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On this guide you will find resources for students taking FYSM 1004E: Literature, Genre, Context.
Learning Outcomes:
- Students will find information from different resources for their assignments and essays.
- Students evaluate information sources for relevance, authority, currency and perspective using the CRAAP guidelines.
- Students properly cite appropriate document sources (for example primary and secondary materials)
* NEW * Videos and resources produced by Ryan Tucci, First Year Experience Teaching and Learning Technician at MacOdrum Library.
We [I] would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg people.
- Search Plan
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Use Concept maps to organize, and craft creative ideas. Concept mapping can help you narrow your topic and find related terminology to use in a search query string:
VUE (Visual Understanding Environment) (Tufts University)
See Concept mapping (Royal Roads University) for other mapping tools -
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary
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Primary Sources Secondary Sources Novel Plot Summary Play Criticism Poem Reviews Short Story Biography Non-Fiction Guides
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| Where to Find... | Types of Information Sources |
| Background Information or Historical Information |
References and Encyclopedias, Books, eBook Collections |
| Current Information | Newspapers and Magazines |
| Current Research | Journals, and eJournal Collections |
| Web Research | Web Portals, Google, Wikipedia |
Reference Sources (Databases)
Omni
This search tool lets you do just one search to find books, newspaper articles, journal articles... You can also search for eBooks in Omni and use our various journal article databases to find journal articles.
- Use keywords only, do not search using a full sentence.
- Combine keywords for different ideas with AND
- Combine synonyms or similar words for an idea with OR
- Use the * at the end of the root of a word to find all the forms of that word.
- Use parentheses for control action execution and quotation marks for exact phrase.
Click on Advance Search and key in your search statement.
When you get your results, use the links on the left side of the screen to look at the books in our library, or journal articles, etc.
Results for books and eBooks are high in Omni as the search tool is retrieving relevant articles or chapters within books.
Use reference materials for background information for your topic, or to find good keywords to use when searching databases. These are dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides, handbooks, bibliographies, indexes and abstracts.
To find reference materials in MacOdrum Library, use Omni to perform a KEYWORD search:
Example: literature AND encyclopedia Example: literature AND encyclop*
Example: literary theory AND handbook Example: "literary theory" AND handbook*
See Omni Search Tips.
A Selection of Books:
- Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know / Joseph Romm (2018)
- Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change / (2008) (Internet Archive)
- Who Speaks for the Climate? : Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change / Maxwell T. Boykoff (2011)
- The Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities / Creator Heise, Ursula K et. al. (2017) -
Subject Headings
In Omni, click the hyper-linked subject headings to find additional titles on your topic. Here are some suggestions to get
you started:
- Climate Change
- Climatic Changes -- Environmental aspects
- Climatic Changes in literature
- Ecology in literature
- Environmental literature
- Ecocriticism
Tip: You can also use topical subdivisions in the subject heading string to get relevant search results:
Key phrase: "History and criticism" will find results for a type of literature, author or place.
Example: Canadian literature -- History and criticism
Key phrase: "in literature” returns a list of book titles about the topic or place and its treatment in literature
Example: Environmental policy in literature
Literature Databases
Here are databases that provide information on literary topics:
- Gale Literature
Gale Literature consists of following three databases: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Literature Criticism and Literature Resource Center. - MLA International Bibliography
This database provides citations and abstracts to articles and other written materials on international literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore.
Multi-disciplinary Article Databases
Other Subject-specific Databases
All information found online should be critically evaluated because there is no guarantee that it is reliable or accurate.
Use this four-part test (PDF) to determine the suitability of information you want to use.
Currency (Is the information up-to-date?)
- How recent is the information?
- How recently has the website been updated?
- Is the website modified regularly?
- Is the information current enough for your research?
Checklist for up-to-date information
- Site or page date
- Is the date of publication or last revision published (often at the bottom of the page)?
- When was the site or page last updated?
- Is the information out-of-date?
Reliability (Is the information trustworthy?)
- Is this web page intended for elementary or high school students?
- If so, is it the best site to refer to when writing a university-level research paper?
- Has the information passed through any peer reviewing process?
- Sources?
- Has the author(s) documented his/her sources by including a reference list?
- Is the information reproduced from another site. If so, which one?
- If applicable, when were the sources published?
Checklist for reliable information
- Evidence of the peer review process (e.g., in an "About us" or editorial statement)
- A bibliography or reference list
Authority (Is the author credible?)
- Who is the creator or author of the website or web page
- E.g., a recognized individual or organization/government?
- What are his/her/its credentials
- E.g., is the individual author or organization known in the field?
- Has the author published other material(s)?
- Does the author provide contact information (e.g., email address or phone number) in case you want to verify the information?
- Who is the publisher or sponsor?
- Can you determine if he/she/the organization has a good reputation?
- Can you determine if he/she/the organization has a good reputation?
Checklist for authoritative information
- Author's credentials
- Look for information about the author of the site or page.
- Is the author qualified to publish on this topic?
- E.g, Can you identify the author's education and relevant professional experience?
- Look up the author's name using the library home page search tool or on Wikipedia.
- Is the author qualified to publish on this topic?
- Look for information about the author of the site or page.
- URL
- Read the uniform resource locator (URL) carefully to determine if you are reading someone's personal page.
- You need to investigate the author carefully because personal pages have no publisher or domain owner to vouch for the information.
- Read the uniform resource locator (URL) carefully to determine if you are reading someone's personal page.
- Domain
- Is the domain extension appropriate for the content?
- Government sites: .gov
- Educational sites: edu
- Nonprofit organizations: .org
- Is the domain extension appropriate for the content?
- Publisher
- Identify the publisher (individual or organization) of the site or page.
- The publisher operates the server computer from which the site or page is issued. Do you know anything about the publisher?
- Identify the publisher (individual or organization) of the site or page.
- "About us" links
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- This could be under "about us," "philosophy," "background," or "bibliography" tabs.
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- Page design or structure
- Page design is not always an indicator of credibility but if a site or page is easy to navigate, you'll be able to assess the information more easily.
Purpose/Point of view (Is the information objective?)
- What is the purpose or point of view of the site?
- Is the information primarily fact or opinion?
- Does the point of view seem balanced and/or objective (e.g., presents more than one perspective)?
- What is the publisher's interest (if any) in this information?
- Does the site try to persuade, advocate, entertain, or sell a product?
Checklist for objective information
- "About us" links
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- This could be under "about us" or "philosophy", "background" or "bibliography" tabs.
- Is there advertising?
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- Cross reference information
- Try to verify the information by cross referencing the material.
- Look up some of the references in Google Scholar (through the Carleton University Library).
- Try to verify the information by cross referencing the material.
Complete CRAP test checklist
Currency
- Site or page date
- Is the date of publication or last revision published (often at the bottom of the page)?
- When was the site or page last updated?
Reliability
- Evidence of the peer review process (e.g., in an "About us" or editorial statement)
- A bibliography or reference list
Authority
- Author's credentials
- Look for information about the author of the site or page.
- Is the author qualified to publish on this topic?
- E.g, Can you identify the author's education and relevant professional experience?
- Look up the author's name using the library home page search tool or Wikipedia.
- Is the author qualified to publish on this topic?
- Look for information about the author of the site or page.
- URL
- Read the uniform resource locator (URL) carefully to determine if you are reading someone's personal page.
- You need to investigate the author carefully because personal pages have no publisher or domain owner to vouch for the information.
- Read the uniform resource locator (URL) carefully to determine if you are reading someone's personal page.
- Domain
- Is the domain extension appropriate for the content?
- Government sites: .gov
- Educational sites: edu
- Nonprofit organizations: .org
- Is the domain extension appropriate for the content?
- Publisher
- Identify the publisher (individual or organization) of the site or page.
- The publisher operates the server computer from which the site or page is issued. Do you know anything about the publisher?
- Identify the publisher (individual or organization) of the site or page.
- "About us" links
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- This could be under "about us," "philosophy," "background," or "bibliography" tabs.
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- Page design or structure
- Page design is not always an indicator of credibility but if a site or page is easy to navigate, you'll be able to assess the information more easily.
Purpose/Point of view
- "About us" links
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- This could be under "about us" or "philosophy", "background" or "bibliography" tabs.
- Is there advertising?
- Read the information on the site or page about the author and/or publisher.
- Cross reference information
- Try to verify the information by cross referencing the material.
- Look up some of the references in Google Scholar (through the Carleton University Library).
- Try to verify the information by cross referencing the material.
The original CRAP test is courtesy of the University of Waterloo.
More information: Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask (University of California Berkley).
Government Information
Canada
United States
International
Maps
Film Databases
- Kanopy
A streaming service that provides a platform for educational video products covering a wide range of subjects, from arts, humanities, health, business, education, and more. - Films-on-Demand
Online streaming video collection that provides unlimited access to thousands of videos in numerous subject areas. These video can be added to online catalogs, distance education courses, and learning management systems. Includes captioning with interactive and searchable transcripts on all titles. - Criterion-on-Demand
Criterion-on-Demand is an online digital delivery feature film platform intended to provide easy access to educationally relevant feature films used in Canadian Higher Education Institutions.
Example Streaming Videos:
1. The Age of Stupid / Mongrel Media Inc. (2009) (92 min.)
2. This Changes Everything / The Message Productions LLC (2015) (90 min.)
Art and Architecture Databases
- ARTstor
A digital library of art images.
Flickr Commons
Google Images
Google Art Project
Writing Resources
- Writing at University a Guide for Students / Phyllis Creme ; Mary R. Lee (2008)
- Strategies for Essay Writing (Harvard Writing Center)
- How to Do a Close Reading (Harvard Writing Center)
Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style
Citing
MLA Style Guide
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue University OWL)
- MLA Style Center Changes in the 8th edition include: -required elements for journal articles and books
APA Style Guide
Chicago Style Guide
Social Media
Literary Blogs
A selection of literary blogs on fiction and culture:
Youtube
Some Youtube videos to watch:
- Recycled Art- Playlist /JacquelineTruong – April 8, 2020 - Youtube video
- 75 amazing trash art creations...makes me smile / Robb’s Homemade Life Youtube video- Mar 17, 2016 (5:10m)
- From trash to art - murals by Bordalo Segundo | Euromaxx Youtube video, March 19, 2015 (4:15m)
- The artist who 'paints' with recycled plastic / BBC News Africa Youtube video - August 24, 2015 (3:05m)
- Why We Should Coat City Streets White – Tech Insider – May 21, 2018 (3:22m) YT video -
