MLA Guide to Undergraduate Research in Literature
Second Edition
- Authors: Elizabeth Brookbank, H. Faye Christenberry
- Pages: 160
- Published: 2023
- ISBN: 9781603296298 (Paperback)
What makes a good research topic in a literature class? What does your professor mean by “peer-reviewed” sources? What should you do if you can’t find enough material? This approachable guide walks students through the process of research in literary studies, providing them with tools for responding successfully to course assignments.
Written by two experienced librarians, the guide introduces the resources available through college and university libraries and explains how to access the ones a student needs. It focuses on research in literature, identifying relevant databases and research guides and explaining different types of sources and the role each plays in researching and writing about a literary text. But it also contains helpful information for any student researcher, describing strategies for searching the web to find the most useful material and offering guidance on organizing research and documenting sources with MLA style.
Extensively updated and revised, the second edition emphasizes digital resources that can be accessed remotely, offers critical thinking strategies for evaluating sources, and includes more information on writing about audiovisual as well as written works.
Introduction (1)
1. Starting the Research Process (5)
Understanding Your Research Paper Assignment (6)
Developing a Topic (11)
Developing a Search Strategy (13)
The Research Process: Five Top Tips for Doing Better Research (19)
2. Searching Your Library Discovery System or Catalog (25)
Is This like Google? Your Library’s Discovery System (27)
The Library’s Special Language: Library of Congress Subject Headings (32)
Moving beyond the Basics (33)
Using Materials from Other Libraries (39)
Choosing the Right Library Sources for Your Assignment (41)
3. Searching Subject-Specific Databases (43)
How to Select the Right Database (44)
Subject-Specific Databases (47)
Advanced Searching in the MLA International Bibliography (50)
Interdisciplinary Databases (52)
4. Searching the Internet (59)
Finding Scholarship on the Internet (60)
Accessing Scholarship Online (63)
Searching Smarter: Search Engine Advanced Tools (65)
Evaluating Internet Sources (67)
Evaluating Library Sources (71)
5. Finding Reviews (75)
6. Using Contextual Primary Sources (83)
What Is a Primary Source? (83)
Periodicals as Primary Sources (85)
Audiovisual Media as a Primary Source (86)
Using Primary Sources in Literary Research (86)
Finding Primary Sources Using a Library Database or Catalog (89)
Finding Primary Sources Using the Internet (91)
7. Finding Background Information (95)
Library Sources for Biographical and Historical Information (96)
Internet Sources for Biographical and Historical Information (101)
Finding a Definition or the Source of a Quotation (106)
8. Managing Sources and Creating Your Bibliography (111)
Creating In-Text Citations and a Works-Cited List (112)
Organizing Your Research (116)
9. Guides to Research in Literature Written in English (121)
Harner’s Literary Research Guide (122)
Series on Literary Research from Scarecrow Press (123)
Appendix. A Selected Bibliography of Research Sources for Literature and Literary Studies in English (125)
Glossary (143)
Index (149)
