UH 1010-World: Languages & Cultures: Find Information & Images

This guide is intended to help get you started by reviewing the resources and search tips we discussed in your library class session. 

During your search process, if you are having trouble finding what you need, please don't hesitate to email me or schedule a Webex or face to face appointment with me.

If you have questions about PowerPoint or about software for creating a video, schedule an appointment at the Student Technology Assistance Center:

CIA World Factbook

Countries, Peoples, and Cultures (ebook series)

These volumes provide insight into the social, cultural, economic, historical, and religious practices of countries around the world.

Other 

QuickSearch is the default search on the homepage of the libraries website.  QuickSearch searches across many of our databases in many different disciplines (think Google, but with library resources) and you can find material in a variety of formats (books, videos, magazines, scholarly journals, documents), but you have the option to limit by document type. 

QuickSearch is a good place to start when looking for information about cultures because cultural information is part of many different disciplines.

Tips for Using QuickSearch:

• Start with a keyword search of the concepts you are trying to find.  You can start broad:
  • example: France cultur* - This searches for the word France and also the word culture, cultures, or cultural in the QuickSearch citation records.
  • Browse at least the first couple of pages of results.
• Try using more specific keywords for the elements of the country or the culture you are trying to find:
  • examples: France geograph*, France philosoph*, philosoph* France, French philosoph*, France art, France performing arts, France theater, France theatre, France cinema, etc.
• Look at the keywords the appear in the titles, abstracts, and subjects of the citations you retrieve.  Are there any that are relevant to your assignment that you didn't think to use in your search?  If so, try searching those.
• Use the various limiters to the left of your results list.  You can limit to scholarly peer-reviewed journals or other formats.  You can also limit by date. subject, and languages of the article or book, if needed. 
• Note: Elements of culture tend to change relatively slowly, so you may not always need sources that are extremely recent.  However,  if you use older sources, statistics (such as country demographics), government officials, and the like have probably changed, so you will want more recent sources for those kinds of things. 
  • Because of the time it takes to compile official statistics, the most current statistics are often released more than a year behind the current year.

Depending on the country you picked, you may be able to find additional overview sources or you may find more specific books and media about the country and its culture(s) in the WSU Catalog or the OhioLINK Catalog. Both are available on the home page of the libraries website (or use the links below).  The OhioLINK catalog allows you to identify and request books owned by other college, university, and other OhioLINK member libraries throughout Ohio (allow time for the requested items to arrive).

How to use the library catalog to find more country and culture information

• Start with a keyword search of the concepts you are trying to find.  You can start broad:
  • example: France cultur* - This searches for the word France and also the word culture, cultures, or cultural in the catalog records.
  • Browse at least the first couple of pages of results.
• You can focus the search in on your subject a little more by changing the drop down menu from Keyword to LC Subject.  This searches for the words you typed in the subject headings of the item rather than just anywhere in the record.  
• You can switch back to a keyword search while still making it more specific.  Try using more specific keywords for the elements of the country or the culture you are trying to find:
  • examples: France geograph*, France philosoph*, philosoph* France, French philosoph*, France art, France performing arts, France theater, France theatre, France cinema, etc.
• Look at the subject headings in the results you are getting.  They are clickable! If you click them, they will run a new search on that particular subject.
• It helps to browse the subject headings in the book records you find because they often describe the concept in a way you would not have thought to describe it yourself, but that is very helpful for finding other relevant books on the topic.
  • example: National Characteristics, French

You may use these multimedia resources for in-class presentations, but if your presentation or paper will be posted to the internet or published in some other way, then you must get the multimedia creator's permission to use the image. 

Always cite multimedia resources as you would any other resource. See our guide for Citing your Sources or ask your librarian if you need help.