This page offers ideas for how and where to search for research sources in the Milne Library.
Contact the library's Reference Desk to help find a source, or set up a consultation with a Reference & Instruction Librarian for an hour-long research session. For more information, visit the Get Library Help page.
Reference books provide an overview or summary of your topic and are ideal to be used when starting a research. Reference sources include encyclopedias and dictionaries. Some useful titles are listed below. You can find more on the library website or by visiting the reference shelves throughout the first floor of Milne Library.
To look for print books in the Milne Library catalog, navigate to the library homepage and click on 'Advanced Search.' Then enter your search terms.
Electronic books are available through the library's A-Z Database. Here are direct links to two of our main eBook collections:
Databases are searchable online catalogs for research materials like scholarly journals and articles, books, primary source materials (such as letters, maps, datasets, or photographs), and video and audio materials. Milne Library's databases are all listed at A-Z Databases.
For best results, use Advanced Search options. Try combining a few keywords about the topic, such as the name of a region or country AND a language-related term to find scholarly articles.
Look for "filter" options in your search results that let you choose a publication date range, for example. If you are looking for a certain kind of research material -- like a full-text article, a book, or an audio file -- you can often filter for type, too.
Milne library subscribes to a number of databases where you can search for academic journal articles. The full list of databases are available on the library website under the 'Databases' tab as well.