INTRODUCTION TO LIBRARY RESOURCES AND RESEARCH METHODS IN LITERARY STUDIES French 2601 Winter 2014 Jeff Lilburn

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!

TYPES OF REFERENCES A Scholarly Monograph (un livre critique générale) - e.g.: a book about the novels of Annie Ernaux. A First Edition (la première édition du livre choisi) - e.g.: 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 - an article about the depiction of artists in Amélie Nothomb’s Robert des noms propres published in the journal French Studies; - a chapter about Marcel Proust’s narrative technique in the book, The Cambridge Companion to Proust.

LIBRARY RESOURCES To search for books: - MtA Library Catalogue, Other Library Catalogues, WorldCat To search for articles (and books, book chapters): - Library Databases and Print Indexes  such as: MLA Database, French XX To search for information about an author or book (such as the date of a first edition) - Reference books  such as: Dictionnaire des écrivains de langues française; Dictionnaire littéraire des femmes de langues française…

HOW TO FIND BOOKS

Mount Allison Library Catalogue Also: Certain library databases and print indexes (MLA, French XX) Other university library catalogues, WorldCat Other books (scan the bibliographies of books you’ve already found) Browsing library shelves

FINDING BOOKS

Library of Congress Subject Headings

FINDING BOOKS

FINDING ARTICLES

You cannot search for article in the Library Catalogue…

FINDING ARTICLES To search for articles: Use library databases & print indexes These databases and print sources serve as indexes to articles published in scholarly journals (and, in some cases, to books and book chapters)

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 Examples of print indexes: French XX, Bibliographie d'histoire littéraire française

FINDING ARTICLES

Search Tip: Truncation Symbol * in most other library databases $ in the Library Catalogue Example: ameri* will find: america, american, americans, americana, americain, americaine, americaines, etc.

FINDING ARTICLES Sort by relevance? Relevance according to who?

FINDING ARTICLES

MtA Libraries Journal Finder

FINDING ARTICLES

FINDING ARTICLES: QUICK RECAP 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):

FINDING ARTICLES: QUICK RECAP 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):

TO FIND OUT IF THE LIBRARY HAS A PARTICULAR JOURNAL

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 Erudit, Repère, etc.)

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.

KEYWORD SELECTION A search for “canadian plays” will retrieve different results than a search for “theatre and canada.”  “Canadian plays” = 77 items  “theatre and Canada” = 239 items

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) = 45 items

KEYWORD SELECTION Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherche bibliographique): Hubert Aquin, Prochain épisode (analyse temporelle) What are the relevant keywords?

KEYWORD SELECTION Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherche bibliographique): Hubert Aquin, Prochain épisode (analyse temporelle) What are the relevant keywords?

KEYWORD SELECTION Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherche bibliographique): Hubert Aquin, Prochain épisode (analyse temporelle) MLA search: aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1

KEYWORD SELECTION Sample topic (similar to the ones on your recherche bibliographique): Hubert Aquin, Prochain épisode (analyse temporelle) MLA search: aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1 aquin AND prochain episode AND (temporelle OR temps OR time) = 4

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 address:

WHAT IS A SCHOLARLY SOURCE?  Usually written by experts in the field (look for: credentials, author affiliations)  Usually peer-reviewed (critically assessed by other scholars and experts in the field prior to publication)  Engages and builds on previous research on the same subject (see next bullet)  Always cites all sources quoted or referenced in the book or paper (articles and books aimed at a non-academic audience don’t normally do this)

WHAT IS A SCHOLARLY SOURCE?  Generally published in a peer-reviewed journal (articles) or by a university press or publisher specializing in scholarly works (e.g.: Oxford University Press)  Makes a contribution to the field (presents an original argument or interpretation)

WHAT IS PEER REVIEW?

“Scrutinizing Science: Peer Review.” Understanding Science. University of California Museum of Paleontology. 4 October 2011.

MOST COMMON SCHOLARLY SECONDARY SOURCES IN LITERARY STUDIES? Books, such as a single-author book about the works of Amélie Nothomb. Book chapters, such as essays published as chapters in edited collections (e.g. The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of Paris) Journal articles, such as articles published in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.