• Catalog: use this to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles), government documents, reserve items, music,and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc.

• Use the Basic Search to find material using Keywords
  • For example: search for jane austen or henry james to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords
  • When you find an appropriate title, click on the Subjects, etc. tab located at the top of a catalog record to see which Library of Congress subject headings are discussed in that particular book/DVD/periodical
  • Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase so that the catalog system will treat it as a single word, e.g., "american literature"

      OR

• Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress subject heading, for example:

• Austen, Jane, 1775-1817
• James, Henry, 1843-1916

• see subdivisions, e.g. --Criticism and interpretation

                                   --Characters

• Heroines in literature
• Setting (Literature)

• Click on to see scope note and suggestions for further searching in the catalog

• Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms

 

     OR

• Go to Advanced Search
  • The Boolean search terms ("operators") are built in for your use:
    • AND: you're directing the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered
    • OR: you're directing the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
    • NOT: you're directing the system to search for material on the first term you've entered and to exclude any material on the second term you've entered
  • The catalog system will provide more focused results

  TIPS

1. Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
2. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, etc. tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
3. You can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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• The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).

Some useful materials for your projects: 

Dictionary of Literary Biography      e.g., British Romantic Novelists, 1789-1832 (v. 116)             American Short-Story Writers before 1980 (v. 74)	Ref PR106.D5 v.116 Ref PS129.D5 v. 74
All Things Austen	Ref PR4036.A275 2005
An Annotated Bibliography of Jane Austen Studies, 1973-83	Ref PR4037.Z99 R84
Critical Survey of Short Fiction	Ref PN3321.C7 2001
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters      v. 1: The Aspern Papers; v. 4: Persuasion	Ref PN44.M3 1998
Magill's Survey of American Literature, rev. ed; v.3	Ref PS221.M34 2007
Notable British Novelists; v. 1	Ref PR821.N57 2001
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature; v. 2	Ref PS21.E537 2004

 

    TIPS

1. Use reference books to browse for project ideas and to get started on your research
2. Use the bibliographies at the end of articles, books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries to locate more material on your topic

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Some useful Databases for your projects:

JSTOR	Comprised of the full-text of more than 500 academic journals
Literature Resource Center
MLA International Bibliography	Provides access to more than 1.6 million bibliographic citations from 1963 to the present, with author biographies, critical essays and journal articles in every literary genre. Note: When the full-text of the article is not linked to the citation, click on Check availability link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection in print or through another database. This database is included in Literature Resource Center.
See also:
Academic Search Premier	Multidisciplinary database that contains many full-text articles and citations. Note:When only a citation is indexed, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection in print or through another database.

1. Switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
2. Use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) and Quotation Marks when running a search. For Example: For Example: jane austen AND women.
3. Always check your Spelling if the database results are zero.
4. Use the Subject Terms or Thesaurus link, if available, to find the best terms to use in a database.

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• Interlibrary Loan: allows you to borrow a book or article that the George T. Potter library does not own. There is also a link from the Journal Finder page.
  • Find this link under Quick Links on the library's homepage

• Journal Finder: Lets you know whether or not you have access to the full text of articles in particular periodicals through our library in print, microform, or via a full-text database. This feature also appears in many of our databases.

  For example, enter Studies in English Literature. You'll see the following results:

• available from EBSCO Host in EBSCO Academic Search Premier	find periodical	Full Text: 1975-01-01 - 1998-09-01
  available in Print Holdings	Library Catalog	Print: 1999 - present (v39 - ) Location: Open Stacks
  available in Expanded Academic ASAP - Gale Group	find periodical	Full Text: 1993-01 - present
  available in Gale Literature Resource Center (w/ MLA Directory)	find periodical	Full Text: 1993-01 - present
  available in JSTOR	find periodical	Full Text: 1961-01-01 - 2002-10-01

In this case, issues from 1999 through the present are in the Open Stacks Periodicals area (2nd floor). You also have online access to articles through several databases: from December, 1961 through October, 2002 via JSTOR, and through either Expanded Academic ASAP or GALE Literature Resource Center from 1993 to the present. Interim coverage, from 1975 through September, 1998, is available  in another database, Academic Search Premier.

Find this link under Quick Links on the library's homepage

• Useful journals for your reserach:

• American Literature
• Boundary 2: An International Journal of Literature and Culture
• Eighteenth-Century Fiction
• ELH
• The Kenyon Review
• Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature
• Persuasions: the Jane Austen Journal On-Line
• Studies in American Literature

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VII. Preparing Bibliographies

• Citing Sources (Duke University) for examples of the MLA citation style
• Additional help with the MLA citation style
  • Long Island University
  • Honolulu Community College
• Diana Hacker Online
• The Open Handbook Online / Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey
• Style handbooks are also kept on reserve at the Circulation Desk
• Always be consistent and follow the examples for the required style format
• *Remember, citing articles from databases is different than citing the print version.

TIP

All databases have a Help link. Check to see if the database gives you the format for citing an article you've found. For example:

• Academic Search Premier (& all EBSCO owned databases)

  Short-cut buttons are found in the right-hand corner of a record. Click the on the image that looks like a yellow page and the citation for that record will appear in many different citation styles. Make sure when you copy the information into your bibliography (or work cited) page, you include our library's information.

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Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574  

OR

Use QandA NJ.org, a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian