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ENGL 2250: Sommers

This guide includes links to several of the Libraries' databases and collections of primary source materials.

English & Psychology Librarian

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Jaena Alabi
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Contact:
231 Mell Street
Auburn, AL 36849-5606
334-844-1767

Recommended databases

As you work through your team research skills assignment, you may want to search or browse the recommended databases in this list.  

Search for books owned by Auburn University Libraries

Catalog
Classic Catalog

Finding scholarly articles and book reviews

Citing your sources

Style guides, such as the MLA Handbook, set out to create a standardized format for documenting sources used in a paper.  The intent is to make it easier for other readers and scholars to quickly locate the referenced material. With the proliferation of so many different types of information sources now--YouTube videos, Tweets, blogs and comments on blogs, in addition to more traditional sources such as books and journal articles--the Modern Language Association (MLA) with the 8th edition of its handbook focuses more on guiding principles rather than an exhaustive list of rules for each kind of information source. Those guiding principles are listed below:

  1. Cite simple traits shared by most works
  2. Remember that there is often more than one correct way to document a source.
  3. Make your documentation useful to readers. 

The basic structure of a citation will be as follows:
Author. Title of source. Title of container. Other contributors. Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

If your entry is longer than a single line, all lines after the first one should be indented (which I can't show well on this page).

Below are some examples provided in the Handbook for some of the sources you'll be using in this assignment.

An article in a journal, newspaper, or magazine

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.

Belton, John. "Painting by the Numbers: The Digital Intermediate." Film Quarterlyvol. 61, no. 3, Spring 2008, pp. 58-65.

An article from a newspaper in a database or digital collection

Craik, James, and Elisha C. Dick. “Treatment of General Washington in his Sickness.” Raleigh Register, vol 1., no. 13, 14 Jan. 1800. Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, https://link-gale-com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/apps/doc/GT3012643299/NCNP?u=avl_auburnu&sid=NCNP&xid=dcf3f480. Accessed 5 Oct. 2020.

A book

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Vintage Books, 1995.

A book that is available online

Gikandi, Simon. Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Cambridget UP, 2000. ACLS Humanities E-book, hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.07588.0001.001.

An essay, a story, or a poem in a collection

Dewar, James A., and Peng Hwa Ang. “The Cultural Consequences of Printing and the Internet.” Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, edited by Sabrina Alcorn Baron et al., U of Massachusetts P / Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007, pp. 365-77.

Ephemera from a database or digital collection

Lewis, Mrs. W. L. “Freeda’s Sweet Sixteen Party.” Menu, Seating Arrangements, etc., 15 Apr. 1965. Memo. African American Communities, http://www.africanamericancommunities.amdigital.co.uk.spot.lib.auburn.edu/Documents/Details/ahc_MSS_0468_0003_0010_0001_0001.  Access 5 Oct. 2020.