RSSS 210 Utopian Visions
Research Strategies:
1. Don't take shortcuts!
Before trying to answer specific questions, get some background/context so that you can formulate better search strategies (Start with your required books for the course; read a chapter in a history text, an encyclopedia entry, etc. This will give you the synonyms, key events, key personalities, etc., that you will need to do your research).
2. Use the Library Catalog.
Use the keyword search in the catalog to find relevant books. Focus or expand your search by using synonyms and Boolean logic. For more in-depth research tips, see Research Rules to Live by
Example -- If you are interested in Russian painting , also try "Soviet," or "USSR," as well as "art," or "painters," etc. Also try searching for events, personalities or movements, that are associated with your topic/person.
3. Browse the Stacks & the Library Catalog:
Use the library catalog's Keyword search to find a relevant book, then use the Subjects (or Author) links within the record to electronically browse other resources on the same subject or by the same author. These "Subject Headings" are assigned by librarians and are intended to describe the contents of the item in broad terms. Some Subject Headings you might want to browse by typing them into a Subject search would be:*
Arts, Soviet or Art, Soviet
Arts, Russian or Art, Russian
Russia History or Soviet Union, History
*Only use the Subject search if you know the exact Subject Heading. Otherwise, use a keyword search, then click on the relevant Subjects to browse.
You can also physically "browse" for relevant resources. First find a relevant book/item and get the call number. Then go to that call number range (in all areas -- Main Reference, Main Stacks & Map Collection, if applicable) and look at the books near it on the shelf.
Be sure to handle them: take them down and look in the indexes & tables of contents to see if your person/topic is mentioned. Good places to browse for the research for this course might be:
DK14; DK36; DK266 (Russian History)
N6980-7000 (Russian Art)
4. Try Different Transliteration Systems
Russian names can be transliterated a number of different ways Latin alphabet. If you are not finding much information on a particular person (and even if you are) it is wise to try searching using other alternate spellings of that person's name. Ask your instructor if there are other ways the name can be spelled.
Some quick and dirty suggestions are: if the name ends in "y", try substituting "ii" (and visa versa). If it ends in "aya", try "aia". If it ends in "oy" try "oi". If it ends in "ff", try "v". For more complete information on transliteration systems go to the Slavic Information Literacy site.
5. Let Others' Research Work for You!
Online: Use the library's Russian Subject Guide. It collects all the major print and online resources for Slavic Scholars in a single, virtual place.
In Print: Use encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs and other reference materials! When you browse books on the shelf or find an encyclopedia or other entry on your person or topic, find out where they got their information. Most will have bibliographies that will give their sources. Then look these up in the library's catalog so see if we own them. (Be sure to look up the title of the book or the name of the journal, not the name of an article).
Use your required texts and the resources on reserve: These give good contextual information to help you with your research. They also give numerous references to other important works (at the end of every chapter in your required text). Find these by searching for the title or author in the Library's online catalog
6. Browse the contemporary popular press for contextual information
Search the Historic New York Times and/or the Times Digital Archive, limiting to your year (or your year and the adjacent years), to see what political, economic, artistic, scientific, etc. events were in the news for Russia or the Soviet Union. Be sure to try several searches and to look at several articles to get a more holistic sense of the what was happening in Russia or the USSR (from a Western perspective).
In the Historic New York Times database, click on the "more search options" link (at the bottom left), then insert the date range (in the proper format), type in one or more keywords in the search box (e.g. "Russia" and "Tsar") and click on the "Search" button. You may also limit to "Article type," which will allow you to search only for "Reviews," or "Editorials" or "Front Page" stories.
In the Times Digital Archive, you can "Browse by Date" (on the left hand side), or search within a limited time period (use the "Advanced Search"). This database also allows you to search within particular article types (e.g. Features, Editorials, News, etc.)
7. Cite Sources Correctly
Use the MLA Style Manual to cite your sources. It is available in the Information Commons Reference collection at PN147 .G444. You may also want to try Citation Guides for Electronic Documents or the Citation Machine, an online resource to automatically generate the proper citation for MLA or APA style. My prefered method is just to have a copy of a few articles from a journal that uses MLA citation guidelines handy. The Slavic and East European journal [SEEJ] is one that does. It is available to browse online through JSTOR.
8. Ask for Help! (but know HOW to ask for help)*
Go to (or call) the Reference desk in the Information Commons [621-6442]
Use our Chat Reference Service
Call or e-mail the Subject Specialist, Michael Brewer. [307-2771]
*IMPORTANT: Always carefully document which sources and strategies you have tried already. This is crucial for you getting good help from a reference librarian (especially one who is not a Slavic/Russian specialist). It will prevent both them and you from doing duplicate work. Also make sure you have a copy of the assignment.