If I'm not on chat and you need immediate assistance, you can use the main library Ask Us chat.
This guide provides some useful starting places for your research. I'm happy to meet with you to help with any part of the research process, from finding and evaluating sources to understanding how to cite them. You can email me (kstorz@wellesley.edu), make an appointment on my calendar (bit.ly/storzappt), or contact me via chat (under my profile on this page) — whatever works for you! If I'm not currently on chat, you can also use the main library chat to reach a librarian.
Karen​ Storz, Research & Instruction Librarian
Image: Winslow Homer. The New Novel. 1877. ArtSTOR.
Databases can contain a combination of full-text (ready to read online) and citation information that can lead you to articles, book chapters, or books. It's always a good idea to search in more than one database. Even if there is considerable overlap in content, the different search capabilities and features of each database can help you find different sources.
To find critical sources on a particular author in the MLA International Bibliography, choose SA Primary Subject Author from the search box menu.
Add other terms to narrow your focus.
Look at the Subjects that come up under the citations. They can provide you with additional ideas for search terms.
For more tips on database searching, see the Search Tips page of this guide.
Sample topic: Cultural identity in the poetry of Li-Young Lee
(identity OR self) [synonyms]
AND (cultur* OR ethnic* OR immigra* OR "Asian American") [truncation & phrase searching]
AND Li-Young Lee
AND poetry
After you do your search, change Entire Collection to Online/electronic to see only materials available online. Or search the entire collection, and if you find a relevant title in print only, try searching for it in the National Emergency Library.
If you find a book through SuperSearch that is only available in print, see if you can find it in the Internet Archive. You can borrow digitized copies of books for up to 14 days with a free account. Access is limited to one user at a time per book, so be sure to return the book as soon as you're done to make it available for others. Change "Metadata" to "Text Contents" to search for keywords in the full content of all of the Internet Archive's digitized books.