introduction to library resources and research strategies in literary studies

Introduction to Library Resources and Research Strategiesin 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 non-scholarly 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 Articles

Finding Articles

You cannot search for articles in the Library Catalogue…

Finding ArticlesTo search for articles: Use a library databaseThese 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 discipline-

specific.– 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

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

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

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



Keyword Selection



MLA search: aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1

Keyword Selection



MLA search: S1 = aquin AND prochain episode AND temporelle = 1S2 = aquin AND prochain episode AND (temporelle OR temps

OR time) = 4

Scholarly vs. Non-scholarlySecondary 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

Questions?

Research Help Desk Hours:Monday - Thursday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm & 6:30 pm - 10:00 pmFriday: 10:30 am - 4:30 pmSunday: 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

My Office: R.P. Bell Library M-11 (Reference Office, main floor)My email address: [email protected]

mailto:[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 StrategiesSearching 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.

introduction to library resources and research strategies in literary studies

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