ENG/CRE 336: African American Writing, 1746-1877 (Androne): Home

Hello! I'm John Burke and I'm your librarian. My job is to help you find the information you need for your assignments.  The Gardner-Harvey Library website and the Rentschler Library website have a lot of wonderful resources for your research needs, and the ones listed below are some great starting spots for your searches.

Please feel free to contact me using the methods listed under my picture on the right.  You can also use our Research Consultation form to make an appointment with me or any of our librarians.

I'm generally in the Middletown library (my office is behind the InfoDesk) from 8-5, Monday through Friday. I check my email anytime I'm awake, so you can nearly always get an answer from me fairly quickly. 

We all know the basics of research, but I thought the resources below could offer some quick insights to get you on track on working on your topics.  

Here is a worksheet I've used at the beginning of a project to get my ideas down and start thinking about other directions to turn.  Feel free to make a copy and type your own terms and ideas in.

Video - The Research Process (3:31)

Choosing a Topic (tutorial)

Background Research Tips  (tutorial) -- as a follow-up, see our Reference/Background page for sources to use for background information (Wikipedia is great, but these might offer additional information, including useful statistics, that can help shape the direction you work toward. 

Video - How to Narrow Your Topic (3:34)

If you have questions on narrowing your topic, or where to look next, please contact me using the options above and I'll be happy to make some suggestions.

Here are four quick (5 minutes or less) tutorials on finding articles, books, and e-books at Miami University:

• Articles & More (articles)
• Books & More (books)
• Finding Electronic Books (e-books)
• Focusing Your Search in Articles & More: a Two-Minute Tutorial (some additional tips on limiting your search)