LibGuides: Writing/Education 255: Literacy, Writing, Tutoring: Getting started

Citing sources

Create a free account in Zotero or Endnote to manage your citations.

Ways to Get Help at the Libraries

There are a number of ways to get help with research at the Libraries. You can reach out to me via email if you have a research question related to this class.

Ask a Librarian Chat - A great way to get quick help.
General Research Question Form - Not sure who to contact about your research question? Fill out this form, and we'll forward your q on to the right person.
Subject Specialists - Subject librarians are experts in their specific disciplines. These are great people to contact if you are getting started on a research project.
Research Guides - The Libraries have detailed research guides for most subjects studied here at Duke. These are excellent pages to consult when starting your research.
Interlibrary Requests - Found a great source for your research but Duke doesn't have it in the collection? Interlibrary Requests can get books & articles from other universities. Just place a request online and they'll email you when the source arrives.

Finding articles for your research projects

Here are some suggested databases to search in for sources.

CompPile - open access database focusing on composition, rhetoric, and writing studies.
CompPile Research Bibliographies - select bibliographies on Writing Studies topics.

Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
Search articles in communication, mass media, linguistics, and film studies

ERIC (EbscoHost) This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles and reports in education
GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
Search for articles in women and gender studies newspapers, journals and magazines from 1970 to present
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Search for scholarly literature from a range of disciplines; many articles available through Duke Libraries. Add Duke Libraries under 'Library Links' in your GS settings.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) This link opens in a new window
Search for articles on linguistics, phonetics, speech, communication, sociolinguistics, philosophy of language, hearing and speech physiology, and more.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles, books, and dissertations covering literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, and other aspects of literary studies
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Search peer-reviewed literature, including scientific journals, books and conference proceedings.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Search for articles from scholarly journals in all areas of research

Finding books & media for your research projects

The library catalog lets you search for books, journals, DVDs, music, and research materials that are available in the Duke University Libraries.

When you know exactly what you want:

Search the library catalog by title or author of the work (Ex. Mccann, Colum).
Use the catalog's advanced search for the most precise searching.

When you are starting a search on a new topic:

Use the default keyword search to see what books we have on a particular topic (Ex. civil war).
Click on relevant suggested subjects for more focused search results (Ex. united states - history - civil war, 1861-1865).

Looking for even more tips and tricks? Check out this guide to locating and requesting books and ebooks.