LibGuides: EAS2026 Desire and Power Library Research Guide: What information do I need?

What?

Once you have a research question, you should consider what sort of information/materials you need access to.

Example research topic

"So neatly plotted, and so well performed." (Jew of Malta III.iii.2)

How do any texts on this module represent disguise and distrust?

You will want to use a combination of primary and secondary research resources, and you might also like to explore audiovisual materials alongside print materials as performances of literary works can add an additional research dimension.

Primary sources are original sources of information that have not yet been filtered through analysis, examination or interpretation. Primary sources differ both in content and format from discipline to discipline.

In the literature field, this typically means the actual original literary work, such as the play, poem, novel, short story, and so on.

How to use primary sources for the example research topic

Look at texts from the early modern period to identify appearances of disguise/distrust and related themes
See how they are handled by different authors, across different titles and time periods
Examine different versions of texts, noting variant punctuation, missing/additional passages. Some texts, e.g. Shakespeare's plays, have complicated textual histories and appear in multiple versions.

Where to look for primary sources

Early English Books (EEBO) is an excellent resource for locating primary texts from this period. Find out more about how to search EEBO on the relevant page in this guide.

Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window Full text digital versions of nearly every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America, spanning from 1473 to 1700, plus works in English printed elsewhere. The collection includes pamphlets, books, broadsheets, manuscripts and periodicals.

Other sorts of primary sources can also provide useful insights. For example State Papers Online provides original historical materials across the widest range of government concern, from high level international politics and diplomacy to the charges against a steward for poisoning a dozen or more people. The correspondence, reports, memoranda, and parliamentary drafts from ambassadors, civil servants and provincial administrators present a full picture of Tudor and Stuart Britain.

State Papers Online This link opens in a new window Digitised manuscripts of British government papers from 1509 to 1782. Content includes correspondence, reports, memoranda, and parliamentary drafts. Parts I-IV Early Modern and Parts I-IV 18th Century available: Parts I & II: The Tudors, 1509-1603 Henry VIII-Elizabeth I . Parts III & IV: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714 . C18 Parts I-IV: 1714-1782, papers domestic and foreign Stuart and Cumberland papers from the Royal Archives
Enhanced access: Parts I-IV Early Modern, Parts I-IV 18th Century, Stuart and Cumberland papers now available.

You can also search across collections of primary sources using the databases below.

Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window Cross-search all of the Gale primary source collections in one go. Content dates from 16th Century onwards and includes monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, maps, and more. Date coverage: 16th -20th century
AM Explorer (Formerly Adam Matthew Explorer) This link opens in a new window Search across all Adam Matthew's unique primary source products for the social sciences and humanities.

Find out more about the primary sources you have access to in the Primary Sources libguide.

A secondary source is not an original source, but is typically material written about a primary source.

In the literature field, this can encompass a wide variety of materials; including:

an article in a scholarly journal
biographies
critical editions of literary works with introduction, notes, bibliographies etc.
a book of critical essays
a research monograph
a specialist encyclopedia, dictionary or other reference work

Why use secondary sources?

to gain an overview of the key discussions centred on your original work
to be guided to the most relevant scholarship in the area
to examine how the analyses of original works match or diverge from your own interpretation of the texts.

Where to look for secondary sources

The following resources will be useful to find criticism and commentary:

ProQuest One Literature - Incorporating Literature Online This link opens in a new window Collection of 20th Century English Poetry, 20th Century Drama, 20th Century American Poetry literature, literary criticism, and reference works.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text archive of back issues of journals and e-books in all subject areas.
Gale Literature This link opens in a new window Search across a range of literary databases to find commentary and criticism, author biographies, literary works, topic overviews and more.

Find out more about how to find secondary sources on the Where should I look for the resources I need? page.

It can be difficult to categorise some materials as primary or secondary categories. Audiovisual materials are a good example of this.

A performance of a literary work is an original dramatic work in its own right, and is also a secondary work as it is interpreting the original literary work on which it is based.

Why use audio-visual works?

Incorporating these can provide you with additional research insights.
You can compare performances to see how different productions have interpreted the same work, and where one director may have emphasised a particular theme or concept.
If you are struggling to engage with a particular passage in a literary work, it can help to see a dramatised version of the material, where the work 'is brought to life', this can be particularly useful where stage directions/scene setting are very limited.

See the Audio-visual resources page in this guide for more information.