- Your starting point is this print index shelved on the library's main floor: American Fiction, 1774-1850: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography (Ref. PS 643.A1 W9 1969)--This volume includes an author index as well as a chronological index.
- Next, search for your title in WorldCat to ensure that your selection is not available in an electronic format (scroll through all the retrieved records).
- Send your selection to Professor Insko for approval. He may reject your title based upon his familiarity with the work.
- When you've found an acceptable title, intiate an ILLiad (interlibrary loan) request (the WorldCat record contains a direct link to ILLiad (blue button)).
- The ILL office will contact you via OU email when your microfilm is ready for pick up.
- Kresge Library has one reader capable of printing or scanning to create a PDF (this machine is behind the circulation desk--staff will copy the needed pages).
- Do not hesitate to contact me for further assistance at any point in your research process. Reference desk help is also available (weekends or late hours): 248-370-4426, ref@oakland.edu.
WorldCat--Catalog listing library holdings worldwide (search will find electronic records too).
OU Library Catalog--Use the catalog to find books or journal titles owned by Kresge Library.
If a catalog search indicates that OU does NOT own a book/journal title, a link to ILLiad and MelCat (catalog listing library holdings statewide) will appear. Follow these links to initiate a request to have the item sent (physically or scanned) to you.
MLA Bibliography--Indexes literary journals from 1926. Includes citations to journal articles, books, chapters, and dissertations.
Humanities Source --Indexes humanities (including literature) journal articles from 1984, abstracts beginning in 1994.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index--Search the articles cited in a particular article [references]; find which articles share references [related records]; and/or which articles have cited a particular article [cited reference]; indexes only journal articles from 1977.
Year's Work in English Studies--Online from 1996. Bibliographic essays citing important titles published in a given year. Great place to learn of the scholarship trends and to get a scholar's opinions about what is being published.
JSTOR--Online collection of many scholarly journals. Use "advanced search."
Project MUSE --Online index of journals from many university presses and non-profit publishers from current issues back 5 to 10 years. Full text of articles is searchable--descriptors/subjects are also provided. (ProjectMuse and JSTOR have a limited number of literary journals--MLA Bibliography contains more).
Google Scholar--This resouce is not a recommended starting point but can be useful in checking for chapters in books, or the occasional article in a journal OU does not have (be sure to enter Google Scholar from the library's home page--this will allow full access to KL's holdings).
Cambridge Companions Online--Includes volumes on many authors and literary periods.
Credo Reference Credo Reference provides full-text online versions of over a thousand reference works in every major subject, including general and subject dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Oxford English Dictionary--Now available online. The OED is a historical dictionary of English, covering the language from the earliest times to the present day and showing the development of meanings through time.
Dictionary of Literary Biography: Now available online. Print volume is shelved on the library's main floor (Ref. PR 541 .S49 1993).
Chronology of World History (Ref. D 11 .M39 1999 v. 3)--Year by year listing of important events in politics, science, and the arts (including literature). A quick way to get a picture of what was happening in 19th c. United States (and worldwide).

Emily Spunaugle
Assistant Professor, Humanities Librarian
spunaugle@oakland.edu
248.370.2498
RefWorks--Reference management tool that allows you to create a personal database of references and automatically generate formatted bibliographies for your projects.
Step 1 —Log in to RefWorks. (If you do not have an account, first create one. Be sure that you give your OU e-mail account when you register.)
Step 2 —Export records from the MLA Bibliography. Instructions for exporting.
Step 3 —Create folder/folders for your bibliographic records. (View Organizing your references tutorial.)
Step 4 —Put your imported references into appropriate folders. A reference can be placed in more than one folder.
Step 5 —Export references from other sources—for example: the Library Catalog , JSTOR, and ProjectMuse.
Step 6 —Add references manually. Sometimes you have references that you find in books and bibliographies that you need to add “by hand.”
Step 7 —Share folders. You can share folders with your fellow students, with your professor, or with anyone.
Step 8 —Save a folder shared with you to your own RefWorks account. This involves “exporting” the shared folder to your RefWorks.
Step 9 —Create a bibliography from your references.
Potential Problems
1.Pop-ups. You may have to change your pop-up settings. RefWorks works better using Firefox (rather than Internet Explorer).
2. When exporting a shared folder to your RefWorks from off campus, you will need to use the access code for OU (RWOakUniv) and log into RefWorks.