MONT 199G-S04: Between 7 Samurai & Star Wars (Rocks)

Find Background Information

Conducting background research is an important first step in any research project. Think about what you already know about your topic (your selected dish), what you want to know, and who you want to learn from. Start with more general sources like encyclopedias, web searches, blogs, and YouTube videos. Write down any key terms, names, locations, or concepts that you want to explore further.

Suggested Databases for Background Research

In the A-Z Database list, select the dropdown menu labeled "Type" and select "Encyclopedias & More." Encyclopedias and other reference sources can be good starting points for research, as they give a general overview of a topic in an organized format.

Newspaper and Magazine Databases

The Library subscribes to over 300 databases to give you access to a variety of resources. Many of these databases include newspapers and magazines, from historical publications to current publications. To see a list of newspaper and magazine databases, visit the A-Z Database List. Click on the "Types" dropdown menu and select "Newspapers & Magazines," then click search. The list will filter to show all newspaper and magazine databases, with descriptions of their content and the time period they cover.

These vary from databases that include single publications (such as the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Current, which includes articles published in the Worcester T&G from 1989-present) and collections of multiple publications (such as U.S. Newsstream, which includes current and historic articles from a number of national newspapers).

You can also select a database from the dropdown menu below.

News Subscriptions

Holy Cross students, faculty, and staff are provided with subscriptions to some news sources outside of library databases. These subscriptions allow you to create an account and access the regular site for that publication instead of going through a library database. Once you are logged in to your account, think about what sections of the newspaper would have information relevant to your project. Food and Cooking of course, but consider exploring the Travel or Culture sections for more cultural information.

Magazine Subscriptions

Print and Electronic Books in the Library

Use the Library Catalog to find print books, print journals, and ebooks in the library's collection. Access the Library Catalog search through the library home page (https://www.holycross.edu/library). Above the search bar, select "Library Catalog." To use more advanced searching options, click on the "My Library Account" link below the search bar to go directly to the catalog, where you can search by keyword, title, subject, or call number. 

Books on the shelves are organized by call number. A call number is an address for a book that tells you where the book is located on the shelf. Call numbers identify different subject areas, so books with similar call numbers will cover similar subjects. This way, when you find a book on the shelf, you know the books around it are on similar topics.

When you look up a book in CrossSearch or the Library Catalog, you will see the call number listed with the book details.

Note: Many cookbooks and food-related books may be found in the Science Library. Cookbooks usually have a call number that starts with the letter T. Call numbers that start with Q, R, S, or T are shelved in the Science Library.

Library Catalog Search Tips

Books and materials in the library catalog are assigned subject terms. These are specific words or phrases used to group books about the same subject together. In the Library Catalog Search, you can search for a subject or browse by subject. Use the dropdown menu next to the search bar to select "Subject."

Suggested subject terms:

Research Tip: Use the country or region your dish is from as an additional search term.

WorldCat: Find Books at Other Libraries

WorldCat (short for World Catalog) is the world's largest online library catalog that includes library records for thousands of books. You can search for a specific title or author, or search for a subject to find books on that subject. The same subjects listed in the Library Catalog section can be used to search WorldCat. When you find a book in WorldCat, you can see if Holy Cross has the book. If we do, you will see a link to our catalog.

If Holy Cross does not have the book you find, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan. On the WorldCat page for the book, look for a box that says Access Options. Then, click on Request Item through Interlibrary Loan. This will take you to the Holy Cross Libraries' Interlibrary Loan request system where it will automatically fill in the book information from WorldCat. Simply review the information and click submit! We will then try to locate the book for you from another library. It will be delivered to Dinand Library for you to pick up.

CrossSearch is a one-stop search tool that lets you search most of the informational resources available through the library, including:

• Books, ebooks, archival materials, media and music scores owned by the Holy Cross Libraries.
• Research databases like Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, ARTstor and ProQuest Central.
• E-journal collections like JSTOR and ScienceDirect.
• The Holy Cross digital repository CrossWorks.
• Open Access collections such as HaithiTrust Digital Library

As you can see, CrossSearch looks in many different places and for many different types of sources. In one search, you might see results for academic journal articles, books in the library’s collection, films, newspaper articles, and more. This can be a good place to start if you want to see a broad scope of the resources available on your topic. However, because CrossSearch includes so many types of resources, you might find you need to filter these results more than you would in a more specific database.

CrossSearch is best accessed through the library home page (https://www.holycross.edu/library).

About Databases

Databases are tools designed to help you find and use different publications available to you in the library. Think of a database like a big, digital storage unit. Each database holds many academic journals, newspapers, magazines, and other publications. These publications are arranged, labeled, and organized to make it possible for you to search and find what you're looking for. The Holy Cross Libraries subscribe to over 300 databases for you to use. A lot of what is stored in a database is not available through a simple internet search. As a Holy Cross student, you can access thousands of academic journal articles, news sources, books, and more at no cost. To see the full list of databases available, visit our A-Z Database List.

Some suggested databases are listed below.

Combine Search Terms

You can use the words AND, OR, and NOT to combine your search terms for precise searching. 

Use AND to combine your search terms. Each search result with include all of the terms. This can help narrow your results.

• To find resources about your dish, try searching for the name of your dish AND the country or region it is from: chaat AND Bangladesh
• You can also use AND to focus on a specific aspect of your dish, such as your dish AND history, or your dish AND culture.

Use OR to find results that contain at least one of your search terms. This can help you broaden your results, and can be good to use if the subject you're searching for is referred to in different ways.

• If there are multiple names for your dish, try searching for both names with the word OR between them: tahdig OR scorched rice

Use NOT to exclude terms from your results. This can help you narrow your topic by removing a related term that you are not interested in finding sources about. This can be useful if the name of your dish refers to something other than food, or if your dish is made in multiple countries and you are focusing on one country in particular.

• For example, samosa can refer to a traditional Indian filled pastry, but SAMOSA is also the abbreviation for an atmospheric sampling model used in astrophysics. Searching for samosa NOT astrophysics can remove those irrelevant results.

Try Different Spellings

You may find there are alternative spellings of the name of your dish. Often when words are translated from one language to another, they may see changes in spelling and pronunciation. Alternatively, your dish may have different versions in different cultures that all call it something different or have slightly different names. Try to identify some of these variations and conduct searches using the different spellings you can find.