Library Resources for English 100
For general help with research for English courses, please go to the English Research Guide.
For help with any assignment, there are many ways to Ask a Librarian.
This guide will help you select a topic, organize your research (including recommended databases), interpret your search results, avoid plagiarism, cite your sources properly, write an annotated bibliography and use correct spelling, grammar, and writing mechanics. It will also direct you to sources with samples of different types of writing, such as journals, compare and contrast papers, literary analyses, and more.
There are several links to the Library's Research Roadmap, which will help with basic library research skills.
Topic Selection
The Topics unit in Research Roadmap has reasons why topic selection is important, suggestions for effective topic selection in general, and a quiz to test your understanding. We also recommend these sources for effective essay topics: CQ Researcher, the Reference Shelf series, and encyclopedias.
Our handout on Finding Opposing Viewpoints lists several sources to use when you need to investigate the pros and cons of an issue.
Organizing Your Research
Taking time at the beginning to organize your research makes the whole process easier. First, think about what you want to find out or say about your topic. The Topics unit in Research Roadmap shows how to use a concept map to help you think.
Whether or not you use a concept map to think about your topic, once you have an idea of what you want to cover in your essay, you can plan how to carry out your research:
Use reference materials, such as specialized encyclopedias or dictionaries, at the beginning of your research for an overview of your topic and to learn names, dates, key terms, or concepts that you will research further. The bibliographies in encyclopedias may identify books or articles for more information on your topic.
Use books when you need depth and detail or for obtaining many perspectives on one subject. Books are not necessarily the most current information on a subject, but they may provide historical context for current issues. You may not need to read an entire book to get the information you need from it. Look at its table of contents or index, if there is one, to see where your specific interest is discussed.
Use periodical articles for very current or finely focused information. Sometimes they include very precise details not given in books. In many areas of study, periodical articles are the main way in which opinions and research findings are communicated. They may be the only library source that has information on your topic. In addition to tracking current events, you can use periodicals to get contemporary accounts of historical events or controversies.
The Sources Model in the Info Cycles unit of Research Roadmap has more information on the strengths and weaknesses of various research sources and tells how to find them in the Library.
The Evaluating unit shows how to determine the value and reliability of information you find.
Recommended Databases
Use databases to find articles in periodicals. Articles & Databases: English 100 describes those recommended for English 100 assignments. If you don't find what you are looking for, please ask for help at the Reference desk.
Interpreting Your Search Results
Interpreting Search Results in the Finding unit of Research Roadmap shows how to identify the citations to different kinds of publications.
Avoiding Plagiarism
The Ethics unit in Research Roadmap explains what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. It includes a link to the HSU Academic Honesty Policy.
Citing Your Sources
If you use someone else's words, ideas, or graphics, give credit to your source by citing it. Different disciplines have different citation formats; the MLA format is used in English research and criticism. This format is explained in the MLA Handbook for Writer of Research Papers. The Library has several copies. The Citation Machine will format most references according to MLA rules. Search the Web for "citation generators" to find others.
How to Write Annotated Bibliographies
Here is a good guide to this popular assignment, with samples of different types of annotations.
Spelling, Grammar, Writing Mechanics, & Writing Samples
Help with Writing Assignments has links and tips for finding material in our Library.
Reference Resources and Quick Facts is a collection of recommended links. It has sections for Dictionaries/Encyclopedias/Thesauri, Quotations, and Style Manuals.