FYSE 139-01: Hamilton: Library Resources

FYSE 139-01 Fall 2021
Reading Hamilton
Library project

You will find five sources that you could use to write a paper about the song you have chosen. The five sources are of the following types:

• Review of the original - this can either be the production at the Public, or the Broadway production.
• Review of a tour production – this can be of any production outside New York, including those that aren’t technically tours (like Chicago, London, Australia, or San Francisco)
• An article from the popular press or internet that we’re not already reading for class (check the syllabus).
• Two scholarly journal articles or book chapters – not including the Historians on Hamilton book or any article we’re reading for class.  

For each source you will write a brief synopsis. For your synopsis, think about the following questions:

• What is the author’s purpose in the article?
• What is their argument?
• What is their evidence?
• What is their conclusion?

For the reviews, you just need a synopsis. For the articles, after the synopsis, connect the article to your song. You’ll need to find articles that are about something relevant to your song. The song doesn’t have to be discussed, but a relevant theme or topic of the song should be part of the article. It should be an article you can use to help you analyze the song.  

Your citations should be in MLA format. Like a regular bibliography, it should be alphabetized by author’s last name.

Critical Reading allows you to quickly and efficiently move through a scholarly article or textbook chapter to gain understanding. Skimming and Scanning can play a part of critical reading and is a useful skill to develop.

Guide for Critical Reading

In evaluating web sources, like blog posts and items you find while Googling, you may want to use your skills to determine the credibility of those sources.

Fact checkers successfully employ a technique known as lateral reading.

There is also a CRAAP test that can be used.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography gives an account of the research that has been done on a given topic. Like any bibliography, an annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of research sources. In addition to bibliographic data, an annotated bibliography provides a concise summary of each source and some assessment of its value or relevance. Depending on your assignment, an annotated bibliography may be one stage in a larger research project, or it may be an independent project standing on its own.

Definition source: Knott, D. (n.d.) Writing an Annotated Bibliography. University of Toronto, New College Writing Centre. Web. 20 August, 2014. < http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/annotated-bibliography>

•  How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography (Cornell)  

•  Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue OWL)  

• Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazines

  An overview of the differences between journals and magazines.

• Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals

  This guide divides the criteria for periodical literature into four categories to help distinguish between the various levels of scholarship found in library electronic and print collections.

• Critical Evaluation of Resources

  Suggestions for evaluating a range of resources, including books, articles and websites. Covers suitablility, authority, other indicators, reference sources, and provides links. (From UC Berkeley Library.)

• Evaluate Web Pages

  Useful evaluation checklists for Advocacy, Business/Marketing, Information, News, and Personal web Pages from the authors of Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web.

• Evaluating Web Pages: Questions to Consider

  A straightforward set of evaluation criteria from the Cornell University Library.

Use the Discover tool on the library page to find a wide range of resources.

What is the Discovery service?

The Discovery Service provides a single, unified search box for searching the holdings of the College of Charleston Libraries, including scholarly journal articles, books, e-books, internet documents, research reports, and much more. Features of the service include:

• Single, simple entry point for searching many databases at once, including the CofC Library catalog
• Immediate search results
• Detailed metadata (e.g., author-supplied abstracts,keywords, subjects)
• Indexing for thousands of journals from publishers such as Sage, Elsevier, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and Cambridge
• Complete library catalog loaded directly into Discovery, with real-time availability checks and daily updates
• Ability to limit searches by date, source type, subject, content provider, full text availability, scholarly designation and more
• User-friendly interface

When should I use the Discovery service?

Discovery is a great place to start your research. It helps you quickly find relevant resources on a subject, without having to decide which database(s) to search. The facets allow you to limit your search results in a variety of ways, including date range, source type, subject, and scholarly designation. The library's catalogued resources are also integrated into the search results.

Remember these Tips

Remember to limit by resource TYPE once you have entered your search.