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or Getting to Know Morris Library |
This assignment accomplishes two critical activities with one fell swoop: it introduces you to the basics of UD’s wonderful library and gets you started on examining the topic of your research paper.
You need to start by figuring out the topic you want to research. Work from a general topic of interest (“Witches...I like witches.”), qualify the parameters of the research (“I don’t want to study Puritans....I want to study modern witches.”), locate a specific topic (“If I study real witches, they might come after me and turn me into a newt. So perhaps I should study representations of witches.”), make the topic even more specific (“Hmm. I should work on a visual media, like movies or television. That way I have an excuse to watch TV.”), and finally whittle your broad interest down to something manageable for a ten page paper (“Hmm. I like watching television. Why don’t I work on that really bad TV show Charmed? You know, that show about the magic of cleavage. Perhaps something about the connection between the representation of gender and magic in Charmed. Hmm....”).
For now it might be easier just to get a taste for what the library has to offer in regards to your general topic. Chances are they most likely will not have a book on Charmed, so you’re going to have to do a more general search. This is fine....every bit of research does not have to be about your specific topic, but touch on a part of your topic. So you might not find a Guide to Charmed, but you might find something on women in the media or a book on witches in modern society that provide necessary background to your topic.
Our assignment has two parts: a practical part and an analytical part:
1) Using the resources of Morris Library, you must locate one book, one academic journal article, one periodical or newspaper article, and one website that relates to your topic. You must provide me with a print out or photocopy a portion from each item (the title page of the book, the first page of text for the others).Okay....how are you going to get started with Mr. Library? I’d say your first target should be DELCAT and the DELCAT computers to the right of the entrance to help you search for a book. I’ll tell you why you should start there in a minute. A brief warning: if the library does not seem to have a book you are looking for, chances are it’s there, but it’s hiding from you. I’m serious. Sometimes if you use a title for a keyword search, the book will not pop up. If you then use the title for a title search, it suddenly appears. Sneaky DELCAT. Also remember that if you’ve heard of the title of a book, but our library does not carry it, chances are you can get it through Interlibrary loan (which you can order through the Online Forms page). Of course, the book might arrive in a week or it might arrive in a month (or two). This is another good reason to start researching now! Do not sell yourself short by working with second rate material (when you know very well that there’s the “perfect” book out there) by not getting started early.2) You must “read” all of these items and provide a quick summary of their arguments. Think of this as an alphabetized (by author), annotated bibliography where you provide bibliographic detail using MLA format (consult either your Bedford Handbook, or the MLA Citation and Plagiarism page on our class writing site), followed by a paragraph that concisely represents the given piece. Note that read is in quotation marks above. The articles should be do-able (even the journal article, which can be anywhere form five to twenty-five pages), but what about that book?! Read the introduction (which should be anywhere from ten to thirty pages) and look through the table of contents, locating parts of the book to skim (read quickly searching for key words or phrases) that will give you background on your topic.
Now why did I make you find the book first? The book’s bibliography, of course. Now you can find all sorts of articles and research leads, just by consulting the back of the book. You don’t want to stop there, but this might help to guide you in your preliminary or future research. After finding the book, you can then proceed to the computers in the back of the first floor in the reference room. Here you’ll have access to the UD databases. Get acquainted with what we have to offer before diving into LexisNexis Academic, which is the most basic of the databases (it includes some academic journals as well as popular periodicals). Start with this one and branch outwards. Using a database like MLA Bibliography you may be able to find the right article in an academic journal (a periodical published by an accredited university--some are published in a physical form and are available in their most recent publication in Periodicals room to the left of the Reference room or bound in the stacks, some are available online through databases like JSTOR and Project Muse), a magazine or newspaper article (like Time or New York Times--you might find them online through LexisNexis or we have copies of Time in the stacks and the NYT on microfilm in the basement of doom), and a website (Google search!).
You might notice that, except for the book and (perhaps) the journal article, you might be able to do part of this assignment from the “comfort” of your dorm. You have access to all the library databases from either a campus or dial-up connection, so you can either print things up at home or at the library (it’s free in the Reference room). Or you can do all the virtual running around (searching for the book or journal’s reference numbers, etc.) from home and then go to the library--that way you spend as little time as possible in the potentially miasmic nerd air. Please note that after nine o’clock, the second floor work area becomes a serious meat market for students who like to appear studious, so if you prefer working late, you might consider going with a friend. Or not, as the case may be.
Good luck! This assignment
is due on Tuesday, September 23rd. :)
