FYS 100 (50): Transformations in Fairy Tales: Finding Research Articles and Books

Good research begins with clear thinking about the assigned task. The best way to start a research paper is to make sure you know what you are supposed to do, so reread the assignment and underline or highlight the critical phrases.  These are the ones that tell you the subject, the kinds of resources you should use, the expected length, and the due date.

Before you begin searching for specific books or articles it's probably a good idea to get some information from a more neutral source.  This kind of background information will  provide a context within which you can place the other sources you find.  In this case, a subject encyclopedia, such as The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales and a general collection of sources, such as Oxford Reference Online  can both be helpful in defining the history, scope and divisions of a topic or concept (such as Romanticism) and by providing names or titles you can use in keyword or subject searches in an article database or the library catalog. For more suggestions, look for the tab "Finding Texts and Contexts of Fairy Tales."

The first place to check for books on your topic are Books and More or  OneSearch, using the Books filter..  Here are some quick tips for effective catalog searches:

If you are looking for books by a writer, use the Author search (last name first).

If you want books about an author, use the Subject Heading Browse search (last name first).

Most books by and about an author are shelved together, so once you have a few call numbers, you can browse downstairs, but you can also browse online..

If you're looking for a particular short story or an essay, a Keyword search works best. 

If you discover a book, chapter, or essay by using the MLA Bibliography, search the catalog for the title of the book to see if we own it.

If we don't have the journal you need, you can borrow it through our Interlibrary Loan Service.

How to place a request:

• Check OneSearch to see if the library already owns the item.
• If not, Login to ILLiad using your UR netid and password or create an account if this is your first request.
• Select either Article Request, Book Request, or Book chapter request for interlbrary Loan
• Enter the information about the item
• Click Submit Request
• To request another item, click your browser's back button and change the item information