Contact Jason if you need help at any point during your research. My contact info is at the top of the page.

Ask for help at the reference desk, by phone (404-727-0147), IM (EmoryWoodRef) or e-mail (woodref@emory.edu).

To find materials located at any of Emory's libraries, search EUCLID, Emory's online library catalog.

The contents of books and articles are not searchable in EUCLID. Read Where can I find articles from scholarly journals? to learn more.

You must access library electronic resources via a library web site, such as EUCLID or the Databases @ Emory list (or this course guide). If you are at home, see off-campus access instructions.

To obtain a book or article Emory doesn't have, request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). In most cases, there is no charge for borrowed items or for photocopies. ILL items can be picked up at the Circulation Desk. Returns can be made to the ILL Office or the Circulation Desk.

Consult the Emory Writing Center for help with the process of writing your paper.

Short Cuts:

The Research FAQ has help and answers to common questions, and lots of video examples..

If you're not sure where to start, ask me or anyone at the reference desk! We can save you hours of guessing!

To find books located at any of Emory's libraries, search EUCLID, Emory's online library catalog. Remember that EUCLID does not contain articles -- use a database or print index to find articles. See Finding Articles at Woodruff Library for more information

The following are links to some sample subject searches you might find useful.

• suburb$ and fiction (the "$" is a truncation mark: this search will retrieve matches for suburbs, suburban, suburbia and anything else starting with "suburb")
• simpsons (television program) (when looking for works about specific television programs or films, you can make your search more specific by including "television program" or "motion picture." That helps exclude non-relevant Simpsons or Sopranos. Try it both ways and see what you get, though.)

Vary your search terms to see how it affects your results.

Can't find the book you want? Is it checked out? Is it at Oxford or in Storage? Click on the Request button at the top or bottom of the screen while looking at the record in EUCLID to recall it, or request it from Storage or Oxford Library.

To find materials not available at Emory, consider using WorldCat, a catalog of items held in research and special libraries all over the country and the world. You can order items from other libraries around the country using the Emory Library's Interlibrary Loan service.

As an Emory student, you may check out books from Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia using your EmoryCard. Interlibrary Use cards allow you to borrow directly from fourteen libraries in the Atlanta area. These cards are available at the Reference Desk on Level 2.

Tips:

The 6th floor is closed this semester. This includes many books on the suburbs (library classification HT, "communities.") Retrieve 6th floor items from storage with the blue "Request" button in EUCLID.

A sample EUCLID search:

More EUCLID help is available on the Research FAQ page.

Most of the articles you will use in your research will be critical articles published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. A peer-reviewed journal is targeted to researchers in its field, and written by experts and scholars.

An index will tell you which journals have published articles on your topic. Indexes come in both print and electronic versions; the electronic version of an index is usually called an article database. Most print indexes are found in the reference collection on Level 2 of the Woodruff Library.

These are just a few of many databases the library subscribes to. More databases, broken down by subject, are available through the Databases at Emory page.

Try these first:

• MLA International Bibliography (1963-present)
  Indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Coverage includes journal articles, series, books, dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings, and other materials.
  Print edition: GENERAL STACKS Z7003 .M6
• Literature Online (8th century-present)
  A fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, plus biographies, bibliographies and key criticism and reference resources.

Additional databases with literary articles:

• ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature) (1920-present)
  Indexes monographs, journals, critical editions of literary works, book reviews, collections of essays, and doctoral dissertations English language and literature.
• Academic Search Complete (1984-present)
  Indexes scholarly journals in the social sciences, business, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, and education as well as major daily newspapers. Full-text is available from 1990.

Short Cuts:

What is a scholarly journal?

Many databases just include the citation, not the full article.

To find the full text of articles, look up the journal title (not the article title) in EUCLID or e-Journals to locate the journal in the library or online.