Finding literary research
Searching for research within the field of English literature may differ from other research fields. In other sciences, you might have a very clear research question from the start, whereas in literary research, picking your research topic is part of the information searching process, as illustrated in this video:
You may also need to adapt your search and your research topic depending on which primary texts you are interested in. Researching older, more well-known texts can be quite different from researching newer literature. For instance, if you want to write about gender roles in Shakespeare's plays you may find, like Jenny, an overwhelming amount of previous research. In that case you might consider narrowing your topic and for instance focus on motherhood in Shakespeare's plays, or gender roles in Macbeth. If, on the other hand, you have chosen a recently published or little-known primary text, you may need to broaden your search to include research on other works by the same author, or other texts within the same genre. Remember that searching for information is a process that takes time, and there might not be one perfect source that covers exactly what you are looking for, so keep an open mind while you're searching.
Further questions?
You are welcome to ask your questions about information search at the information desk or via our chat at the library website. If you need more help finding sources for your bachelor research paper you can book a search consultation with a librarian.
Good luck!
