EXPL 145: rock your research paper Holly Hendrigan Liaison Librarian, Explorations

1. EXPL 145: rock your research paperHolly HendriganLiaison Librarian, Explorations

2. Today’s workshop By the end of this workshop, you will be able to • Find encyclopedia articles • Find books and book chapters • Find articles • Overcome obstacles • Know where to go for help if you need it

3. 3 scholarly sources

4. But not too scholarly… Fashioning the historical body: the political economy of denim In this cultural history of denim's emergence as a ubiquitous fashion element, coveted global commodity, and pre-eminent national icon, I argue that denim's significance derives not from its celebrated comfort and utility, nor from its symbolic value, but rather from its ability to naturalize the body through a uniquely historicizing experience of utility itself. Denim not only memorializes the history of the lived body in its patterns of fading and fraying, it also locates that body within a nationalist historiography plotted in terms of the interlocking figures of the laborer, the cowboy, and the countercultural rebel. Denim thus fashions the body as a potentially political site of authenticity and self-possession that is both culturally mediated yet also imagined to be liberated from the symbolic demands of culture itself. Such a reading of denim thus calls for a rethinking of the Marxist conception of the commodity fetish, while also complicating scholarly understandings of clothing as a semiotic instrument of self-expression.

5. EXPL 145 Course assignment guide • Linked from the main EXPL 145 guide • Start with “big picture” sources; then move on • Link to these slides

6. Start with encyclopedia articles Gale Virtual Reference Library: Wikipedia alternative • Historical overview • Bibliography source

7. Finding books/chapters Method 1: keyword searching in catalogue Eg “bicycle*”: 469results Narrow: add terms “Social aspects”

8. Catalogue tips Too many hits? add terms • “Social aspects” • “History” • “Environmental aspects” • “in popular culture” • “psychological aspects” • “in art”

9. Subject headings • Interested in the issue of overconsumption? • Search as keyword. See # 12: Psychology and consumer culture : the struggle for a good life in a materialistic world • Follow links at the bottom of the record

11. Searching databases • Research guides provide the best entry • Also: check their “Background information” tab for more specific encyclopedias • Search for books AND articles

12. Psych Info • Key in cell phones • Limit to books • Click on record #4: 'I love you, man': Drunk dialing motives and their impact on social cohesion.” From book Mobile communication: Bringing us together and tearing us apart.

14. Other databases • Academic Search Premier • Environment Complete • Sociological Abstracts

15. Database search tips • Use subject headings • Limit to peer-reviewed

16. Overcoming obstacles 1. Terms count. Brainstorm synonyms • Handbags OR purses • Bicycles OR bikes OR cycling • IPhone or cell phone or cellular telephone or smart phone or mobile telephone

17. 2. Be prepared to think broad Nothing on… • Handbags? • Cell phones? • Espresso machines

18. 3. Don’t marry your topic • Even in this age of information, many research gaps exist • It’s possible that no scholar has published on your topic • Mine a rich vein: leave the obscure for grad school

19. Interlibrary Loan: books 2 ways: 1. Traditional: Hit “Request items from other libraries” link from SFU Library home page (Link provided from EXPL 145 guide) 2. Recent: key in ISBN of book in Library Search Eg, Power of the Purse: retrieve the ISBN from Amazon.com; cut & paste into “Library Search” box

21. For more help… • Contact me: hah1@sfu.ca • F2F librarian help @ library: 10-6/10-5 Fri/Sat • AskAway: links from home page, databases • Text Us: 604.724.5898

22. Questions? Holly Hendrigan Liaison Librarian Fraser Library, SFU Surrey 778.782.8023