UCB Libraries

Before you start to research a topic, you need to develop keywords that represent your research interest, question, or inquiry.

 

Keywords are significant words (usually nouns or noun phrases) which can be used as search terms in online catalogs or databases. Keywords will determine the quantity and relevance of results you retrieve when searching.

 

First you will identify and articulate your topic in your own words:

Example: I am interested in investigating the representation of feminism in Latin American literature

Next you will designate the main concepts or ideas that describe the topic:

 

Concept 1: representation

Concept 2: feminism

Concept 3: Latin American literature

Then develop other terms and vocabulary that represent the topic. Some terms may be broader, narrower, or synonyms. Adding terms that represent geographical distincitions, time periods, or significant figures about your topic may also be useful.

 

Concept 1: portrayal illustration account embodiment

Concept 2: rights of women women's suffrage women's studies female emancipation

Concept 3: Spanish-American Hispanic Argentine/a fiction/novel/poetry

 

Combining Keywords

Operators:

AND: Iberio-American AND poetry (must find both terms)
OR: Spain OR Spanish (must find one of the terms)
NOT: Latin America NOT Brazil (must find first term NOT second term)

 

Punctuation:

Phrases: “literary movement” (must find that phrase in that order)
Synonyms: (breed OR caste) AND Peru
Wildcards: Latin America* will find Latin American, Latin Americans etc

You may use the UCB Search Strategy/ Keyword Worksheetto develop your own topic.

For details on combining keywords for the best results view the

How Do I Use Keywords

 

A good place to find keywords is from reference sources.

Reference Universe: This is a searchable database that indexes information from specialized subject encyclopedias. It does not include the full text of reference materials but will point you to reference sources that cover your topic. It searches both the titles of reference articles as well as the encyclopedia / dictionary indexes, providing a thorough level of access to materials and potential sources. CU

 

Some more CU Reference Source examples:

General Online Encyclopedias:

Encyclopedia Britannica CU
Gale Virtual Reference Library CU
Oxford Digital Reference Shelf CU

 

Specialized Dictionaries:

 

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online   CU

Real Academia Española: http://www.rae.es/rae.html

 

Literature

Literature of Latin America

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture

Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory & criticism

 

The Cambridge history of Spanish literature

PQ6033 .C36 2004

 

Diccionario Espasa literatura española. 2003
PQ6051 .B74 2003

 

Diccionario de literatura española e hispanoamericana. 1993 (2 volumes)
PQ6006 .D6

 

Diccionario Oxford De Literatura Española E Hispanoamericana

PQ6006 .O9518 1984

 

A Sourcebook for Hispanic Literature and Language. 1995
Z2695 .A2 B55

 

Hispanic Literature Criticism. 1994. (2 volumes)
PQ7081 .A1 H573

For more reference source search tips, go to How do I find Reference Sources.

 

Author Resources

 

To find books by an author do an AUTHOR search in Chinook.

 

To find books about an author or an author's work, do a KEYWORD search in Chinook for the author's name.

 

Or do a SUBJECT search in Chinook to browse the subjects in the catalog:

 

Use and Adapt these Subject Keywords

Criticism and Interpretation (eg Bolano Roberto 1953 2003 Criticism And Interpretation)

Authors Spanish American 20th Century

Exiles' writings, Spanish American

Also see:

Literature of Latin America

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture

 

The Cambridge history of Spanish literature

PQ6033 .C36 2004

 

Diccionario Espasa literatura española. 2003
PQ6051 .B74 2003

 

Diccionario de literatura española e hispanoamericana. 1993 (2 volumes)
PQ6006 .D6

 

Diccionario Oxford De Literatura Española E Hispanoamericana

PQ6006 .O9518 1984

 

A Sourcebook for Hispanic Literature and Language. 1995
Z2695 .A2 B55

 

Hispanic Literature Criticism. 1994. (2 volumes)
PQ7081 .A1 H573

Novel Resources

 

To find books about a novel, do a KEYWORD search in Chinook under the author's name and under the title of the work (use both).E.g. Roberto Bolaño AND 2666

 

To find more specific material do a SUBJECT search in Chinook to find relevant subject headings:

 

Use and Adapt these Subject Keywords

Spanish American Literature History And Criticism

Spanish American Literature Women Authors History And Criticism

Spanish American Literature Social Aspects

 

Poetry Resources

 

Books about a specific poem generally are not found in the Library. However, sections of books which provide a critical discussion of an author's overall work may discuss a specific poem.

 

Do a KEYWORD search in Chinook under the author's name or the title of the anthology in which the poem is found

eg Poesías completas

 

to find where those books are in the Library. Go to that area and look in each book's 'Index' under that specific Poem's title.

To find more specific material do a SUBJECT search in Chinook to find relevant subject headings

 

Use and Adapt these Subject Keywords

Catalan Poetry 20th Century

Spanish Poetry 20th Century History And Criticism

Spanish Poetry Women Authors

 

Literary Theory Resources

 

Do a KEYWORD search in Chinook on your topic.

 

Or do a SUBJECT search in Chinook to browse the subjects in the catalog:

 

Use and Adapt these Subject Keywords

Literature History And Criticism Theory

Politics And Literature

Psychoanalysis And Feminism

Also see:

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory & criticism

 

The Feminist Encyclopedia Of Spanish Literature

REF PQ6055 .F46 2002

 

MLA international bibliography CU

Articles in literature, languages, linguistics, drama/theatre, and folklore from several thousand journals and series published worldwide. Also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, and bibliographies.

 

Hapi: Hispanic American periodicals index CU

Articles from scholarly journals and journals of academic interest with links to full text where available. Journals are published in and about Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, and Hispanics/Latinos in the United States. Covers political, economic, and social issues as well as Latin American arts and literature

Video Tutorial: Searching HAPI

 

JSTOR CU

Articles from back issues of selected scholarly journals in history and other fields of the humanities and social sciences.

 

Project Muse CU

Full-text articles from over 300 high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from 60 scholarly publishers.

 

Literature Online CU

A collection of cross-searchable literature databases including the major crititcal world literature indexes, the MLA Bibliography, and ABELL.

 

HLAS online: Handbook of Latin American studies

Article and book citations about Latin America in the Humanities and Social Sciences. For Humanities, coverage includes: Art, History, Literature, Music, and Philosophy.

 

CU = Available to CU affiliates only.
How to connect from home: Remote access information.

MLA international bibliography CU

Articles in literature, languages, linguistics, drama/theatre, and folklore from several thousand journals and series published worldwide. Also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, and bibliographies.

 

Johns Hopkins Guide To Literary Theory And Criticism CU
Presents a comprehensive historical survey of the field's most important figures, schools, and movements. It includes more than 240 alphabetically arranged entries on critics and theorists, critical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods .

 

Literature Online CU

A collection of cross-searchable literature databases including the major crititcal world literature indexes, the MLA Bibliography, and ABELL.

 

CU = Available to CU affiliates only.
How to connect from home: Remote access information.

Literary Index is a sound assessment of significant literary resources available on the WWW with connections to recommended sites.

 

Literary Resources on the Net at the University of Pennsylvania is a major WWW source of literary sites.

 

Voice of the Shuttle is a major site listing connections to literary sites concerned with English and American Literature, Minority Literature, and other English literary classifications by genre or country.

Gender Studies lists a multitude of sites dealing with women studies; feminist theory; gay, lesbian, and queer studies; and much more.

 

Literary Theory sites on the WWW will be found at this location.

Jorge Luis Borges

Fundación Internacional Jorge Luis Borges

 

Borges center at the University of Iowa

 

Grandes escritores

 

Modern Word

 

Augusto Monterroso

Página de literatura guatemalteca

 

Julio Cortázar

La página de Julio Cortázar

 

Literatura Argentina contemporánea

 

Modern Word

 

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez

 

Grandes escritores

 

Nobel Prize in Literature

 

Magical realism

 

Modern Word

 

Juan Rulfo

Escritores y poetas en español

 

Desocupado lector

Real Academia Española

http://www.rae.es/rae.html

 

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online  CU

 

CU = Available to CU affiliates only.
How to connect from home: Remote access information.