This guide for ENG5000 Bibliography and Research is meant to aid in meeting the skill sets and goals as follows:

D.   Electronic Research Methods.

Goal 1:  To master (and get in-depth practice with) online searching skills that are applicable to the varied research databases you might need while taking other literature, theory or pedagogy courses.

Goal 2:  To become extremely familiar with a variety of research databases and computer programs used within the discipline of English.

E.    Bibliography and Research Methods (non-electronic)

Goal 1:  To increase your ability to conceptualize specific, original and sophisticated research questions and research projects from more general areas of interest.

Goal 2:  To obtain a basic introduction to the resources used to find specialized, rare, or unpublished research materials, including early reviews and criticism.

Goal 3:  To compile and assess a comprehensive list of research materials on a subject in preparation for the kind of research you will do for a large research paper or M.A. thesis.

As you are selecting resources that might be helpful for your research. Please consider the following:

Relevance

Make sure whatever you pick is relevant to your topic. If you can find a subject heading(s) that matches your topic well, any resource with that subject heading should have a high degree of relevance. Relevance also means paying attention that the audience is appropriate. For this course, you'll largely want to find things written for a scholarly audience. If you end up in a related discipline, be mindful that you can understand the author's jargon is appropriate. You will also want to ensure the purpose of the resource is in line with your needs.

Quality

It's always good to do some lateral searching to check the quality of a resource. You can do this in many ways. Some options are:

• Looking up the author in WorldCat or a prominent database like MLA International Bibliography to see what the author has written previously and if their work is related to the topic at hand.
• For books, you can also try to find book reviews from scholarly journals and look at more information about the publishing company.
• Similarly for journals, you might look at the reputation of the journal and their editing process to determine if the journal's quality controls. You could also use Google Scholar to see how many times the article has been cited.