Washington and Lee University
Professor Brodie
Winter 2005
Research Guide prepared by Prof. Merrill
First, brainstorm to come up with as many keywords as you can. For example:
women, female, feminine, bitch, shrew, Hillary Clinton (or whoever you choose to discuss), scandal*, adversari*, enem*, ethic*, power*, corruption, reputation, wicked, etc.
Search our library catalog , Annie. Try a variety of keyword searches, such as:
hillary clinton and ethic*
women and bitch
(women or female) and power
If you can't find enough books, try searching WorldCat, an enormous database of books and media. This means ordering books through Interlibrary Loan, which takes time (7-10 days).
| A journal is a collection of articles usually written by scholars in
an academic or professional field. An editorial board reviews articles
to decide whether they should be accepted. Articles in journals can cover
very specific topics or narrow fields of research. Since journals are
published on a regular or periodic basis they are grouped in the category
called "periodicals." Electronic journals, called e-journals, are published
on the Web by scholarly organizations and are made available to you from
your library.
Use a Journal
Examples of Journals
|
 |
A magazine is a collection of articles and images about diverse topics of popular interest and current events. Usually these articles are written by journalists or scholars and are geared toward the average adult. Magazines may cover very "serious" material, but to find consistent scholarly information you should use journals. |
| Magazines, like journals and newspapers, are called "periodicals" because they are published at regular intervals throughout the year. Print magazines can be found in bookstores and libraries. Electronic magazines, called e-zines , can be found on the Web and sometimes in "digital library" collections. | |
Use a Magazine
Examples of Magazines
The above information is borrowed from TILT . |
|
Go to the library's homepage (click on Home in the Navigation Bar).
To find articles go to "Select Databases", use the drop-down menu and select "General - All Subjects". From here, you will find a number of general databases in which to do Keyword searches.
Recommended databases: Expanded Academic Index ,and ProQuest Research Library, which will both allow you to limit the search to peer-reviewed journals.
JUST ADDED: Two full-text databases with scholarly articles are JSTOR and Project Muse.
You should also try and use more specialized databases. Go to "Select Databases", use the drop-down menu and select "Social Sciences". Recommended databases from here are: Contemporary Women's Issues, EconLit, and PAIS.
Check our Periodical
Finder to determine if we have access to the journal you need, and if
we have the date you need.
Be sure to evaluate websites before using them in your paper. For example, a search on Google for "Hillary Clinton bitch", returns this listing at the top: Hillary Clinton http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/hillary-clinton/
Always check out the URL of a site. The fact that it comes from "rotten.com" should give you a clue that this site is poisonous.
It is better to do an "Advanced Search" in Google, and limit your research to the .edu domain or the .org domain.
If you'd like to have some individual time with me to discuss ways on how to research your topic, please send me a Research Appointment request.
You can get help at W&L's Writing Center.
Here are links to Citation Style Guides which show you the right format for citing sources. There is also a link to plagiarism sites from here.