Library research class for Amanda Springs's class at Barnard College, librarian Jenna Freedman

1. Library Research for
First Year English:
The Americas
Spring 2014
Professor Amanda Springs
Librarian Jenna Freedman

2. library.barnard.edu
portal to all knowledge.
resources specifically for YOU
http://library.barnard.edu/find-
books/guides/ENGL/ENGLX1201001

3. library.barnard.edu/contact
library.barnard.edu/personal-librarians
• IM BarnardReference:
AOL, Google, Yahoo
• Text 386.227.6273 (386.BARNARD)
we can help you

4. research
the conversation among scholars

5. recontextualize & reframe
• Literary/critical
• Historical
• Theoretical

6. articles
• articles
• e-books
• dissertations
• statistics
• other materials
catalog
• books, e-
books, serials, media
materials, microforms, etc
.
• Truncation &
• Send to phone

7. Zotero
• Manages citations
• Screen captures
• Pdfs
• Metadata
• Generates bibliographies, most citation styles
• Word processing plug-in
• Sync
• Groups

8. Literary, critical,
or close reading
• Include name of text or
author in search
• Add terms to explore an
aspect of the text that
interests you
• E.g., characters, themes,
places, etc.
8
Image from ManageWP blog post by Tom Ewer

9. Historical
• Include words or phrases
important to historical
context
– date-specific (19th or
nineteenth century)
– Geographical (england)
– Topical term (wom*)
• Do not include text title or
author
9
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Joseon Chest

10. Theoretical
• Include words or phrases
related to your theorist or
lens
– Select discipline specific
databases (e.g., gender
studies, philosophy, psychol
ogy, etc.)
– Use theorist's name or
philosophy in search term in
interdisciplinary database
– Consider reference sources
• You may or may not include
text title or author
10
Cover from editor's webpage.

11. read
stacks
Use CLIO (catalog) to find the call number for a book that interests you and
find it in the stacks
• A-M 3rd floor
• N-Z 2nd floor
lab
Conduct articles searches, using Find Articles, or one of the individual
databases recommended on the guide.

12. review
What did you find?
Is it worth using?
• Relevance
• Authority
• Time
• Scope
• Audience

13. Help me review, revise & rehearse...
feedback form