Writing 120M: Fairy Tales

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It's important to familiarize yourself with a topic before you begin doing more specific and extensive research.

Background research will help you:

Narrow your topic and focus your research question
Find historical information, trends, agreements and disagreements, related to the topic, and uncovers gaps in your knowledge
Learn the context of a topic -- the who, what, when, where, why, and how
Uncover keywords you can use to do more extensive research
Find additional sources on your topic

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Offers full-text access to over 500 highly-regarded titles from 70 publishers. Covers every major subject in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences from the world's best publishers of reference.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest and most trusted reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource.

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales [3 Volumes] by Donald Haase
Call Number: Rolvaag Reference Room, GR74 .G73 2008
Publication Date: 2008
Includes a broad, multicultural survey of folk and fairy tales from around the world. Included are hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries written by numerous expert contributors. Entries cover themes and motifs, individuals, characters and character types, national traditions, genres, and a range of other topics.
Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature by Mary Ellen Brown (Editor); Bruce A. Rosenberg (Editor)
Call Number: Rolvaag Reference Room, PN41 .E48 1998
Publication Date: 1998
The Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature introduces readers to a selection of authors, characters, themes, works, and movements associated with folklore and literature from around the world.

Be aware that anyone can edit entries in Wikipedia.
Consider it as a starting point for research; get to know your topic and identify important keywords.
Look for references to reliable, published sources (in the References or Bibliography sections).
Pay attention to the alert boxes and symbols. "Featured Articles" have a star to indicate their high quality; articles that are in need of updating (e.g. citation needed, newly available information, relies too much on primary sources) will be marked at the top of the page.