Library

Essentials
Olivia Else| Academic Liaison Librarian for English
Our Libraries

Reference works
Library catalogues
Dissertations and theses
Government Publications
Law resources
E-journals
E-books
Newspapers
Microform collections
Short title catalogues
Texts & documents
Bibliographies
Film resources
Resources at York
YorSearch
Locate books, journals and
other resources in the library.
Find out if items are available
or on loan.
Link to electronic resources.
Access My Library Account.
Is available worldwide via the
web at:
http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk

YorSearch Library Catalogue
Finding items in the Library
www.york.ac.uk
www.york.ac.uk/students/
http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk
http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk
Citation of a journal article:
Carusi, Annamaria. (1997).
Authors and moral responsibility: the
case of Jane Austen.
Journal of Literary Studies 13, no. 3-4,
(December 1997): 303-316.

To search for a journal using
YorSearch enter the journal
title into the Library
Catalogue search box e.g.
journal of literary studies
YorSearch: searching for journals
Borrowing
Video guide to Flexible Loans
You can borrow items from the Library using the self-issue
machine. To do this youll need to bring your University Card
to the Library.

Items in the Ordinary collection are loaned on a four week
basis and can be renewed as many times as you like as long
as not one else requests them.
The Key Text
collections contain
information resources
that are in high
demand. Items in
these collections can
be borrowed for up to
4 hours at a time.
Subject Guides
http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk




Electronic
Resources
Guide
http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk
British & American titles

17
th
-21
st
century

Daily Mirror, Financial Times,
Guardian, Observer, Times,
Illustrated London News, Irish
Times, Times of India

British Newspapers 1600-1950

Search features:
Search or browse issue
Limit by publication title
Limit by section of
newspaper
Choose PDF option to
print
Newspapers
Explore the resources on the English & Related Literature Subject
Guide and the E-Resources Guide:

http://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/english

http://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/e-resources

Work individually or in groups.


Time to Practice:

Searching
Strategically
1. Think about your research topic as a question or
series of questions.
2. What are the parameters: purpose, timescale,
breadth, etc. of your project?
3. Identify the keywords or phrase(s) to create a search
strategy.
4. Identify the best sources of information including
databases and primary/secondary materials.
5. Conduct your search.
Planning a literature search
Describe the role of
women in Shakespeares
A Midsummer Nights Dream
Think of synonyms, related terms, or
variant spellings:
women female*- ladies - fairy nymph*
sprite Helena Hermia - Titania

Shakespeare playwright* - dramatist
author - writer

Use quotation marks to search for
phrases:
Midsummer Nights Dream

Truncation and Wildcards to deal
with plurals - other words with the
same stem:
symbol* would find symbol, symbols,
symbolic, symbolism
wom?n would find woman or women

Developing a search strategy - 1
Edward Robert Hughes, Midsummer Eve
Use:

AND to combine the different
elements of your search:
Shakespeare and women
This narrows down the results

OR to find alternative terms:
fairy or nymph or sprite
This expands the results
Developing a search strategy - 2
Arthur Rackham, Act 1, Scene 1 of a Midsummer Nights Dream
Google
Scholar

http://wallpapers5.com/wallpaper/Tip-of-the-Iceberg/
Google
searches here
http://wallpapers5.com/wallpaper/Tip-of-the-Iceberg/
The DEEP web
Intranets (internal internet sites)
Academic databases
Unlinked sites which havent
told Google they exist, or have
asked to remain unlisted
Basically, anything that needs a
password

Avoid the filter bubble
Sign out of Google when you search
Bibliographic Databases
A database lists the academic
writings within a specific field
You can search by keyword or
topic
The results include bibliographic
information (author, title,
publication info.) and an abstract
You can search within a particular
title or across the host service.
Accessible via the English Subject
Guide and the E-resources guide.
Databases may list material not
held by the Library
What is a database?
Subject Specific:
English: LION (includes ABELL)
Humanities: British Humanities Index
MLA Bibliography
JSTOR
Project Muse
EEBO

Interdisciplinary:
Web of Science
Which database should I search?
Bibliographic and full-text databases

http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk
42

43

44
46
Try searching a database/resource that you
havent used before :

ABELL
LION
British Humanities Index
MLA Bibliography
Web of Science
EEBO

(Go to the e-resources guide and search by
subject for English resources)

Think about how to search strategically: find
alternate terms, apply wild cards & truncation
Be flexible and tweak your search strategy
depending on the database and your initial set
of results
Your turn
Getting the
Full Text
Inter-library loans
You can order books and articles from
other libraries via YorSearch. This costs
2 per request.

Follow the Interlending link from
YorSearch to make a request.

For more information see:
http://www.york.ac.uk/library/borrowing/interlending/
Access to other libraries:
The British Library at Boston
Spa (free mini-bus alternate
Wed/Fri)- sign up for a reader
pass online
SCONUL scheme allows access
to over 170 UK university
libraries
(http://www.york.ac.uk/library
/other-libraries/sconul/)

Getting the full-text
Approach
Take a Scholarly
Evaluation Criteria
Authority
Audience
Purpose
Quality
Content
Currency
Accuracy
Suitability
Sources

Be Organised!
Make the best use of technology
You will need to keep a record of the
useful materials you find.

The earlier you start doing this
the more time you will save
yourself later.
Useful Apps
Note taking apps
Cross-platform note taking apps allow
you to store information and access it
from your desktop, smartphone, and
other mobile devices.

Useful Apps
Reference management software
Reference management software enable
you to build a searchable database of
your references.


Getting
Help
Help Desk in the Morrell
IT Support Office in the Fairhurst
General Library Queries - lib-enquiry@york.ac.uk

Olivia Else lib-english@york.ac.uk

Please fill in a feedback form



@: English Subject Guide /
Information Skills / Library
Training

Title of session: English MA

Tutor: Olivia Else

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