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REMOTE RESEARCH

FIRST STEPS for REMOTE RESEARCH

  • On the Libraries' home page check UPDATES and REMOTE ACCESS.
  • Make sure you have Okta set up for access to articles in Colby databases. (You probably already do have this activated, but if you have trouble connecting to a database, check the Okta link first.)
  • Interlibrary loan connects you to even more articles electronically. Directions on how to register for ILL are here.

 

Recommended Databases

Research databases will help locate reliable and scholarly content. Choose the "peer review" option in the sidebars. If you can't connect directly to an article, use the link to Request from another Library through Interlibrary Loan. 

How to sign up for ILL

Latin American & African American

Related Subject Areas

Literary Criticism

Art & Music

  • ProQuest Arts - art, music, theater, academic & popular
  • ArtSTOR - an image database of artworks from all over the world

General

Reference

A - Z Databases, with Subject Menus

Song of the Water Saints

725807

National Gallery of Art

Jacob Lawrence, Street to Mbari

Jacob Lawrence, Street to Mbari

Research Strategies

Think Strategically about Your Research

  • Looking up background information first can save you time later - use Credo Reference, or print dictionaries and encyclopedias

  • Use terminology and facts learned from the background information to search for articles in the MLA International Bibliograhy, Academic Search Complete,  and other databases at left. Articles present an argument on a particular aspect of a topic, not facts alone.

  • Search for books in any of Colby's catalogs, expanding your search with subject linking. The longer form of a book provides greater breadth of general information or greater depth of argument.

  • Investigate the notes and bibliographies of every good source you find for leads to more

  • Think about what sorts of publications the information you need might be published in
  • Come and visit your Librarian!

 kjgillum@colby.edu    Miller 107B

Reference Books

Not Available this Semester --

Visit the big, sunny reading room in Miller Library that faces the chapel and look for the shelf of books with call numbers beginning PQ7081. These provide brief, general information on aspects of Latin American literature. 

  • Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 - short articles on writers, movements, countries, each with bibliography
  • Latin American Women Writers
  • Literary Cultures of Latin America, 3 volumes -- more discursive, organized by topic; v.1, chh. 28, 47, 55 deal with aspects of Afro-Latin American  literatures; consult the index to find more

These books can help you quickly get oriented to a new subject area and give you leads for beginning more in-depth research.

 

Searching Tips

KEYWORD SEARCHING

  • Use an asterisk to stand in for different word endings:  spain*  = spanish, Spaniard, etc.
  • Use quotation marks to "glue together" a phrase:  "Latin America" 
  • Use parentheses & OR to search synonyms:  (Black OR African-American)

REFINE YOUR SEARCH

  • Use the various limiting parameters in sidebars of databases to narrow your search appropriately
  • Skim the terminology in entries for new keywords and synonyms to use in repeating your search

EXPAND YOUR SEARCH

  • On the EBSCO platform, click on the Choose Databases link near the top of the screen to add another subject database to your field of search

SUBJECT SEARCHING

  • Find a good book or article in a Keyword search? Look at its full record to see if there are Subject Terms. Click on these links to find other sources about that subject.

A few examples:

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