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IDS 101: The Journey to the Self: Narrative and the Hero: Using the Library

Gilgamesh, Odysseus, and Virginia Woolf

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Specialized Reference Books

Below are key reference books that provide a general overview of a topic or help identify synonyms, related terms, or basic data. These sources often include references and lists of further readings.

Online Reference Works

Authoritative Reference Sources vs Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a great resource for getting general info about something, but because anyone can contribute or change its content it is considered unreliable.  College faculty typically do not consider Wikipedia a credible information source. 

Instead, use the library's print or electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries, or other reference books to backup the basic information of your research paper. These resources have gone through an editorial process to check for accuracy. To the right and below are some resources that may be of use.

Humanities and Fine Arts Librarian

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Doreen Simonsen
Contact:
Mark O. Hatfield Library
900 State Street
Salem, OR 97301
503-375-5343

What Librarians Can Do for You

You can set up an individual research consultation with a subject librarian for research help. Here are a few other things that we can do for you:

  • Show you the best places to begin your research.
     
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  • Help you cite information correctly (e.g. APA style).
     
  • Judge the quality & reliability of information.
     
  • Teach you how to use information ethically (e.g. avoiding plagiarism).
     
  • Determine whether something is peer-reviewed.

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Saturday    10 a.m. -- 6 p.m.
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Mon-Wed   10 a.m. -- 5 p.m.
                    6 p.m. -- 9 p.m.
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Friday          1 p.m. -- 4 p.m
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Course Description

The modern Western novel, an extended prose narrative telling of a hero's often life-changing experience, has its roots in the Mesopotamian epic of "Gilgamesh", first recorded on clay tablets ca. 2100 BC. The figure of Gilgamesh, a historically attested Sumerian king who chose friendship over family, who failed in his quest to achieve physical immortality but left behind one of the most enduring monuments to man's search for the meaning of life in the face of inconsolable grief, was a major influence on Homer as he composed the story of Odysseus. And, Homer's Odyssey, considered by many to be the "first novel" of Western civilization, has proved to be a formative influence on Western literature. We will explore how the development of the familiar literary form of the novel over the course of millennia was a product of man's developing sense of self, changing understanding of the relationship to the divine, and desire to understand the purpose of life, through these two "proto-novels" and a series of key works such as Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Hermann Hesse's Rosshalde.

Willamette University

Willamette University Libraries

Mark O. Hatfield Library
900 State Street.
Salem Oregon 97301
Pacific Northwest College of Art Library
511 NW Broadway.
Portland Oregon 97209