ISP INFORMATION - everything you need to know, in one place!

 
Please click on the link above to access all of the ISP components and accompanying handouts (including how to Google properly, Boolean search operators, how to read an academic article and an MLA quick reference guide).  Good luck and have fun!
 


ISP resources

 

Booklist

ENG4U ISP Booklist​


Internet Secondary Sources  

Literary History.com

Provides a selective list of online literary criticism for 19th and 20th century authors.

The Victorian Web:  Authors

Scholarly resources on Victorian authors and literature.

The Cross Reference Project

Provides high-quality, easy to use resources for students to help them make essential connections between literature and their cultural context.

ipl2 Literary Criticism Collection 

Contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.

Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Colour

"An instructional World Wide Web site focusing on the lives and works of women writers of color".  Source for biographical information as well as bibliographies about North American women writers of many ethnic backgrounds.  Some entries contain links to sites with critical articles.


Doing a quick catalogue search for either the author or title of your book is always a great place to start!  Avoid any books that have the call number FIC (since these are fiction), but anything with a numbered call number could be useful.  Most of the books that you are looking for you will find in the 813 to 895 area of the library!

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
More Secondary Sources (databases, etc ...)

 
Online databases and ebooks:

Gale Cengage Learning Infotrac

​This is a large selection of databases, ebooks, movies and more provided to all YRDSB High Schools. See the library circulation desk for a password. You can access this resource at school or anywhere you have access to the Internet. Remember, using "" around your search terms (if you are using more than one) and a + sign between them will help you narrow down your search results!

EbscoHost Database

This database includes Explora Canada, EBSCOhost Web Academic Research and Reference Centre, Canadian Points of View, Science Reference Centre, Literary Reference Centre Plus, and Explora Educator's Edition. No user ID or password is needed when accessing this database from school. To access outside of school, please see the library circulation desk for user ID and password. 

Salem Press Literature e-Books

Ask for the username and password at the circulation desk.  Click on registered user login to access e-books.  These are digital versions of the books we have in the library, so even if someone else has taken out the book, you can still access its contents!

Google Scholar

This is the Google that you are familiar with, with one main difference: the sources are limited exclusively to scholarly and academic works (exactly the types of sources that you will need for your ISP research)!  Remember, using "" around your search terms (if you are using more than one) and a + sign between them will help you narrow down your search results!

Some Research Tips

In terms of your research, it is always difficult to decide where to begin.  You want to use a variety of sources in order to gather your information, but you want all of them to focus on one or more of the following:

  1. The author(s) of your ISP novel.

  2. The novel(s)itself/themselves!

  3. The theory/theories you are focusing on for your ISP essay.  Maybe on getting more insight into the scope of the theory or furthering/clarifying your knowledge of terms, etc.

  4. Historical context (time and place) - of the novel itself and where and when the author was writing the book.  In other words, what was happening during this time period and is this novel a reflection of that time period or a criticism against it and why is this important?

And above all, remember to search smarter not harder!  Use the limit search option (when using a database) to narrow down your results.  Lastly, try using the author's webpage as a way in as well, they often have a section on resources which includes many useful links, articles, reviews, etc.

 

Research Tools

 
Types of sources:
Finding information on the internet:
Evaluating websites:
Reading and making research notes:
Plagiarism:
  • Plagiarism Tutorial​
    • 10 minute tutorial on starting research, paraphrasing vs. quoting, and citations.
    • Produced by Vaughan Memorial Library of Acadia University.
MLA citations:
 
Used by Humanities (e.g. Drama, English, Modern Languages, Music, Visual Arts).