Research Guide for: Foreign Languages and Literatures

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• The basic set-up of the Ingram Library
• The materials that will help you in this course and how to find them
• The ways that you can get help

1. Library's Homepage
http://www.westga.edu/~library/

Our homepage is your starting point to all the library information.


2. Maps of Library
http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/libmaps.shtml

1. Main Floor
   http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/libmap_main.shtml
   
   1. Periodicals
   2. Reference Shelves
   3. Circulation: borrow/return
      
      
2. Second Floor
   http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/libmap_2nd.shtml
   
   1. Books with A-K classification*
      
      
3. Third Floor
   http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/libmap_3rd.shtml
   
   1. Books with L-Z classification*

*Classification
The way these letters are organized is based on the Library of Congress Classification system. For your course and your assignments you will generally be looking areas:

• D (History), especially DC (French History),
• P (Language and Literature), especially PQ1-PQ3999 (French Literature),
• Z (Bibliography).

Come and walk through the stacks, especially in the areas that you are interested and see the books that are there. Whenever you go to get a book, make sure that you look at the books on either side of it. Sometimes you will discover really good books on your topic. Personally, I find that just browsing the shelves and reading the titles is one of the best ways to learn what topics are in your area of study.


3. Hours
http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/hours.shtml

Typically the library is open:

Monday-Thursday 7:30am - 10:00pm
Friday 7:30am - 6:00pm
Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday 2:00pm - 10:00pm

Watch out for Maymester hours, Summer Semester hours, and hours for exam period.


4. Library Research Tutorial for General Information Topics
http://www.westga.edu/~library/depts/li/tutorials/engl1101/

For more detailed guide on how to condust your research using library's resources.


5. Research Guides by Subject
http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/subguides.shtml

Check "Foreign Languages and Literatures"

The main materials that we have in the library building are books. The other important set of materials for your work is reference materials. We also have journals, both the print journals and online versions, but I will not cover journals in today's session.

There are also sources of information on the Internet. First, I think most of you know about these and use them. While they can be very helpful, it is sometimes difficult to know exactly how reliable they are. For your work in this course, Dr. Hall wants to encourage you to use this library and its books.

We will first look at how to find reference materials. These will generally be the place to get started in your research. Then we will talk about how to find books.


Reference Materials

What is a Reference Source?
(from Washington University Libraries http://library.wustl.edu/research/findrefs.html)

• Contain short, factual information.
• Can be used to provide background information on an unfamiliar topic
• Examples of reference materials: encyclopedia, dictionary, indexes, etc

How to Find Reference Material for Your Research

We are going to use OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) or GIL as it is known here. This is the same database we will be using to find books, but let's concentrate now on finding reference materials.

First of all, I would recommend that you start broad. Rather than beginning with "Napoleon" or "Empire" start with something like "French history" or "French literature."

Let's go to the GIL page for the library catalog (https://gil.westga.edu/).
When you are just getting started and not looking for a particular title or author, then use the "keyword search".

Search Example: Reference Books on French Literature.

1. Click the "Narrow my search" button.
2. Choose "Reference" from the "Location" box, and click "Narrow my search" button.
3. Type in "french"
4. Choose "title/subject" in the box next to "Search in:"
5. Leave the word as AND between search boxes.
6. Type in "literature" in the search box in the next row.
7. Choose "title/subject" in the box next to "Search in:"
8. Click "Go"

Now you can choose from the result list; find the call number and see where it is located.

OR

After choosing a book from the list and then clicking the links next to "Subject(s):"sign, a list of similar items will appear and you can choose from that list.

In either case, get the call number. The books are arranged by call number taht is based on Library of Congress Classification (see above: *classification). If you have any problem finding the book you want, ask a librarian at reference desk.

Books

How to Find Books for Your Research

The search for books is similar to that for reference material, but I want to go into a bit more detail.

There are three types of searches.

• Exact Search
• Keyword Search
• Quick Search

I recommend that you use Exact Search and Keyword Search.

Exact Search

The Exact Search allows you to:
Search for materials when you have exact information, such as author or title. Because you use more specific information about your book, the search result will generally be small and thus you can easily choose a book from it.

Use the Exact Search when:
You have the complete information for a title, author, ISBN, etc.
You want to browse a list of an authors, titles, call numbers etc.

Click Here:
For more information on Exact Search (from Online Library Learning Center)

Keyword Search
As you saw in the previous sample search,

The Keyword Search allows you to:
Search by combined keywords in the same field (Subject: French & Subject: literature), or by keywords in different fields (Subject: French & Date: 2000) so that you will have more control on your search.

Use the Keyword Search when:
You have your topic(s) in mind but do not know specific title, author or other information.
At the start point of your research.

Boolean Operators in Keyword Search:
If more than one line is used in Keyword Search, the lines must be related using the Boolean operators: AND/OR/NOT.

• "Napoleon AND empire" will get those works that have to do with both Napoleon and the Empire
  
  
• "Napoleon OR empire" will get you more works, but while it might be about Napoleon it may not mention the Empire or vice versa.
  
  
• Use NOT to exclude what you do not need. For instance you could say "Napoleon NOT 'Napoleon III'" (use as a phrase) to make sure that you get works that concern only Napoleon Bonaparte.

Click Here:
For more information on Keyword Search (from Online Library Learning Center)

Your Liaison Librarian

Yumi Heo Alberg
Cataloging Librarian
Irvine S. Ingram Library
678-839-6260
yheo@westga.edu

Reference Desk:

Phone: 678-839-6495

Ask-a-Librarian (ASKAL)
http://www.westga.edu/~library/nav/askalib.shtml

Email reference service, you can usually get answer within 48 hours.
This is especially helpful if you can't come to the library yourself.
Clich here for more information.

GIL Express and ILL (Interlibrary Loan)

If there is an important book for you that this library does not have, you can still get it through GIL Express and ILL.
For more information, visit our Interlibrary Loan page (http://www.westga.edu/~library/depts/ill/)