II. Visiting the Library 1 updated 12/02/09

2 Pat’s English class visits the BCC Library to locate literary criticism on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

Table of Contents Choosing a Topic Finding Literary Criticism66 Literature Resource Center77 Finding Books Gale Literary Index Finding Periodical Articles Web Sources Research Tips2020 Useful Links2323 3

Choosing a Topic Read “The Yellow Wallpaper” carefully and make notes about what interests you. –What are the main themes? –What intrigues you about the story? 4

5 Where do I begin looking? I need to find some criticism to help me get started… What if I write about the importance of the wallpaper in the story?

Finding Literary Criticism Literary criticism can be found in journals, books, and in the Library’s databases. Look for an overview and criticism of the story in the Literature Resource Center on the Library Web site. And/or Find books of criticism by using the Library catalog. 6

Literature Resource Center Literature Resource Center is a database accessed from the “Full List of Databases” on the Library Web site. The Literature Resource Center includes: –Literary criticism and articles –Author biographies –Work overviews To watch a short demonstration, click here.click here For step-by-step instructions, click here.click here 7

Finding Books Search for books in the Library catalog.  Use SUBJECT search to find criticism: Gilman, Charlotte  or use KEYWORD search: yellow wallpaper gilman To watch a short demonstration click here.click here For step-by-step instructions click here.click here 8

9 Pat prints out records for books of criticism, finds them on the shelves, and browses the tables of contents and indexes for ideas. Pat finds several references to the symbolic meaning of the wallpaper in the books and in the overview from the Literature Resource Center.

10 This isn’t as easy as I thought… …but I’ll see what else I can find in the Library. I think I’ll write about symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” but can I find enough criticism on this?

11 I’ll use the Gale Literary Index to find criticism in reference books and then look for some articles in databases. I need more literary criticism on my topic.

Gale Literary Index Gale Literary Index is an online index to criticism in reference books, most of them available in the Library. (Click here to see the list.)list The Literature Resource Center contains some, but not all, of the criticism in the reference books. To watch a short demonstration click here.click here For step-by-step instructions, click here.click here 12

Periodical Articles Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, and journals) can be found in Library databases or in print. Databases may give full text, an abstract (summary), or just a citation of an article. 13

Using Library Databases to Find Articles Go to the Library Web site ( Web site Under “Find Articles”, click on “Full List of Databases” to see a list of ALL the databases. OR Click on one of the “Frequently Used Databases”. 14

Frequently Used Databases These databases have articles on most topics, including literature: Academic Search Premier Academic OneFile ProQuest Research Library 15

Database Search Tips Combine keywords using “and”. Example: gilman and yellow wallpaper Do not type whole sentences into the search box. Try different combinations of keywords. 16

17 I’m finding articles in the database called Academic Search Premier. I’ll scan the article titles and abstracts to find the ones that mention the symbolism of the wallpaper. Database Searching For a short demonstration, click hereclick here. For step-by-step instructions click here. click here.

Web Sources The Web is not always a reliable source for literary criticism, but You might try the Internet Public Library’s links for literary criticism at If you use a search engine, carefully evaluate what you find. Google Scholar may retrieve more scholarly sources than other search engines.Google Scholar 18

19 Who put this online? A professor or a student? What is the Web site’s purpose? Are they selling me something here? How does this information compare to what I found in other sources? When was the Web site last updated? Evaluating Web Sites

Research Tips Keep track of sources used. Photocopy parts of the books used. Keep complete source information such as the author’s name, source title, place and year of publication for the Works Cited page. Follow the “Citation Guides” link on the Library Web site for help with citation formats.Citation Guides 20

Need more information? Stop by the Reference Desk Call the Reference Librarian a librarian Ask-a-LibrarianAsk-a-Librarian 21

22 Pat’s next step is thesis revision Help! I found a lot of information at the Library! Let me find a quiet place now…

Useful Links Off campus access to the Library Ask a Librarian Library Catalog Citation guides

Searching the Literature Resource Center On the Library Web site select “Full List of Databases” and click on “L”. Click on Literature Resource Center. Click on “Advanced Search”. Enter the title “Yellow Wallpaper” in the “Name of Work” search box. Enter Gilman in the “Person-By or About” search box. (Optional: Click on the “limit to peer-reviewed publications” checkbox.) Click Search button. Note tabs at the top of the screen. Click on article title or full text link to see full article. Use print or options at top of page in Tools box. 24

Searching Academic Search Premier On the Library Web site, go to “Find Articles”. Under “Frequently Used Databases” click on Academic Search Premier. In the search box type: Gilman and yellow wallpaper. Under “Limit Your Results” click in the Full Text box. Click the Scholarly(Peer Reviewed)Journals link under “Limit Your Results.” Scan the list of titles; click on those that sound relevant and read the abstracts and/or the full text of the articles. Articles can be printed or ed using icons near the top of the screen. 25

Finding Books On the Library Web site under “Find Books”…type Gilman, Charlotte in the search box. Click in the Subject radio button and then click Search. Scroll down the list of subjects and click on Gilman, Charlotte…….The Yellow Wallpaper. Click on the titles of items of interest to see the detailed descriptions. Click Return to List button twice to return to subject list. Click on Gilman, Charlotte…Criticism and Interpretation to see more works of criticism. 26

Searching the Gale Literary Index On the Library Web site, go to the “Full List of Databases”. Click on “G” and then on Gale Literary Index. Click on Author search. Type Gilman, Charlotte in the search box. Click on Start of Last Name radio button and Search. Click on Gilman’s full name. Scroll down to Works by Author and find “The Yellow Wallpaper” to see which reference books include criticism of this work. Print this list. Use handout or Library catalog to find call numbers of reference books. 27