Ohlone College LRC — English 101A Pathfinder
Instructor: Elliott Cragen
Shakespeare / Much Ado About Nothing / Criticism / Feminism /
Where to Start?
WWW vs Subscription Databases & Books
- To Google or Not to Google?
- In a study that reviewed 500 sites used by students for research, only
27% of the sites were judged to be reliable for academic research!*
You Have Options!
Ohlone College Library Website
http://www.ohlone.edu/org/library
provides access to countless resources of interest to students and faculty.
Explore the following links on the homepage for information and excellent resources.
- HANS—The
Ohlone Library Online Catalog
- Search HANS to find books, e-books, reserve items, CDs, and other materials
the Library owns, where they are shelved, and whether or not they are
checked out.
- Library
Guides
- Useful guides & tutorials on HANS, style sheets, Internet searching,
& more.
- Search for Articles
General Search Tips:
- If searching from home, enter your Ohlone College student or staff
ID and last name at the log-in to be granted access to subscription databases.
- Like Web search engines, each database will support a different set
of rules for searching. Become efficient at two or three databases and
you should see good results.
- A “subject” search will always retrieve more precise results.
If you find a good article, check to see the assigned Subject Headings,
then use those terms to search for more articles. If not getting enough
results, try a “keyword” search.
- Ebscohost
Academic Search Elite: Full-text or citations for articles on
academic or general interest topics.
Sample Search:
- Start with a Basic Search. Enter Shakespeare. Click on the
Full-Text box. Notice how many hits are retrieved (too many).
Check the Narrow Results by Subject on the left-side toolbar.
Notice the subject term Criticism. Note that both Shakespeare
& Criticism are subject terms.
- Find & click on Advanced Search tab. Enter Shakespeare
in the top field. In the drop-down menu to the right, click on
SU Subject Terms. Enter Criticism in the next field. Find SU Subject
Terms to the right.
- Don’t forget the Full-Text box. Click Search. Notice hits
retrieved (better!)
- Check Narrow Results by Subject again.
- Notice subject term SHAKESPEARE, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism
& interpretation. Click on the link.
- Notice the number of hits retrieved. (fewer hits, more precise
results!)
- Now try other terms in similar ways.
- SIRS
Knowledge Source: Includes full-text articles on social issues
and topics in the Arts and Humanities.
- Search Tips: Click on Advanced Search. Enter terms such as
Shakespeare in one field, feminism in the next. Review results.
Start a new search, entering Shakespeare in one field, Much Ado
About Nothing in the next.
- LexisNexis
Academic: A selection of full-text publications periodicals, including
The New York Times back to June 1, 1930.
- Search Tip: Good for news and reviews of past theatrical productions!
- JSTOR:
An archive of important scholarly journals spanning many disciplines.
It is not a current article database; JSTOR offers backfiles!
- Links to Internet
Resources
- Scroll down to Other
Libraries
- Use your public library card for access to the databases subscribed
to by the public library system near you or for Interlibrary Loan
options, such as Link +.
- Continue to scroll down this page for list of excellent Reference Sources
and Librarian evaluated Web links arranged by discipline.
Any Questions?
Ask a Librarian!
• Telephone: (510) 659-6171
• Email: librarians@ohlone.edu
*Colhoun, Alexander. “But—I Found it on the Internet!” Christian Science Monitor. 25 April
2000. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0425/p16s1.html>. Accessed September 25, 2007.