Professor: Don Scheese
Librarian: Edi Thorstensson (x7137, bubbles@gac.edu; office: Library 204)
| www.
or Ref Z 7006 .M643 |
MLA
International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages
and Literatures. New York:
Modern Language Association, 1921--. This is the most important ongoing bibliography for literature and linguistics. It also covers folklore and film studies. Since 1980 the print version has come out in two volumes, kinds--books, journal articles, articles in books, dissertations--in many different languages. It is now available (for the years 1963--present) in an electronically searchable format through the Web. Choose the "MLA" database option from the library's web site or go to database options at the bottom of the page. (Scroll down the page to find it.) Searching by an author's name works best if you click on the "Index" option at the top of the page. From the index, you can find the exact entry for the author. From there you can refine a search by adding additional terms. Customize the display as you like by clicking on the "options" button. As you find citations of interest, click on the small box to the left to mark them for printing or downloading. Remember, this database contains only citations, not the texts themselves. To find the works cited here, first determine whether it is a book or an article, then see if the library owns it. Those items we don't own can usually be obtained through interlibrary loan, although dissertations are often unavailable. |
| www.
or Ref PN 771 .C632 |
Contemporary
Authors. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1962--. This series gives biographical
information, brief bibliographies of works by and about the author and
sometimes further background information such as an
interview. It is concerned solely with modern writers, and covers writers in fields outside of literature. Check the most recent cumulative index to locate biographies in any of the volumes and to locate biographies published in other Gale biographical series. |
| www. | American History & Life covers publications of all sorts on US and Canadian history and culture, and is searchable by key word, author, subject, source, etc. It offers the complete citation record and abstracts. It is particularly useful for in-depth coverage of specialist publications in North American history and interdisciplinary approaches to American culture. |
| www. | FirstSearch is a service available from OCLC that allows users to search a set of over 50 periodical indexes and databases. Many of those database are described and linked on this page. Suggest searching databases related to the arts and humanities: AHSearch, WilsonSelectPlus, and ECO. |
You can also find a variety of resources using the Library
Home Page.
Look under Library for this and related Web
Pages for Courses as well as the library's index
of current periodicals and, at the bottom of the page, access to resources
by subject.
You may also find the
research tutorial valuable.
Citing Your Sources
Research and Documentation Online, by Diana Hacker and Barbara Fister,
Reference works on western American literature and writers
| Ref
PS 129 .A55 |
American Writers. New York: Scribner's, 1979--87, with supplements.
This series gives lengthy analyses of
the life and work of major British writers, arranged chronologically and with an alphabetical index. There are similar series for British Writers (Ref PR 85 .B688), Latin American Writers (Ref PQ 7081 .A1 L37 1989), Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome (Ref PA 3002 .A5 1982) and European Writers (Ref PN 43 .B65 1981) put out by the same publisher. |
| Ref
PS 271 .T84 1982 |
Twentieth-Century Western Writers. Detroit: Gale, 1982. Entry for each writer consists of a biography, a bibliography, and a signed critical essay. Includes comments by living authors. Bibliographies list writings according to the categories of western fiction and other publications and are further subdivided under pseudonyms. Indexed. |
| Ref
PS 271 .F5 1982 |
Fifty Western Writers. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982. A bio-bibliographical sourcebook. |
| Ref
PS 271 .E89 B53 1995 |
A Bibliographical Guide to the Study of Western American Literature. 2nd ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. A guide that lists the most important essays and books in the field published through 1994 and includes checklists of scholarship on more than 300 western writers. Special sections on women and western literature and the environment and western literature. |
| Ref
PN 771 .C59 |
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1973--.
This "ongoing digest of current literary opinion"
concerning contemporary works of literature gives substantial excerpts from reviews and critical articles as well as citations to the original sources and brief biographical sketches. Because a given writer may be covered in several different volumes, consult the most recent cumulative index, which includes cross-references to other Gale biographical series. This is a handy place to become familiar with a modern writer's critical reception, particularly for writers who are prominent enough to have their works reviewed at length, but who haven't become the subject of scholarly literary criticism. |
| Ref
PS 221 .A5 |
Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1978--.
This set provides lengthy articles of biographical
information and some critical appraisal of literary works. The volumes are arranged thematically, with a cumulative index in the last volume. Noteworthy are vol. 82, "Chicano Writers"; vol. 175, "Native American Writers of the United States"; and vol. 206, "Twentieth-Century American Western Writers". Consult cumulative indexes for other subjects and individuals. |
| Ref
PS 163 .A6 1996 |
American Nature Writers. New York: Scribners, 1996.
A two-volume set that offers lengthy biocritical sketches on writers from
Edward Abbey to Ann Zwinger. The second volume also contains essays on
topics
such as African American nature writing, nature poetry, and the literature of mountaineering. Lengthy selective bibliographies are included. |
| Ref
PM 155 .D53 1994 |
Dictionary of Native American Literature. New York:
Garland, 1994. For biographical and critical information
about Native American authors and their works. Bibliographies included for further research. |
| Ref
PS 153 .M4 C46 1984 |
Chicano Literature : a Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood,
1985. Covers biographical and critical
information for Mexican-American writers. Includes extensive bibliographies.
|
Historical and cultural context
| Ref
F 591 .N46 1998 |
The New Encyclopedia of the American West. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Embraces major events in the history of the trans-Mississippi West as well as the frontier or "western" stage of all 50 American states. Includes a wide range of topics from ancient to modern times and is a rich source of biographical information. |
| Ref
E 76.2 .N36 1994 |
Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. New
York: Garland, 1994, . New York: Garland,
1994. Includes overview articles on broad topics such as art, economic conditions, languages, law, and religion as well as articles on nations. Each article is written by an expert from a number of fields, from anthropology to history, with many contributions by Native Americans. The emphasis is on modern history and contemporary experience. |