ENGL 14: (Spring 2017) Introduction to Literary History and Interpretation (Elrod)

Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative. It requires you to evaluate a range of information sources and to have the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops. Designing a search strategy can make finding good sources for your assignments easier. Below are some suggestions to help you to think through the research process.

Once you find an article or book about an author or a genre, take a look at the work's bibliography or works cited list.  The list of the works that the scholar consulted may lead you to the titles of texts that you haven't discovered before. Search for those titles in OneSearch or OSCAR or LINK+  to find a copy. If you still can't find it, try requesting it through Interlibrary Loan.

Which keywords should you use?

Coming up with the right keywords can make all the difference when searching for texts and other materials. It can be harder than it looks. Before you even start to search, it is helpful brainstorm more keywords related to your genre. Try to answer questions like these ones below to expand your thinking about your genre:

• What are some key qualities and/or characteristics of your genre?
• Who are the representative writers or what are the representative works?
• What do you want the sources you find to say about it?
• Is this genre related to other ideas or concepts? What are they?

What if you find too much?

If you are finding thousands of results from your search (like what will happen in Google) the keywords you’re using might be too few, or too general. In most databases, the most relevant results will appear in the first page of results, but what if the very thing you need is buried on page 10 of a results list?  When you use a database. website, or a resource with hundreds of thousands or millions of potential hits (like when you search with Google, for example), you’ll want to be more specific. Try adding keywords that describe “where”. For example: pastoral England

What if you’re not finding anything?

Search engines generally take what you input into them quite literally.  If the word “literature” isn’t on a page, a search engine won’t know enough to give you things with the word “literary”.   Likewise, a book may have a word in a description of the item, but won't have its synonym.  The trick is to think of as many synonyms as possible for your terms and to try different combinations of words.  For example:  Try a search with "America" instead of "United States".

So, keep in mind: If you only try one search once, you may be missing something important.  Don’t give up. Keep trying different combinations of words to make the most discoveries of relevant results.

Some More Search Tips

• Take the time to review the "Advanced Search" options in databases. Those features can help you narrow your searches so you only get results that meet certain conditions, like they are in English, or they are peer-reviewed sources.
• Use quotes around your keywords to search for an exact phrase: "early works to 1800".
• An asterisk (*) at the end of the root of a keyword will retrieve instances of that word and all its variant endings: Asia*  - will find Asia, Asian, Asians, Asiatic, etc.
• Avoid using common nouns (e.g. history or fiction) as single-word searches: add other, more uncommon and specific words to get the most relevant results.
• Avoid using common personal names (e.g. smith) as single-word searches: add additional words to your search.