More about researching sources

Algeo, J. (1978). What consonant clusters are possible? Word, 29, 206-224.

This is a highly-specific journal article which would help answer a particular part of the question I want to answer (discussing consonant clusters). However, this would not be the first resource I would read as it is unlikely to give the overview that I need to frame my answer. Also: I would consider the age of the article. Was this the first article written on the topic? (Check the author's references) Has nothing been written more recently?

Carnegie Mellon University (2004). A pronunciation dictionary for North American English. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict Links to an external site.

A reputable website, which could give some of the examples I am asked for. However, I am interested in British English. Given that this is explicitly a North American English pronunciation dictionary, is there a more suitable resource I could use?

Cruttenden, A. (1994). Gimson’s pronunciation of English (5^th ed.). London: Edward Arnold.

A really useful overview of English pronunciation. The only query is the date – patterns will almost certainly have changed. It is always worth searching to see if any new revisions have been published, especially when the book has already had several editions. 

Dobson, E. J. (1968). English pronunciation 1500-1700 (2^nd ed.). Oxford: The Clarendon Press.

An interesting book, but this would take me on a tangent from the question. Note here that, although the resource is quite old, it is regarded in the field as a landmark work (which I can identify from seeing just how many other books and journal articles refer to it) and would still be acceptable to cite, along with newer resources.

El-Shakfeh, F. (1987). The phonematics, phonotactics and para-phonotactics of Southern Standard British English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of St. Andrews.

Doctoral theses give a lot of detail about one particular area. In this case, the topic is relevant and the language variety is ideal but the source is a) quite old, b) would give far more information than I could possibly need to refer to in my essay and may take me a long time to filter through, and c) may not be very easy to get hold of. At undergraduate level, there are other resources that will be far more appropriate.

Jones, D., Roach, P., Hartman, J., & Setter, J. (Eds.). (2006). Cambridge English pronouncing dictionary (17^th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Superb! A resource that will help identify the examples I need, especially since it comes with a CD-ROM so that I can search for particular sound sequences. It is relatively new (although there is a Longman pronunciation dictionary which is more recent), gives an account of an appropriate British variety, and is very reputable. One other bonus is that it is edited by the lecturer who set the question! It is always worth considering whether your lecturer has published relevant material.

Kortmann, B., & Upton, C. (Eds.). (2008). Varieties of English: the British Isles. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

A recent book, but has the potential to be a little too general. Worth considering, providing I stay focused on finding answers to the question!

Moreland, M. L. (2011). The status of the post-initial jod: evidence from British English wordlikeness judgements. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Reading.

A prime example of a resource that is just too specific for an undergraduate essay. That said, the bibliographies of doctoral dissertations can be very useful, as they are likely to cite both overview texts and more specific entries. If this is a recent dissertation from your own university (and hence easy to get hold of – try 'e-theses' in your university intranet) it may be worth consulting this dissertation’s bibliography if anyone is looking for more resources to read.