Course Guide for Writing 125: The Image of Islam

Fall 2007

• Your research librarian
• Library resources - Find background information, articles, books, and videos/DVDs; relevant research guides
• Free online resources
• Evaluating and citing your sources

I'm your research librarian, Alana Kumbier.

E-mail me: akumbier-at-wellesley-dot-edu
Call me: x3372
Find me on Facebook in the Wellesley network
Reference desk hours (Fall 2007): M 1-3; T 10-1; F 3-5

I'm happy to help you with your research-- just ask!

Library Resources

Find background information

• Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
• The Oxford Dictionary of Islam
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (Clapp reference DS35.53 .O95 1995)
• The Encyclopedia of Islam (Clapp reference DS37 .E523)

Find journal articles & books

The College subscribes to many databases which contain journal article citations, and in some cases, full text. Depending on your topic, you may need to search in several of these databases. Try these first:

• Academic Search Premier
• LexisNexis Academic
• JSTOR all topics, up to 3 to 5 years ago
• Project Muse academic journals in the humanities and social sciences, from the last 5 years
• Press Display - Archived issues of over 200 newspapers from over 55 countries in their original format from the past 45 days.

See more databases on the Databases A-Z page.

Use the library catalog to find books.

For items we don't own, search World Cat and request materials via Interlibrary Loan (click on the Find it! button).

Find DVDs and videos

To find DVDs and videos, go to the Advanced Search page in the catalog, and limit your search by Material Type (select Video from the drop-down menu).

Related library research guides

• Art - includes resources for finding digital image reproductions, as well as resources for art history and criticism
• Cinema and Media Studies - find film reviews and criticism here
• History - find historical research and primary sources
• News - links to major papers, news portals, international news sites, and historical newspapers
• Starting your research

Other useful sources

• Google Scholar (click on the "Find FullText@Wellesley" links to access full text of articles or request them via ILL)
• Journal of Islamic Studies (we don't own; search ths site & request articles via Interlibrary Loan (ILL))
• Muqarnas: an annual on the visual culture of the Islamic world (electronic journal)
• National Geographic (full text from 1995 - 3 months ago). Find older issues in print: Clapp Library G1 .N27

Free online resources

• Al-Ahram Weekly - Use the drop-down menu on the lower-right-hand corner of the index page to access back issues and archival content.
• Arabic Media Internet Network - News, opinions, and cartoons (Click here to access the site contents in Arabic)
• Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University
• Bibliography of works in visual cultural studies - this extensive bibliography includes some works on reprsentations of Islam and the Middle East

Evaluating and citing your sources

Criteria to keep in mind when choosing and using soures:

• Accuracy - Does the author cite her/his sources and are they legitimate?
• Authority - Who wrote the source? Are they credible?
• Objectivity - Does the author have a bias, political or commercial or persuasive?
• Currency - Is this information new or based on outdated sources? Can you tell how current it is?

Need help with your works cited page? See our Citing sources guide for links to online style manuals.

Back to the Writing Research Guide
page author: Alana Kumbier • Wellesley College Library • WCIS • last modified: 27-Sep-2007