ENGL
1664: Introduction to Women's Literature
Fall 2006, #92523
MWF 10:10-11:0o, SAUNDERS 409
Professor Bernice L Hausman
LIBRARY REPORTS
Purpose of assignment: The library reports assignment has a fourfold purpose. First, the assignment will help you become more familiar and comfortable with the library and its vast resources. Second, the assignment will help you gain familiarity with specific search capacities in the humanities and liberal arts, especially with respect to women writers. Third, the assignment will encourage you to learn more about an individual author and text, including its reception history, the author's life, and how critics have approached the work. Finally, the assignment will encourage you to learn about literary study and how scholars in this field evaluate and interpret literary texts.
There are three library reports assigned during the semester, each worth 7 points, for a total of 20% of the final grade (there is one extra credit point built in). The due dates for the library reports are recorded on the syllabus, in the reading schedule. Templates (in Microsoft Word) for the reports are uploaded into Blackboard, in the Course Documents section for Introduction to Women's Literature.
The first thing that you will do is to choose one of the texts assigned for the semester. Then, for each library report, you will need to find a specific source concerning the text or its author. There is one report on the author's biography, one on a book review of the work, and one on a work of literary criticism concerning the text you have chosen. During class on Sept. 8 (in the library--see syllabus), librarians from Newman Library will show you how to use the library's database systems to locate these sources.
The templates are worksheets on which you will record an account of your search for each source. You will only need to find one biographical source, one book review, and one work of literary criticism. These sources need to be print sources; in other words, you will have to physically go to the library to lay your hands on the source and photocopy the relevant information (listed on the report worksheet) to attach to the worksheet when you hand it in. Your search can take place primarily online, but you must physically find the source and make a copy of it (or portions of it--see the worksheets for details) to complete the assignment. On the worksheet, you will have to document where in the library you found the source, so pay attention to where you are in the library and how you got there. You will also need to document the chronology of your search, so take accurate notes. It's a good idea to look at the worksheets before you begin your search.