Manifest Destiny, John Gast, 1872

ENGLISH 136:

Imagining the American West

Prof. Julie Nelson Christoph

• Liaison Librarian: Peggy Burge
• pburge@ups.edu
• Collins Library, room 117
• Telephone: x3512

[Students with questions about the research process are encouraged to contact the liaison librarian for assistance. Ask quick questions by e-mail or call or drop by. In-depth research consultations are also available by appointment.]

Research Basics

Choose a research topic that is meaningful to you!

Give yourself plenty of time for your project and be willing to adjust your thesis as you learn more about the topic.

Never hesitate to ask for help--professors and librarians are good resources!

The quality of your sources has a direct effect on the overall quality of your project. For best results, consult a variety of types of resources, such as:

• Encyclopedias - Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks provide background information on a topic. They help narrow the scope of a topic, define technical terms, and provide a bibliography of sources for further reading. "Reference" after the call number indicates the book is shelved in the reference stacks on the main floor of the library
• Books - Consult SIMON to locate books available in Collins Library. Consult SUMMIT to locate and request books held in over 30 regional academic libraries; the books will be delivered to the Circulation Desk within one to four business days. If SUMMIT does not have the book, check WorldCat; if it is in WorldCat, you may request the book via the ILLIAD link within the results record.
• Articles -Collins Library subscribes to or has access to thousands of scholarly journals, newspapers, and popular magazines, all of which are indexed in scores of difference databases. If you have a citation to a specific article, use Journal Locator to obtain information about the library's holdings of that particular journal. If the library does not have or provide access to the journal, request the article through ILLIAD.
• World Wide Web resources - If you find webpages that you think might be useful for your project, you will need to evaluate them carefully.

Why Use Encyclopedias in College-Level Research?

At the beginning of your research project, it is always a good idea to spend some quality time in the reference section of Collins Library. Indeed, half an hour or an hour spent with reference materials likely will save you time in the long run. Encyclopedias also can help you determine whether your research question is too narrow or too broad right from the start.

There are two species of encyclopedias: general encyclopedias and subject (or specialized) encyclopedias.

General encyclopedias, such as World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica, are aimed at a general reading public. The reading level of articles usually ranges from fifth to 12th grade. The entries typically try to answer factual questions (who? what? when? how?). Articles in most general encyclopedias are organized alphabetically.

Subject encyclopedias are different from general encyclopedias in that they focus entirely on one specific field of knowledge. Articles are written by leading scholars in the field, and are aimed at college-level and above readers. The entries are able to provide a deeper level of specialized information by addressing context(s), multiple perspectives, and the history of how a topic has been studied over time. Because the various subject encyclopedias may have different disciplinary approaches to a topic, it is a good idea to consult more than one when you begin your research. Some subject encyclopedias organize their entries alphabetically; others may organize the entries chronologically or thematically. For this reason, you should use the index to locate entries dealing with your topic.

You usually can expect to find the following important information in articles in subject encyclopedias:

• An overview of the topic, with key individuals, events, and conditions identified, and often some mention of how the topic has been studied (historiography)
• Cross references to give you a sense of the boundaries of the topic and its relationship to other topics.
  • Look for "see also" at the beginning or end of the article.
  • Some encyclopedias highlight words in the text of the article to indicate that there is a separate entry on that topic.
• Identification of primary source materials.
  • Scholarly editions of primary sources may be listed in the bibliography.
  • The main body of the article may mention key primary source writings and their author(s).
  • Some encyclopedias include excerpts of primary source materials)
• Bibliographies of key secondary literature (books and articles) on the topic
  

Locating and Selecting Encyclopedias

• Encyclopedias are shelved in the reference section on the first floor of Collins Library, next to the I-Commons. Encyclopedias do not circulate, but you may make photocopies of articles on one of the photocopiers in the library (five cents a page on the old copiers; ten cents a page on the newer ones). When you are finished with an encyclopedia, please place it on the book cart next to the I-Commons Information Desk.
• Which encyclopedias should you use? The answer depends largely on your topic.
  • Ask a librarian for recommendations.
  • Do an advanced keyword search in SIMON to see what is available in the library. For example, if you want to see if the library has any encyclopedias on the broad topic of religion in American life, you could construct the following search:

   

  • Browse the reference section.

   

  • Encyclopedias that may be relevant to your research in this class include:

   

• American National Biography / CT 213 .A68 1999 Reference
• The Asian American Encyclopedia / E184.O6 A827 1995 Reference
• A Companion to American Thought / E 169.1 C685 1995 Reference
• The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature / PS 21 .E53 2003 Reference
• Dictionary of American Biography / E 176 .D562 Reference [published 1928-1958]
• Dictionary of American History, 3rd ed. / E 174 D52 2003 Reference
• Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History / E 185 .E54 1996 Reference
• Encyclopedia of African-American Society / E 185 E546 2005 Reference
• Encyclopedia of American Art before 1914 / N 6507 E53 2000 Reference
• Encyclopedia of American History / E 174 E53 2003 Reference [Note that this encyclopedia is organized chronologically by volume.]
• Encyclopedia of American Immigration / JV 6465 E53 2000 Reference

• Encyclopedia of Frontier Literature / PS 169 F7 S65 1997

• Encyclopedia of American Political History / E 183 .E5 Reference
• Encyclopedia of American Religious History / BL 2525 .Q44 2001 Reference
• Encyclopedia of American Social History / HN 57 .E58 1993 Reference
• Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience / BL 2525 .E53 1988 Reference
• Encyclopedia of the American Constitution / KF 4548 E53 2000 Reference
• Encyclopedia of the American West / F 591 E485 1996 Reference
• Encyclopedia of Women in American History / HQ 1410 E53 2001 Reference
• The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes / E 77 .G15 1998 Reference
• The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 3: United States / ML 100 G16 1997 Reference

• Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures / E 169.1 G73 2004 Reference

• Handbook of North American Indians / E 77 .H25 Reference
• Japanese American History: An A-Z Reference / E184.J3 J3355 1993 Reference
• The Latino Encyclopedia / E184.S75 L357 1996 Reference
• Native Americans in the 20th Century: An Encyclopedia / E 76.2 N36 1994 Reference
• New Encyclopedia of the American West / F 591 N46 1998 Reference
• The New Grove Encyclopedia of American Music / ML 101 U6 N48 Reference
• Notable American Women: The Modern Period / CT 3260 .N573 Reference

back to top

Finding News Articles

Finding Scholarly Articles

Evaluating Websites

back to top