Best Bets for Starting Your Research in...
::
Irish Studies ::
Use databases to find articles
on your topic. These databases are the best place to start.
- America: History & Life
Citations and abstracts to the history and culture of the U.S. and
Canada, from prehistoric times to the present. Includes articles on the
Irish in the United States and Canada.
Date coverage: 1964-present.
- Historical
Abstracts
Citations and abstracts to the history of the world from 1450 to the
present, except U.S. and Canada.
Date Coverage: 1954-present.
- JSTOR
Contains full-text scholarly journals in various disciplines including:
Political Science, Religion, History and Language and
Literature.
Date coverage: 19th century - about 5 years
ago.
 Listen
to a fun podcast "interview" with this database: iTunes RealPlayer
- PAIS International & Archive
Citations and abstracts to articles, books, conference proceedings,
government documents, and statistical directories in economics,
political science, public administration, and international law.
Date coverage: 1915-present.
-
Literature
Online (LION) Includes a fully searchable
library of
Irish poetry, drama and prose, along with biographies, bibliographies
and key criticism and reference sources.
Date
coverage: 1700-present.
 Listen
to a fun podcast "interview" with this database: iTunes RealPlayer
Tips: When searching
databases, use AND, OR, and parentheses
to focus your search.
The asterisk * symbol will search for all variations of a word. For
example: politic* will search for politic and politics. Using quotes
will search for a phrase.
Combine synonyms with OR and put them inside parentheses, like this:
(Ireland OR Irish) AND politic*
Here's another example:
(war OR conflict) AND "Northern Ireland"
Already have the citation? Find an article with citation linker!
Did you know...
Databases are
basically just search engines for
articles on specific subjects.
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Find books using the library
catalog. Browse these subjects
to get general information on your topic.
- English
literature - Irish authors
- Ireland - History
- Irish
Americans
- Northern
Ireland - Politics and government
Search the library catalog! Find
books, media
materials, and more.
Other searches:
Browse | Advanced Search
Tips:
When searching
the library catalog with keywords, use the dollar sign
($) to search for a word and all of its variations.
For example:
Politic$ will search for politics and political
Did you know...
- WorldCat is a catalog of thousands
of libraries around the world!
- If a book isn't in the Fairfield University
catalog, search WorldCat and request the book from
another library. Just click on the Interlibrary Loan button.
- You can search ReQuest to search just the libraries
in Connecticut.
- Contact John
Cayer, Interlibrary Services, with questions.
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Reference
tools
such as dictionaries
and encyclopedias are good places to
start your research because they provide an overview of
the topic as well as keywords,
dates, and facts.
Dictionaries and
Encyclopedias
- Encyclopedia
of
Irish History and
Culture
Ref. DA912 .E53 2004 V.
1-2
Tips:
Try looking at
the bibliography at the end
of the entry for a list of other sourcessuch
as relevant journal articles and books.
When you have found
books on
your topic, look
at the books on the shelf nearby to see if they are
related to your topic.
Did you know...
Wikipedia
can be edited by anyone,
so make sure you use another source to
confirm the information you find there.
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These web sites have
been evaluated
by librarians (that's a good thing) for your use in an
academic setting.
- Ireland: Selected
Internet
Resources (Portals to the World, Library of Congress)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/main/ireland/ireland.html
Provides links to websites on Ireland selected by librarians at the
Library of Congress.
- Ask About Ireland
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/show_homepage.do
Contains unique, digitized Irish cultural materials from a group of
libraries, archives and museums in Ireland.
- Irish Centre for
Migration
Studies
http://migration.ucc.ie/
Contains
information on Irish emigration and the Irish diaspora, as well as
contemporary immigrants and asylum-seekers in Ireland. Includes oral
archives, digitized newspaper clippings and bibliographies.
- CAIN: Northern
Ireland Conflict, Politics, & Society
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/
A University of Ulster
website with information on politics and the conflict in Northern
Ireland. Includes chronologies, statistics, photograph collections,
bibliographies and more.
Tips: Any web site can be
changed without notice, so be sure to evaluate every site
you use.
Did you know...
There are billions of web pages and Google
only finds a fraction of them (about 15%). The rest is
held in what's called the "Invisible Web", which is made up
of dynamically generated information, password protected sites, and
databases-driven sites!
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Still
have
questions?
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Contact a reference
librarian
(203) 254-4000 ext. 2178
reference@mail.fairfield.edu
IM the Reference Desk at
FairfieldULib
- AOL and Yahoo
FairfieldUlib@hotmail.com
- MSN
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