CMU LibGuides: English: 76-10X Series (First-Year Writing): Language and Identity

BACKGROUND SOURCES

To find background sources, the best strategy is to look at encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and books. This strategy applies to library catalogs and databases that contain "reference collections".

Here is how you can locate these materials:

First and foremost, build a list of related words (synonyms vs antonyms; broad vs narrow terms). For example, Language (linguistics, communication, verbal, non-verbal) or Identity (representation, self, group identity, online identity, culture, behavior, expression, etc.)
Always use Advanced Search so you can build a specific strategy, using AND, OR, NOT, and specific fields:
- For example: [Subject] contains Language AND [Subject] contains Identity

Here are some sample results from our library catalog, based on the strategies above:

Encyclopedia of Identity by Ronald L. Jackson (Editor) No matter whether it is a discussion of nationhood, race, family, adolescence, or popular culture, identity is a mainstay in everyday conversations about who we say we are as individuals and citizens within a local or national community. The Encyclopedia of Identity presents a broad, comprehensive overview of the definitions, politics, manifestations, concepts, and ideas related to identity. The Encyclopedia is designed for readers to grasp the nature and breadth of identity as a psychological, social, anthropological, and popular idea.
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9781452261737
Publication Date: 2010-06-29
Language and Identity by John E. Joseph Offering a uniquely broad-based overview of the role of language choice in the construction of national, ethnic and religious identity, this textbook examines a wide range of specific cases from various parts of the world in order to arrive at some general principles concerning the links between language and identity. It will benefit students and researchers in a wide range of fields where identity is an important issue and who currently lack a single source to turn to for an overview of sociolinguistics.
Call Number: P107 .J67 2004 [Hunt Library, 2nd floor}
ISBN: 0333997522
Publication Date: 2004-05-28
New Perspectives on Language and Sexual Identity by Helen Sauntson; Elizabeth Morrish Presenting new and exciting data from lesbian and gay conversations, narratives, representations of lesbians in film and erotic fiction, and representations of prominent gay men in newspapers, this book looks at some of the ways lesbians and gay men construct identity from among the symbolic resources available within lesbian and gay communities.
Call Number: P120.S48 $bM677 2007 [Hunt Library, 2nd floor]
ISBN: 1403937966
Publication Date: 2007-10-11

EXHIBIT, ARGUMENT, & METHOD SOURCES

These sources are more likely to be journals, specialized books, databases that contain data sets. To find them, you need to think about the type of information you need and ask yourself:

Who might publish that information? For example, datasets on Language are typically collected by the census, international organizations, gallop reports, etc.
What type of exhibit? Are you looking at historical data? current data? How long of a set? Are you needing surveys?
Where would this data be published? reports (by for-profit), gallop surveys (by governments or a non-profit), statistical publications (typically by organizations)? Original research (typically in journal articles)?

Here are core databases on this subject:

Databases & Research Tools

Use one of the following tools for background or relevant recommendations:

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Encyclopedias and dictionaries on a wide variety of subjects.
Keenious This link opens in a new window Keenious is a resource recommender tool designed to aid in the identification and discovery of scholarly research. It analyzes writing from text documents and PDFs to recommend the most relevant articles and topics to explore using artificial intelligence combined with conventional search algorithms. For more information, visit this guide.
scite This link opens in a new window Scite is an AI-enhanced research support platform for discovering and evaluating scientific articles. It allows users to see how publications have been cited, by providing the context of the citation and classifying whether it provides supporting or contrasting evidence. The AI Assistant utilizes ChatGPT functionality with reference check processes. Additional features includes features such as: notifications, custom dashboards, funding analyses, and reference checks.NOTE: During initial registration, please use your CMU email address to access your free account.

Use one of the following databases to explore a topic:

Academic Video Online (Avon) This link opens in a new window Academic Video Online is the most comprehensive video subscription available to libraries. It delivers more than 67,000 titles spanning the widest range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. Database Guide. Titles are also available in the Alexander Street Academic Video Online platform.
Communication Source This link opens in a new window The most comprehensive resource on the market for communication research and offers abstracts and indexing as well as full-text content from publications worldwide pertaining to Communication, Linguistics, Rhetoric and Discourse, Speech-Language Pathology, Media Studies and other fields relevant to the discipline.
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window Search or browse resources on the American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences. Database Guide.
CQ Researcher plus Archive This link opens in a new window 1923-present. Unbiased research reports on timely topics. Each report provides an introduction, overview, background, current situation, outlook chronology, pro/con, bibliography, etc. Keyword search for additional reports also show links to other relevant reports. Database Guide.
Gale Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window Articles in academic journals from all disciplines. Database Guide.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) This link opens in a new window This database abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences and includes journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations and working papers. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Database Guide
Linguistics Database This link opens in a new window Full-text database with scholarly journal articles and other sources covering linguistics (coverage varies; ranging from 80s to present). Includes articles in French, German, Spanish, Italian and some in a number of other languages.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window Provides access to databases across all major subject areas, including business, health and medical, social sciences, arts, humanities, religion, education, science, and technology.
PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window 1894-present.The full text of nearly 80 journals from the American Psychological Association as well as its imprint, the Educational Publishing Foundation (EPF), and from allied organizations including the Canadian Psychological Association and the Hogrefe Publishing Group. It includes all journal articles, book reviews, letters to the editor and errata from each journal.
PsycCRITIQUES This link opens in a new window 1956-2017. Produced by the American Psychological Association, full text book reviews featuring current scholarly and professional books in psychology. Also publishes reviews from a psychological perspective of popular films and trade books.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window 1887-present. American Psychological Association's renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, it is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. Database Guide. Also see definitions of methodologies.
Roper Center Public Opinion Archives (with iPOLL) This link opens in a new window Archive of social sciences data. Data primarily from survey of public opinion. NOTE: Register for a free account with your CMU email address for full access to Roper iPoll content.
Social and Cultural History: Letters and Diaries Online Package This link opens in a new window Full text letters and diaries from the databases North American Women’s Letters and Diaries; Manuscript Women’s Letters and Diaries; British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries; The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries, North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories; and Black Thought and Culture

The following databases specialize in specific aspects of a topic:

Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window 1,303 sources with 1,210 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans.
LGBT Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window Books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day
North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window Over 119,000 pages of text and images. Included are biographies, auto-biographies, personal narratives, speeches, diaries, letters, and oral histories. The database represents the largest compilation ever created of biographical information on indigenous peoples from all areas of North America. Database Guide
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window Thousands of original materials related to slavery, abolition, and social justice ranging from 1490-2007.
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window All known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery, as well as every English-language legal commentary on slavery published before 1920, which includes many essays and articles in obscure, hard-to-find journals in the United States and elsewhere
Telecommunications Database This link opens in a new window Includes information on the telecommunications industry and the technology used within the industry. Provides access to 115 titles that focus on: computer applications, data communication, electronic data processing, information science, information theory, wireless communications and more.

English: 76-10X Series (First-Year Writing): Language and Identity

BACKGROUND SOURCES

To find background sources, the best strategy is to look at encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and books. This strategy applies to library catalogs and databases that contain "reference collections".

Here is how you can locate these materials:

First and foremost, build a list of related words (synonyms vs antonyms; broad vs narrow terms). For example, Language (linguistics, communication, verbal, non-verbal) or Identity (representation, self, group identity, online identity, culture, behavior, expression, etc.)

Always use Advanced Search so you can build a specific strategy, using AND, OR, NOT, and specific fields:

For example: [Subject] contains Language AND [Subject] contains Identity

Here are some sample results from our library catalog, based on the strategies above:

EXHIBIT, ARGUMENT, & METHOD SOURCES

These sources are more likely to be journals, specialized books, databases that contain data sets. To find them, you need to think about the type of information you need and ask yourself:

Who might publish that information? For example, datasets on Language are typically collected by the census, international organizations, gallop reports, etc.

What type of exhibit? Are you looking at historical data? current data? How long of a set? Are you needing surveys?

Where would this data be published? reports (by for-profit), gallop surveys (by governments or a non-profit), statistical publications (typically by organizations)? Original research (typically in journal articles)?

Here are core databases on this subject:

Databases & Research Tools

Use one of the following tools for background or relevant recommendations:

Use one of the following databases to explore a topic:

The following databases specialize in specific aspects of a topic:

Related Resources