ENGL 312: Library Research
Mackenzie Brooks
Assistant Professor & Digital Humanities Librarian
brooksm@wlu.edu // Leyburn M37
March 17, 2016
Agenda
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Understand how a library works.
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Be able to "search everything."
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Try out some English databases.
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Have a framework for evaluating sources
How the Library Works
How the Library Works
Collections + People
Search Everything is:
- a discovery tool/system/service
- something we pay for
- potentially biased
- one of the best of its kind
- still not perfect
- constantly changing
Discipline-specific databases
If Search Everything is too much, try a discipline-specific database.
A-Z Database > limit by subject
English databases
- Literature Online (LION)
- MLA International Bibliography
- Literature Resource Center
- Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
What did you find?
CRAAP Test!
Currency: the timeliness of the information
Relevance: the importance of the information to your needs
Authority: the source of the information
Accuracy: reliability, truthfulness, and correctness
Purpose: the reason the information exists
A word on Google Scholar...
Research!?!
words of wisdom
1. Research is iterative.
2. Information overload = filter failure.
3. There is no perfect source. There is no perfect database.
Zotero and ILL are your best friends.
http://library.wlu.edu/zotero