WRIT 100-05:

Library Research

Mackenzie Brooks

Assistant Professor & Digital Humanities Librarian

English Department Liaison

brooksm@wlu.edu // Leyburn 218

October 18, 2016

By the end of this session, you will...

1. Understand how a library works.

2. Be able to "search everything."

3. Start conducting research for your next assignment

How the Library Works

How the Library Works

Collections + People

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8601342@N03/4549779936/

Libraries Before the Internet

Libraries After the Internet

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

Everything =

• 4,548,831 e-books
• 94,735 e-journals
• 589,510,494 records
• 975,050 catalog items (mostly print)
• 1.5 billion citations
• 90 content types

Remember

You have to tell Search Everything that you know what you're looking for.

A word on Google Scholar...

A word on Annie, the library catalog...

Also

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

Zotero is your friend.

library.wlu.edu/zotero

Library Research Tasks worksheet