ENGL 841: STUDIES IN CANADIAN LITERATURE 7 JULY 2011 Holly Hendrigan, MATE liaison librarian at Fraser Library (Surrey)

Today’s workshop  Research metaphors  Assignment  Highlights from the ENGL 841 Course Assignment Guide  MLA Bibliography  “Elsewhere”  Help when you need it

Who is vaguely familiar with  English Literature research guide English Literature research guide

MLA bibliography

Fast Search

With the advent of remote access from home computers, research has become a lot more private. Students don't see their professors doing research anymore. I used to see my own professors spread out on tables in the library, jotting notes on index cards and looking thoroughly miserable. This helped me in my own work. (168) Professor X. In the basement of the ivory tower: confessions of an accidental academic. New York: Viking, 2011.

Research generally  Librarians purchase silos of resources  MOST silos are subject-specific (eg, English Literature, Biology, Psychology…) MLA Bibliography ERIC Psych Info BIOSIS Historical Abstracts

Silo field: Literature  Enter different silos depending on what you need MLA Bibliography Academic Search Literature Online Gale Literary Criticism Databases Combined EEBO

Research in Canadian Literature  The English Literature silo field might not provide you with adequate secondary sources  This presentation and research guide will point out some other places to look

Gold Standard in Literary Criticism Peer- reviewed article in a scholarly publication

On to the ENGL 841 Course GuideENGL 841 Course Guide

Fast Search  Fast Search: combines the Library catalogue with ~65% of our e-journal content  Purchased a really big silo  Good for reconnaissance missions (eg “Kootenay school”)  861 hits. But how many of them are good?  Need to check other silos

Deeper expeditions  Find appropriate databases through the ENGL 841 Course GuideENGL 841 Course Guide  “Where can I get this?” link searches the catalogue to check whether SFU has access to the journal through a different vendor

MLA International Bibliography  Easiest, most comprehensive source of “gold standard” articles  Excellent indexing  Warning: “International” means that some content is non-English “Comprehensive” includes dissertations, and sources not held by SFU Library

Essay research tip #1  Combine a theorist with “Canadian Literature” Combine a literary theory or theorist with keywords “Canadian Literature”

Tip #2: Mine bibliographies  Coats, Karen. Looking Glasses and Neverlands: Lacan, Desire and Subjectivity in Children's Literature. Iowa City: U of Iowa P,  Evans, Dylan. An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge,  MacCannell, Juliet Flower. Figuring Lacan: Criticism and the Cultural Unconscious. New York: Routledge,  Weber, Brenda R. "Confessions of a Kindred Spirit with an Academic Bent." Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture. Ed. Irene Gammel. Toronto: U of Toronto P,

Plug citation into the catalogue

Search by title

Cool stuff in MLA  Thesaurus/Persons as Subjects search fields  Advanced search: Eliminate dissertations and non- English articles  Folders  Citation tools:

Strike out on the MLA Bibliography  Try other sources on the 841 Guide841 Guide  Here come the book reviews….

Recap  English Literature research guide  ENG 841 Course Assignment guide  MLA Bibliography: Excellent, except when it’s not  Bibliography mining: don’t forget books!  Book reviews: sometimes they’re all you’ve got

Questions now?

Questions later!  Me:  Rebecca Dowson (English Literature librarian)   Librarians are standing by…  the reference desk  Txt us:  Ask a Librarian Ask a Librarian