1 / 68

Introduction to Library Resources and Research Strategies in Literary Studies

Introduction to Library Resources and Research Strategies in Literary Studies. French 2601. Today’s class. Types of references needed for your recherche bibilographique Library Resources (how to find the references you need for your assignment)

nerys
Download Presentation

Introduction to Library Resources and Research Strategies in Literary Studies

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Introduction to Library Resources and Research Strategiesin Literary Studies French 2601

  2. Today’s class • Types of references needed for your recherchebibilographique • Library Resources (how to find the references you need for your assignment) • Research Strategies (how to make the best use of library resources; search tips!) • How to distinguish scholarly from non-scholarly sources

  3. Types of References • A Scholarly Monograph (un livre critique générale)example: a book about the novels of Annie Ernaux. • A First Edition (la première édition du livrechoisi)example: the first published edition of Albert Camus’ novel La Peste. • Three Scholarly Journal Articles or Book Chapters or Books (articles ouchapitres de livresoulivres critiques) that discuss a specific subject associated with your book examples: • an article about the treatment of artists in AmélieNothomb’sRobert des nomspropres published in the journal French Studies; • a chapter about Marcel Proust’s narrative technique published in the book, The Cambridge Companion to Proust.

  4. Library Resources • Mt.A Library Catalogue • Use to find critical works (livrescritiques, chapitres) about an author and her/his literary writings; • Library Databases (e.g. MLA) • Use to find scholarly journal articles (also, in some cases, books and chapters) • Reference Books (e.g. Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires du Québec or Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française) • May help you identify first edition of a novel

  5. Library Resources To find out if an article is available at our library once you have a citation: • Use the Library Catalogue and/or Journal Finder to search for the title of the journal (not title of the article).

  6. How to Find Books

  7. How to Find Books • Mount Allison Library Catalogue Also: • Other university library catalogues, WorldCat • Other books (scan the bibliographies of books you’ve already found) • Browsing library shelves

  8. Finding Books

  9. Finding Books

  10. Finding Books

  11. Finding Books

  12. Finding Books

  13. Finding Articles

  14. Finding Articles You cannot search for articles in the Library Catalogue…

  15. Finding Articles • To search for articles: Use a library database These databases serve as an index to articles published in scholarly journals (and also, in some cases, to books and book chapters). The library provides access to several dozen databases. • Some are multidisciplinary, others are discipline-specific. • Most provide access to the full text of articles; others simply serve as an index.

  16. Finding Articles Examples of library databases for French literary studies: • MLA International Bibliography(aka, the MLA Database),Repère, Erudit • also: JSTOR, Project Muse, CBCA, and more

  17. Finding Articles

  18. Finding Articles

  19. Finding Articles

  20. Finding Articles

  21. Finding Articles

  22. Finding Articles

  23. Finding Articles To find out if an article is available at our library (once you have a citation): • Use the Library Catalogue and/or Journal Finder to search for the title of the journal (not title of the article). Sample citation for a journal article: Oscherwitz, Danya. “Once Upon a Time that Never Was: Jean-Pierre Jeunet’sLe Fabuleux Destin d’AmeliePoulain.” The French Review 84.1 (2011): 504-15.

  24. Finding Articles To find out if an article is available at our library (once you have a citation): • Use the Library Catalogue and/or Journal Finder to search for the title of the journal (not title of the article). Sample citation for a journal article: Oscherwitz, Danya. “Once Upon a Time that Never Was: Jean-Pierre Jeunet’sLe Fabuleux Destin d’AmeliePoulain.” The French Review 84.1 (2011): 504-15.

  25. To Find out if the Library has a Particular Journal: Catalogue

  26. To Find out if the Library has a Particular Journal: Catalogue

  27. Journal Finder

  28. To Find out if the Library has a Particular Journal: Journal Finder

  29. To Find out if the Library has a Particular Journal

  30. Search Tip Truncation Symbol • $ in the Library Catalogue • * in most other library databases (including MLA) Example: Canad$ will find: Canada, Canadian, Canadians, Canadiana, canadienne, etc.

  31. Search Strategies Searching for French-language books and articles • Use French search terms (keywords) • Limit your search to French-language material • Search databases with French-language content (such as MLA, Erudit, Repère, etc.)

  32. Keyword Selection The information you find in a library catalogue or database (and online) is directly related to the search terms (keywords) that you use. • A search for “quebecois plays” will retrieve different results than a search for “theatre and quebec.”

  33. Keyword Selection Sample essay topic: Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works of American playwrights. What are the relevant keywords?

  34. Keyword Selection Sample essay topic: Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works of Americanplaywrights. What are the relevant keywords?

  35. Keyword Selection However… A search in the Library Catalogue for “poor and american and playwrights” yields ZERO results.

  36. Keyword Selection However… A search in the Library Catalogue for “poor and american and playwrights” yields zero results. Try using: synonyms, related words, variant spellings, French words, etc. In other words: try to account for the various ways different authors may express the same or similar ideas, topics, concepts, etc.

  37. Keyword Selection Original search: poor and american and playwrights = 0 items Search using synonyms and related words: (poor or poverty or class) and (america$ or united states) and (play$ or drama or theatre or theater) = 46 items

  38. Keyword Selection Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherchebibliographique): • Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisodea) analysetemporelle What are the relevant keywords?

  39. Keyword Selection Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherchebibliographique): • Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisodea) analysetemporelle

  40. Keyword Selection Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherchebibliographique): • Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisodea) analysetemporelle MLA search: aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1

  41. Keyword Selection Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherchebibliographique): • Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisodea) analysetemporelle MLA search: S1 = aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1 S2 = aquinAND prochain episode AND (temporelle OR temps OR time) = 4

  42. Scholarly vs. Non-scholarlySecondary Sources • Not every book or article about a literary work is necessarily (or automatically) a scholarly source. • An article about one of Michel Tremblay’s plays published in La PresseorMacleansmagazine, for example, would not be considered a scholarly source. • Why not?

  43. What is a Scholarly Journal Article? • Generally written by scholars specializing in the field • Engage with and build on existing research (i.e. they cite all of the sources they used) • Make a contribution to the field (present an original argument or interpretation) • Generally peer-reviewed (critically assessed by other scholars prior to publication)

  44. What is a Scholarly Journal Article? What to look forScholarly Journal Articles: • Sometimes include an abstract (short summary) • Are generally 10 – 20 pages in length (on average) • Provide an author bio or author credentials or affiliations • Include a bibliography of all sources cited and/or extensive footnotes • Have a serious or sober look (not usually published on glossy paper, not heavily illustrated) • Peer review?

  45. What about book reviews? • Scholarly or non-Scholarly?

  46. What about book reviews? Scholarly or non-Scholarly? • Book reviews typically present one person’s opinion about a newly published book • Book reviews do not normally engage with (or cite) existing scholarship or attempt to present an argument or interpretation • Book reviews are generally much shorter than journal articles

  47. Search Strategy Tips

  48. Search Strategy Tips

  49. Search Strategy Tips

  50. Questions? Research Help Desk Hours: Monday - Thursday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm & 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm Friday: 10:30 am - 4:30 pm Sunday: 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm My Office: R.P. Bell Library M-11 (Reference Office, main floor) My email address: jlilburn@mta.ca

More Related