General Research Strategies
Interdisciplinary Research 101
This topic is interdisciplinary. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines “interdisciplinary” as relating to “two or more disciplines or branches of learning; contributing to or benefiting from two or more disciplines”. Studying Englishwomen translators in the Reformation requires resources found across the humanities, including publications in theories of English language (translation studies), English literature (particularly Renaissance literature and women’s writing), gender studies, theology (the ideas of reformers in the Reformation), and history (early modern period).
A Word About Keywords
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this topic, you may need to search multiple keyword combinations to find what you are looking for. For instance, time period-specific information can be found by searching terms from multiple disciplines “Renaissance” (English), “Early Modern” (English and History), and “Reformation” (History and Theology). Some sources on the Reformation call the geographic location of our study “England” or “the British Isles”, while other reform locations are referred to as “European” or “continental”. The gender of these translators may be referred to as “women” or as “female”, depending again on the secondary source.
Best Databases to Search
Early English Books Online (EEBO) (link)
EEBO is an excellent source for scanned primary sources, particularly if you are looking for a rare or not-yet-republished text. However, many major Englishwomen translators have been republished in the Ashgate series (find more information on the primary sources page).
Databases for secondary source articles:
Note: because this is a public research guide, linked databases may not be available to users outside of a university library system. If you are not a member of an academic community with database access, I recommend that you look up your local university library’s policies on in-person visitors, as you may be able to access resources by visiting that library and using their computers to log onto the databases.