Research Guides @ Fordham: English Comp Essentials: Home

Finding Books

The most efficient way to find books and e-books is through the Library Catalog.

This article from Fordham Library News explains how to get started using the Library Catalog.

Click on the Library Catalog tab to search for books within Fordham University Libraries.

Broad search: Use a few words to describe the person or topic you are searching for.

Narrower search: Change the "All Fields" option to "Author," "Title," "Subject," or "Keyword" (etc.) to be more specific.

Sample subject terms:

Maya Angelou
Literature and Equality
Shakespeare and Gender
Graphic novels and Criticism

Finding Articles

OneSearch is a great starting place to find academic articles.

OneSearch simultaneously searches the library catalog and many of our electronic resources.

Both OneSearch and individual databases have powerful features to help you find results.

Break your search into keywords or key phrases, and use Advanced Search to specify where your terms should be searched (e.g. title, abstract, subject, full text).

Use limiters to narrow your results. Suggested limiters include:

Full text
Academic journal or peer reviewed article
Subject
Date

Choosing Keywords

Choosing Keywords

This video demonstrates how to transform a research question into keywords.

Source: "PATH: Lighting Your Way From Research to Writing" from University of North Carolina Greensboro via Kansas State University.

Library Help

Library Liaisons
All reference librarians provide English Composition support.
Liaisons to the English Department, Writing Program, and the Writing Centers: Jeannie Hoag (jhoag@fordham.edu) & Peter Patten (ppatten@fordham.edu).
Personal Librarian Project
Sign up to be paired with a librarian who can give you library tips and be a contact person for your library questions.
Library Tutorial (Under Revision)
Learn how to conduct academic research and how to use Fordham University Libraries.
New York Public Library Cards
Fordham University students, faculty and staff can get an NYPL card. NYPL has digital collections, databases, and books that can supplement the resources available at Fordham.

Citing Sources & Writing Help

Fordham Writing Center
A free service for Fordham students, the Writing Center provides help at any stage of the writing process.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Writing and citation resource from Purdue University. Includes citation overviews for MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles.

The MLA Style Center This link opens in a new window
Companion site to the MLA Handbook that features guidelines on formatting a research paper and sample papers in MLA style.
Free resource

Generative AI

Check with your professor about their course policy before using generative AI.

Generative AI uses language prediction models to produce text, images, and more. It is also "trained" by humans with example conversations. It is limited to knowledge pulled from its training data and can sometimes produce responses that sound correct but are false or nonsensical.

Using AI-generated ideas, text, images, or other output without properly citing it is considered plagiarism. For information on how to use sources in your writing, see the Writing Center’s guide Safeguarding Against Plagiarism.

How do I cite Generative AI?

Refer to your citation style guide's website for the most up-to-date information on citing generative AI services like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini:

APA Style Blog - How to cite ChatGPT
Chicago Manual of Style Online

The Q&A at this link addresses how to cite ChatGPT.
MLA Style Center - How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?

Library Instruction Assessment

Library Instruction Assessment
Did a librarian visit your class? Let us know what you think.

English Comp Essentials: Home