Scribbulus has a Resource Page where the staff tries to compile a list of different sources that may inspire, or serve as references for, our essay writers. If you know of some great inspirational source, on the net or in book or journal format, that we have not yet listed, please post it in this thread!

My first suggestion is a link to the Google Scholar & Books sites.  For essays, journal articles, etc, check out scholar.google.com   If you are looking for text from a book, just go to books.google.com  Not every book is there due to copyright laws, but it's a good source.

There is a good source here on writing essays.  It takes you through all the steps such as getting your thoughts together and formatting the body of the essay.  It also has links to common puctuation questions.

The Writer's Den

QUOTE(mlwl @ Jan. 25 2006,16:14 )

My first suggestion is a link to the Google Scholar & Books sites.  For essays, journal articles, etc, check out scholar.google.com   If you are looking for text from a book, just go to books.google.com  Not every book is there due to copyright laws, but it's a good source.

Great idea.  As a supplement to that, maybe TLC could get a subscription to J-Stor.  Many of the articles in Google Scholar are only available throught that site.  You can only access them if you log onto the site through and affiliated library etc.

*scratches head* I use it a lot at home... but maybe I'm just lucky.  There are a TON of great programs like J-Stor, but they are often extremely expensive.  Your best bet to use something like that if you're not enrolled in a college is to go to your public library.  Almost all of them have subscriptions to something like J-Stor, Magill's Literature online, or DISCUS, and it's free to use their computers.  :)

I have some good sites for the mythological sources needed for some essays. I refer to them often.

Gareth's is an encyclopaedia on animals, monsters, etc.

This is a link to Bulfinch's Mythology online; a wonderful source for mythology and legends of the Western World.

Here is one of the most impressive source pages on the World Wide Web. The Encyclopedia Mythica is all things mythical and legendary; a tremendous source for readers and writers of Harry Potter- based material.

PP :type:

Here's a good one on mythical beasts in the Middle Ages: The Medieval Bestiary: Animals in the Middle Ages.

I'm reading Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts right now, and I highly recommend it both for topic inspiration and useful annotations. Thanks.

This is a website that will output an MLA formatted bibliography entry based on your input. Easy to use and has tons of different source types.

http://www.easybib.com/

Enjoy

-Scott

There is a great resource out there for all the authors having trouble organising their essays and/or footnotes.



A program called Free Mind will do all those things for you and more! I have been testing it, and it works just great!



http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Is the URL for Free Mind okay? I can't load it.

The link is bad but the url is correct. If you copy it and paste it into your address line it will work.

If you have a college in your area, check out the college library as well. Often they will have more scholarly resources than general public libraries.

And don't forget, most public libraries (and college libraries) can "borrow" resources from other libraries, this is called "interlibrary loans". It was free in the past, but with increases in shipping cost, they may charge a small fee to subsidize that now. Inquire at your reference desk.

I'm big on the MLA reference searches myself. They are the mainstay of anyone writing literary criticism or doing pop culture work. And I think one of the best things for learning appropriate style for writing scholarly papers, aside from writing and getting critiqued, is *reading* a lot of scholarly papers.

=Dino=
(I'm a computer geek now as my vocation but I was an English major in undergrad and grad school.)

I love Mind Maps myself.

Another trick a friend of mine told me about is useful for people who need to "lay hands" on things when organizing. Print out a copy of your draft paper and cut it up with scissors, reassembling like a puzzle. This can work wonders for people who think spatially to help them get their heads around the organization of a paper.

=Dino=

I just found the coolest website called The Phrontistery.

phrontistery FRON-tis-te-ri, n. a thinking-place [Gr phrontisterion from phrontistes a thinker, from phroneein to think; applied by Aristophanes to the school of Socrates]

It has all kinds of English language resources and lists of rare words. Great fun for writers!

Of the same idea is www.etymonline.com which I have to admit to being addicted to myself

Well, thanks Severine. Now I'm addicted to that one as well. And I want to sponsor a word! You can sponsor a word! How cool is that?!

That is a great site! I think I'm going to sponsor a word.

Thanks for the site guys!

I've been meaning to write an essay but I'm almost never satisfied with what I come out with...

Oh and here is a link to a really nice mythology site if your writing some down that alley. It has everything you could need.