Frenchgradsession2008newb

Library Researchfor

French Studies Graduate Students

Christy Sich, French Studies Librarian

Marni Harrington, Linguistics Librarian

October 28th, 2008

Christy’s Literary Anecdote

Everything you ever wanted to know about the library…

Learning Outcomes

• Develop Effective Search Strategies• Locate appropriate French Studies Research Tools:

– Reference Works

– Indexes

– Databases

• Request library materials beyond the library• Organize your research with a nifty web tool

Searching Overview

Refine or expand the search.

Define the question.

Analyze the concepts.

Create a logical search strategy using the available tools.

Run the search & view the results.

Types of Reference Tools

• Reference books are located on the main floor in Weldon library

• These include:– dictionaries (both language & biographical)– encyclopaedias– handbooks– plot summaries– bibliographies– indexes

Literature Criticism Online

• Contemporary Literary Criticism

• Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism

• Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism

• Literature Criticism from 1400–1800

• Shakespearean Criticism

• Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism

• Poetry Criticism

• Short Story Criticism

• Drama Criticism

• Children's Literature Review

Enough volumes to fill

230 feet of shelf sp

ace!

Literature Criticism Online

If off-campus, connect here first

46 pages!

Bibliographies• Locating a key bibliography is a great way to get started. You

can find bibliographies in the library catalogue, as well as some databases.

• Keyword search: clézio AND bibliography OR• Advanced search: clézio AND s:bibliography [subject search]

Defining Your Topic

French writer, J.M.G Le Clézio recently won the nobel prize for literature…I think I will write about him…

Creating a Search Chart (class discussion)

“Mobility & Identity in the works of J.M.G. Le Clézio”…that sounds like a good topic

Christy’s Search Chart

Your Turn (5 min)

•Identify keywords in your topic and create a quick search chart.

•Look up your author in Literature Criticism Online OR locate a key bibliography in the catalogue.

For your topic:

Boolean Operators in Databases

• Inventor of Boolean algebra• Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT• You can use these in databases such as MLA

International Bibliography, Google, and the library catalogue

The Mighty MLA

• Contains over 1.7 million records that pertain specifically to language and literature.

• Includes publications not available on the Web. • Professional indexing staff and scholars • Materials covered come from reputable publishers in over one

hundred countries. • Indexers use controlled vocabulary as subject headings

• MLA Help for users: Mondays through Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at [email protected] or 646 576-5053.

Why is searching the MLA International Bibliography better than searching Google?

Source: Modern Language Association. “About the Database." 2005. September 16, 2008 <http://www.mla.org/publications/bibliography/howtouse_mlabiblio/about_the_database#why>.

But contact Christy first!

(that’s what they pay her for).

Access MLA (live)

Searching MLA (live)

Hmm…3 results is not many…maybe I shouldbroaden my results

Ah, 211 is morepromising…

How do I get this article?

Your Turn (8 min)

• Try a keyword search in MLA

• Depending on your results, try adding or removing keywords from the search

• Are there any appropriate DESCRIPTOR terms that you should jot down?

• Record at least one interesting citation (we will use this citation later)

Key Databases

• Dissertation Abstracts Online

• Web of Science– Arts & Humanities Citation Index– Social Science Citation Index

• Repére (French database)

• Érudit (Full text French database)

Tracking Research Forwards & Backwards

This is a good article…I should check the references…

Web of Science This looks perfect!

8 possiblereferences

Your Turn (4 min)

Using the citation you found in MLA, do a Cited Ref Search in Web of Science to see if this author has been cited – how many times?

Érudit

• Digital Publishing Site (1998)

• Joint effort of UdeM, Laval, & UQAM

• Multilingual search interface

• Indexes 4 types of Canadian documents: – Journals, ebooks, theses & documents

• Database contains full text of 67 journals

• Option to search Persée

Érudit

Érudit

Other Great Databases• Arts & Humanities Citation Index• Humanities Abstracts• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts• Bibliography of the History of Art• Philosopher’s Index• ITER• Historical Abstracts• America: History & Life (includes Canadian content)• Google Scholar

Key Indexes NOT online yet

The Klapp DBW Reference Z2171 .B56

And now for a little more mathematics…

29 references on Le Clézio in 1997 volume

10 references duplicated in MLA

29 – 10 = 19

19 x 10yrs = 190

That is an estimated additional 190 articles on Le Clézio not indexed by MLA…

Trusty Library Catalogue

Trusty Library Catalogue

Western’s collection is really great,

but what if I find a book in MLA that Western doesn’t have?

Accessing External Collections

• The library will track down material for you that we don’t have in our own collection

• The service is called Interlibrary loans Service & RACER

Accessing External Collections

RefWorks

Login or create an account

Refworks (4 min)

•Create a RefWorks account

•Use your UWO EMAIL address ie) [email protected] when creating an account

•You will be issued a “group code” via email that will allow you to access RefWorks from off campus.

Questions on the Board

Any other Questions?Thanks for coming