Assignment 6 1 Position/Research Paper FS 101: Academic ...

Position/Research Paper 2 Assignment 6
Finding Scholarly Sources
You can start with the Web, but don’t stop there. Sometimes there is no substitute for locating a
promising section of books in the library (e.g., the section on Mary Shelley, the section on sciencefiction
films, the section on technology and ethics), plucking books off the shelf, and searching
through the index. Here are some more concrete approaches:
[Focused search.] If you already know your thesis, you can do a very focused search for material
related to it. For instance, if you intend to examine the subject of “Frankenstein’s monster as
Everyman” you will need to look for information about “Everyman” — what are the classic literary
treatments of “Everyman”? What features does Frankenstein’s monster have that are reminiscent
of Everyman — has anyone ever written about the monster as a symbol of the ordinary person?
[Area-specific search.] If your thesis is less well-defined, you might still be able to search for
likely works that will help you narrow it down. For instance, if you want to say something about
the Golem and notions of social justice, you might need to find books in the library that talk about
the Golem. Search Google books and Google scholar for books of essays or articles that seem to be
in relevant journals. You might need to order things from EZBorrow if they are not in our library.
Use the reference in these books and articles to find more. As you read, you should jot down ideas
— this may lead you to formulate a more concise thesis.
[Source-specific search.] Choose a section of the library related to your interests and “scan
the shelves” (you can also do this via keyword search, I suppose, but sometimes your eyes can
pick up something that a search doesn’t turn up). Or choose a promising-sounding journal in the
library’s online collection of journals and do a search within its pages. Or sit down and read (or
skim through) a book specific to your topic or area of interest, looking for side-paths to explore or
references to other works. This is more of a hit-or-miss approach, but as long as you don’t devote
too much effort following a path that leads nowhere, you might find this fruitful.
For Monday: on the “Scholarly Resources” link, place at least one entry. If it is not about a
specific resource, it should at least identify a general “connection” between a topic in the course
and a possible thesis topic or area of interest.
Handout # 8 Handed out on 24 October 2008