Step by Step with MLA Bibliography

MLA Bibliography is one of the library's databases for journal articles that critique literary works. It offers extensive coverage of anything having to do with the humanities along with a familiar interface.

1) To search MLA International Bibliography via GALILEO http://www.galileo.usg.edu click the Databases A to Z tab just below the search box.

Then select M in the alphabet list.

2) MLA International Bibliography appears near the bottom of the list. Select it.

These images are thmbnails. Click for a better view

4) Check off the full text box so you will receive mainly full text articles.

5) In the large box on the center of the screen, type in your search statement. Basic Search works best for searching for everything on a particular work. Type in the title of a particular work and then click the Search button.

For more complex searches, those with two or more concepts, write down your search topic and choose two words that describe your topic's main ideas. For example, Amy Tan's women characters yield the search statement, Tan AND women. Here is how the computer sees it.

The AND is not a word. Rather, it is a mathematical operator which means the overlap between two ideas.

6) MLA presents you with a list of references. Use the scroll bar to move up and down within a page of references.

7) To move from one page of references to the next, use the blue Next or Previous link or the page numbers at the top and bottom of the reference list.

8)

• To print an article, click on Ebsco's print icon.
• To email an article, click on Ebsco's email icon and fill out the form.
• To send a persistent link to your article or search to Yahoomail, Gmail, Twitter, or MySpace: click Share or Bookmark in small print and then choose an option.

9) To end your search in MLA Bibliography, simply close the browser window.

MLA Bibliography Advanced Search

If you are visually oriented, want more space and flexibility, or plan to try several related searches, then MLA's Advanced Search is for you.

1) Instead of using an AND between ideas in a search statement, in Advanced Search you fill separate rows with your ideas, one row per idea.

2) You can also put two or more synonyms for one idea together using OR, a mathematical operator that joins synonyms as a single idea.

3) In Advanced Search, fill in the multibox.

Select Full Text, and click Search.

4) If you want to modify an Advanced Search, edit one or more rows in the Advanced Search multibox near the top of the screen.