When researching a topic, theme, or claim about a text, it is desirable (some would say necessary) to do a thorough search for sources. We have a tendency to go for the easiest way (online only) and avoid the library, or just to use one database. But all databases are incomplete, only a small percentage of articles are available in full-text online (alas), and libraries have people called reference librarians whose job is to help us find stuff and teach us how to be better researchers and users of library resources. The effervescent Lorraine Wochna is the humanities ref. librarian. Use her!
On researching Ceremony: the novel has been around and receiving critical attention since 1976--33 years. Articles are still coming out. There are many articles on it and some book chapters, plus one book collection of essays.
I have placed some of the books on reserve in the library with an overnight limit. You can check out a book on reserve but have to return it the next day or face fines. These books mostly contain a chapter on Ceremony, but some of them have interesting introductory chapters on American Indian literature that may offer helpful ideas and provide historical and critical context. The one edited collection of essays has a range of approaches, some very good; most are useful in some way.
There are many good articles in journals that are not included in any of the above-mentioned books. These you need to access through databases, search engines, etc. There are two main types of databases. one kind has mostly citations. The MLA database is typical. It has a huge number of citations, although it is not complete because you have to pay (yes, pay money) to be listed in it. In the MLA database you can mark, save, and email citation lists to yourself. Then you go to Alden library and find the journal, volume, year, and the article. The MLA does have some full-text articles online. This is a recent and welcome development.
The second major kind has the entire article available, usually in .pdf format. JSTOR is typical. Libraries pay for access to JSTOR; access is therefore restricted to students and faculty--folks with OU IDs. You can log in from off-campus. JSTOR is a great source for articles on Ceremony; however, the number of journals they have in the field of English Studies is quite limited. But you can read around in a source on the screen, and then download it, print it, work with it, all without going to the library.
Academic Search Complete (an EBSCO database) is a good source for both citations and full-text articles, so it is a mix of the two types described above. I went there and used ‘Leslie Marmon Silko’ as the search term and got quite a list of both citations and full-text. Not all are on Ceremony, but many are, and some are ones I have not seen before that look promising. The citations have links, Find It, on how to find the journal. Note that some would have to be ordered through the annex or Ohiolink (takes a few days).
Example (also is listed in MLA):
Bassett, Troy J. “"My Brother": The Recovery of Rocky in Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony.".” American Indian Culture & Research Journal, v. 28 issue 1, 2004, p. 35-40.
When you click on Find it, you are taken to a page with a window that tells you the journal is available on Alden sixth floor. Checking the years available, it looks like this 2004 article is available. The link to finding it on Lexis/Nexis was a bust, so you’d have to go to Alden to look at it.
*Beware of the very short pieces in Explicator. They may be useful, but you need to limit your use of them. They tend to focus on some small aspect, and so are called “notes” rather than articles.
Other databases: There are many! Go to the Library front page and then click on Infotree, then click on Humanities and you will see a long list. Or you can go straight to literature, under Humanities and get a smaller list. Keep looking and you will find JSTOR, MLA, and various others, including some web-based ones, such as Intute and Voice of the Shuttle. I went to Intute and entered Leslie Marmon Silko and got a link to the Nativewiki site, which then got me to their entry on Silko. There you can find some links to other sources, including articles, interviews, and more.
Sources to be wary off: the oft-maligned Wikipedia is good for initial searching, in the way most encyclopedias are. It’s best to double-check any facts you end up relying on to make an argument.
The quality of web sources varies greatly from excellent to execrable. For our research, it is best to use vetted sources, such as professional articles and books or materials on web sites that screen materials.
In class, we will do some searches in MLA, JSTOR, and Academic Search Complete. We may do some others. I might send you off to Alden to get something (if you come back!)
I do recommend printing out online articles and photocopying print journal articles. I hestitate to suggest it because of the use of paper (trees, you know), but it is worthwhile to do so on the articles you will use the most. Skim and read some first, and if it looks promising as major source, go ahead and spring for the print out/photocopy.
Research Resources
Databases (Use advanced search when available. Access these through the OU Libraries Web site)
MLA International BibliographyStyle and Citations Guides
Academic Search Complete
JSTOR
Alice Online catalogue
OhioLink
Humanities International Complete
Literary Reference Center
Purdue OWL
OSU
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