticism Ref. PN 771 .G27
Novels for
Students Ref. PN 3365 .N6
Dictionary of Literary Biography
Ref. PS 221 .D5
These are all Multi volume series of books
Magazine, Journals, Newspaper Databases:
Top
Go to the
Magazine Journal and Newspaper Web Page to find information on databases
with magazines, journals and newspapers.
List of All of our databases and some of the public databases.
List of Databases by Subject.
Please see Instructions for off campus to
access these databases from home.
Best Databases for Literature are Gale's Literature Research Center
and LION. You can access these at
Literature Databases.
For other magazine and journal articles try the
General Interest Periodical Databases such as: SIRS, Proquest Direct,
Academic Search Priemer in EBSCO, CQ Researcher , and Opposing
Viewpoints.
For Newspapers see:
List of Newspaper Databases: These include full text articles in five
major newspapers and the Baltimore Sun in Proquest. There is no cost for
full text articles.
List of News Sites Online : These include a list of web news sites. After
two weeks any articles in the archives will only be available for a fee.
These include: News Index ,
The New York Times .
Web Sites with Articles that cost money:
Electric Library and Uncover
Search Tips for Databases - Remember to try
different search words to find information. Use your particular topic or
use broad terms
Research Tips: Top
On-line Writing Centers: Colorado
On-Line Writing Centers <http://writing.colostate.edu>,
Purdue On-line Writing Center <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/index.htm>
Other Links for Writing and Grammar: Online Reference:
Grammar & Writing Centers
How to Do Research - helpful link on research
How to Write a Research Paper - From OCLC Hot
Topics - June 5, 2002
Citing Sources -Make sure you use the correct
citation for your research material.
Web Search: Top
Use Evaluative Web Guides, such as
Librarian's Index to the Internet, and Subject
Directories such as Yahoo to find web sites on your topic.
Use
Search Engines, such as Google to
focus your search for web sites. They will give you links to more
specific information.
To get better results connect your terms with the Boolean term
"and"(ex:cloning and ethics,) or put quotes around a phrase (ex:"genetic
engineering".)
Performing Precise Searches on web searching
If you are sitting at a computer with a browser, such as Netscape or
Internet Explorer, you can begin working on your topic right now by
accessing one of the popular search engines described below. Here is the
list of frequently used web sites search tools that you can use for
researching topics:
Search the Web: List the different tools to
help you search for information.
Search engines:
List many different search engines such as:
AltaVista, AskJeeves,
Google, Hot Bot,
Northern Light, Excite .
Meta Search Engine: List sites that use other search engines. Such as
Vivisimo, Dogpile . The individual
search engines are better to use.
For comparison of search engines use :
Search Engine ShowDown by Greg Nottes and
Search Engine Watch by Danny Sullivan.
Evaluate your material for its relevance and authenticity. See
evaluation criteria for web sites.
Suggested Web Sites: Top
Many of these sites were from the Librarians'
Index to the Internet
Literature and Literary Criticism Web
Sites: Top
Many web site links for authors can be found in the Literature databases.
The *IPL Literary Criticism
Collection contains critical and biographical websites about authors
and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by
nationality and literary period.
LitLinks -
Within the genres of fiction, poetry, essays, drama, and critical theory
are lists of authors, each with a short list of annotated links to Web
sites followed by a brief biography taken from one of the Bedford/St.
Martin's reference texts. Additionally there are links to information on
literary periods, from medieval to contemporary. Although some links may
be broken, the many that work lead to authoritative information on the
author or literary period. http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/
Literary Index
(Gale Group) - An author and title index to "109 literature products
from Gale Group and the imprints Charles Scribner's Sons, St. James
Press, and Twayne Publishers." Contains over 135,000 authors, including
pseudonyms and variant names, and over 165,000 titles. Search by author,
title, nationality, and birth and death dates. The major indexed works,
which include the various Gale Contemporary Authors and Literary
Criticism titles, contain biographies and critical essays and may be
found in most larger libraries. http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex
General Social Issues Sites:
*denotes better sites Top
Librarians' Index to the Internet - Links to
Society and Social Issues
*Public Agenda Online -
http://www.publicagenda.org/ Check the
Issues Guide tab for information on different issues. Subtitled "the
journalist's inside source for public opinion and policy analysis," this
site addresses many controversial issues: abortion, America's global
role, crime, the economy, education, the government, the family, the
federal budget, gambling, health care, illegal drugs, immigration,
Internet speech / privacy, Medicare, race, right to die, social
security, and welfare. Extensive information on each issue includes an
overview, facts and trends, different perspectives, links to news
stories, and results of public opinion polls.
*Social Issues
- http://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/lib/homework/sochc.html A part of the
Multnomah County Library Homework Center, this webliography was created
for "middle and high school students researching current social issues
from multiple perspectives." The three dozen highly relevant topics
include: abortion; affirmative action; AIDS; animal rights; capital
punishment; censorship; child labor; children's rights; civil rights;
creation science vs. evolution; drugs and drug abuse; drunk driving;
euthanasia & assisted suicide; famine; flag burning; gangs; gender
issues; genetic engineering; global warming; homelessness;
homosexuality; immigration; national debate topic; organ & body
donation; prayer in schools; sweatshops; violence in schools; welfare;
and world population.
National Issues.com
http://nationalissues.com/ This nonpartisan Web site promises "no spin"
on the current issues it summarizes. Materials of national importance
are gathered from think tanks, news sources, advocacy groups, and policy
analysts and presented in summary form with links to sources for more
information. Both sides are presented on such topics as educational
issues (vouchers, charter and magnet schools, teacher accountability),
gun control, privatization of social security, taxes (flat, inheritance,
sales), foreign policy, and defense.
University
of Amsterdam links to Sociological Subject areas
Social Issues - Public Opinion & Information
Common Cause This site is a
lobbying organization whose main goal is to make "our government more
accountable to its citizens." It does not support any of the political
parties, but works for government reform. Its "grassroots activists
lobby lawmakers on pending legislation, write letters to the editor and
op-ed pieces for their local newspapers," about various issues. The site
provides full text of their studies, reports, and releases on their
legislative battles. The site index provides an easy way to browse the
subjects. Searchable
Speak Out .com. - ( Click
on Activism Center on left) Politics , activism and political issues
The Gallup Organization (Use the *
Focus page for In depth analysis on different topics ) Established in 1935
by Dr. George H. Gallup (1901-1984), the Gallup Organization is best
known for its public opinion polls, which provide "measurement and
analysis of people's attitudes, opinions, and behavior." This searchable
site provides a full-text poll archive on various topics. Click on
Newsflash for a daily update on politics, business, and social issues in
the latest polls.(Free subscription)
Subject Directory Links to Social Issues
Internet
Public Library Social Issues - links to social issues, society and
social organizations from the Internet Public Library.
Google Society
Issues - links to issues in society. Web Sites are not evaluated but
are put in a useful category.
Other Web
Sites: Top
In some cases, instead of browsing through a search engine like those
above, you may wish to go directly to a reliable and relevant site. Each
of these sites offers links to other relevant sites:
ERIC
<http://www.cal.org/ericcll>
The Library of Congress
<http://lcweb.loc.gov>
US Government Printing Office
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
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