Transcript Introduction to Research Methods 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)
• Research Strategies (how to make the best
use of library resources; search tips!)
• How to distinguish scholarly from nonscholarly sources
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 livre choisi)
example: the first published edition of Albert Camus’ novel La
Peste.
• Three Scholarly Journal Articles or Book Chapters or Books
(articles ou chapitres de livres ou livres critiques) that discuss
a specific subject associated with your book
examples:
– an article about the treatment of artists in Amélie Nothomb’s Robert
des noms propres published in the journal French Studies;
– a chapter about Marcel Proust’s narrative technique published in the
book, The Cambridge Companion to Proust.
Library Resources
• Mt.A Library Catalogue
– Use to find critical works (livres critiques, 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
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).
How to Find Books
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
Finding Books
Finding Books
Finding Books
Finding Books
Finding Books
Finding Articles
Finding Articles
You cannot search for articles in the
Library Catalogue…
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 disciplinespecific.
– Most provide access to the full text of articles; others
simply serve as an index.
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
Finding Articles
Finding Articles
Finding Articles
Finding Articles
Finding Articles
Finding Articles
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’s Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie
Poulain.” The French Review 84.1 (2011): 504-15.
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’s Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie
Poulain.” The French Review 84.1 (2011): 504-15.
To Find out if the Library has a
Particular Journal: Catalogue
To Find out if the Library has a
Particular Journal: Catalogue
Journal Finder
To Find out if the Library has a
Particular Journal: Journal Finder
To Find out if the Library has a
Particular Journal
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.
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.)
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.”
Keyword Selection
Sample essay topic:
Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works
of American playwrights.
What are the relevant keywords?
Keyword Selection
Sample essay topic:
Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works
of American playwrights.
What are the relevant keywords?
Keyword Selection
However…
A search in the Library Catalogue for “poor and
american and playwrights” yields ZERO
results.
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.
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
Keyword Selection
Sample topic (similar to the ones on your
recherche bibliographique):
• Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisode
a) analyse temporelle
What are the relevant keywords?
Keyword Selection
Sample topic (similar to the ones on your
recherche bibliographique):
• Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisode
a) analyse temporelle
Keyword Selection
Sample topic (similar to the ones on your
recherche bibliographique):
• Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisode
a) analyse temporelle
MLA search:
aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1
Keyword Selection
Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherche
bibliographique):
•
Hubert Acquin, Prochain épisode
a) analyse temporelle
MLA search:
S1 = aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1
S2 = aquin AND prochain episode AND (temporelle OR temps
OR time) = 4
Scholarly vs. Non-scholarly
Secondary 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 Presse or Macleans magazine, for
example, would not be considered a scholarly
source.
• Why not?
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)
What is a Scholarly Journal Article?
What to look for
Scholarly 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?
What about book reviews?
• Scholarly or non-Scholarly?
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
Search Strategy Tips
Search Strategy Tips
Search Strategy Tips
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: [email protected]
Types of References &
How to Find Them
• A Scholarly Monograph (un livre critique)
Where to search: Library Catalogue, other library catalogues
• A First Edition (première édition)
Where to search: Reference book* (+ Library
Catalogue/WorldCat)
* e.g. Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires du Québec or Dictionnaire des
écrivains de langue française
• Three Scholarly Journal Articles or Book Chapters or Books
(articles ou chapitres ou livres critiques)
Where to search for articles: Library databases (such as the MLA
database)
Where to search for book chapters and books: Library Catalogue/
WorldCat; certain library databases (such as MLA)
Finding Articles: Recap
You cannot search for articles in the Library Catalogue.
 Use a Journal Index/Library Database (e.g. MLA)
to search for, identify and select articles on a
topic.
The full text of the article may be available in the
database you search, or there may be a link to
the full text. If not…
 Check the Library Catalogue and/or Journal
Finder to find out if the library has the journal in
which the article appears
Search Strategies
Searching for articles (MLA, other databases):
• You can generally use more specific search terms.
example:
quebec* and (“political identity” or “identite politique”) and (novel
or roman)
Searching for books (library catalogue):
• You may need to use less specific search terms
examples:
quebec$ and politi$ and (novel or roman)
quebec$ and identit$ and (literature or litterature)
Print Indexes
• Serve the same purpose as online databases:
an index to published literature in a particular
field of study (eg. French-language literature)
• Usually appear annually – one volume
represents one (and only one) year’s worth of
publications (i.e. volumes are not cumulative)
• To search for articles published in the last five
years, you would have to consult five volumes
Print Indexes
• Organized alphabetically by author: to find
articles about Michel Tremblay, look up
Tremblay
• Under the author’s name will appear a list of
articles, books or book chapters about that
author’s works.
Check the list to see if any are about your
novel and about the specific subject(s)
you’ve been assigned.
Print Indexes
• Each entry (reference) will have an entry
number (numéro de l’entrée).
• These numbers identify each item within the
index and are used for cross-references.
• Your assignment asks you to provide the entry
number for references you find in print
indexes.