American Literature

Selected Resources

http://library.southalabama.edu	Fall 2005
(251) 460-7025	Jerry Wright

This a selective guide to resources. Ask a reference librarian for additional assistance. The Library of Congress Subject Headings is the authority for subject searching; you must use the precise heading, but try keyword searching which offers flexibility.

Examples:

dickinson, emily (for subject or author search)

keyword: “emily dickinson”

“emily dickinson” and criticism

american literature (subject)

"african american" and literature (keyword)

GUIDES

Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide. 4th ed. MLA. Ref. PR 83 .H37 2002 Marcuse, Michael J. Reference Guide for English Studies. Ref. PR 56 .M37 1990: Evaluative, annotated bibliography. More comprehensive and focused than the other two but dated.
Bracken, James K. Reference Works in British and American Literature. Ref. 83 .B72 1998

ARTICLES, INDEXES, DATABASES

MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures. 1921- Ref. Z 7006 .M64: Our print subscription ceased after 1996. Use electronic version (1963-) available through theUniversity Library home page. Click Articles, Indexes, Databases.” Password required for off-campus access. No complete articles, but some will be available in other databases. We have print subscription to several titles.
JSTOR. Full text of scholarly articles. Latest 5 years not included. Link: “Articles, Indexes, Databases.” Not all available Web databases are listed. Look at “Articles, Indexes, Databases” on the home page. Try Gale InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP and EBSCO’s Academic Search Premier.

CHECKLISTS AND CRITICAL SURVEYS

These are highly selective bibliographies or excerpted literary criticism sources. American Literary Scholarship. 1963-. Annual. Bookstacks PS 3 .A47 Facts on File Bibliography of American Fiction, 1919-1988. 2 vols. Ref. PS 379 .F32 1991 Modern American Novel: An Annotated Bibliography. Ref. Z 1231 .F4 K45 1991 Twentieth Century Short Story Explication. Third Edition. 1977. Supplements. Ready Ref. Z 5917 .S5 W3 (also New Series, 1993) Facts on File Companion to The American Short Story. Ref. PS 374 .S5 F33 2000 The Short Story in English:… An Annotated Bibliography. Ref. PR 829 .B35 1994 American Drama, 1918-1960: An Annotated Bibliography. Ref. PS 350 .S58 1992 American Playwrights Since 1945: A Guide. Ref. Z 1231 .D7 A53 1989 Guide to American Drama Explication. Ref. PS 332 .O84 1995 American Ethnic Literatures:…An Annotated Bibliography. Ref. Z 1229 .E87 P43 1992 Guide to American Poetry Explication. 2 vol. Ref. Z 1231 .P7 1989: Vol. I: Colonial and 19th century
Vol. II: Modern and Contemporary
Selected surveys published by the Gale Group, next three titles:
Contemporary Literary Criticism. 1973-. Ref.PN 771 .C59. Library subscription.
Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. 1981-. Ref. PN 761 .N5
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. 1978-. Ref. PN 771 .T9. Library subscription.
Literature Resource Center. Accessed through “Articles, Indexes, Databases.”: This site combines the three sources listed just above with many others for critical and biographical information.
Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Ref. PR 83 .M73 1966: “Moulton’s” Critical excerpts about literary authors from their contemporaries.

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES

Biography and Genealogy Master Index.: From the home page, link to “Electronic Reference Books.” BGMI is listed in the first column.
Index To The Wilson Authors Series. Ref. PN 451 .I5 1986 American Authors, 1600-1900. 1938. Ref. PS 21 .K8 American Women Writers. 1979-82. 4 vols. Ref. PS 147 .A4 American Writers. 1974-. 4 vols. Supplements. Ref. PS 129 .A55: For an electronic source based on American Writers (Scribner’s), The Twayne series, et al. find Literature Resource Center from the home page, click on “Articles, Indexes, Databases.” Note: this is literary criticism, but not necessarily journal articles.
Asian American Literature. Ref. PS 153 .A89 A82 1999. Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide. Ref. PS 153 .M4 C46 1985 Contemporary Poets and Novelists of the South. Ref. PS 261 .C568 1994 Dictionary of American Biography. 1957. 11 vols. Supp. Index. Ref. E 176 .D57 American National Biography. 24 vols. Ref. CT 213 .A68 1999 Dictionary of Literary Biography. 1978-. Ref. PS 129 .D5 Indexed set One Hundred Years of American Women Writing, 1848-1948: an Annotated Bio-bibliography. Ref. PS 151 .B37 1997 Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Ref. PS 153 .N5096 1997

DICTIONARIES / ENCYCLOPEDIAS / HANDBOOKS / HISTORY

A Handbook to Literature. Ready Ref. PN 41 .H6 1992 HarperCollins Readers Encyclopedia of American Literature. Ref. PS 21 .R4 2002 Oxford Companion To American Literature. Ref. PS 21 .H3 1995 The Feminist Companion To Literature in English. Ref. PR 111 .B57 1990 Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism. Ref. PN 81 .J554 2005 Dictionary of Fictional Characters. Ref. PN 56.4 .S49 1992 Cambridge History of American Literature. Bookstacks PS 92 .C34 1994

STYLE MANUALS

The MLA Style Manual. Ready Ref. PN 147 .G444 1998 The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Ready Ref. LB 2369 .G53 2003; also in Reserve Columbia Guide to Online Style. Reserve/Ready Ref. PN 171 .T57 W35 1998 Electronic – From the Library home page http://library.southalabama.edu: select “Instruction” – then scroll to “Documenting Sources.” Jan Sauer has posted “Citing Databases Using MLA Style.” There’s also one for APA style.

ART OF LITERARY CRITICISM

Literature: A Student’s Guide To Research and Writing. Bookstacks PE 1479 .C7 S53 1988 Altick, R. The Art of Literary Research. Ref. PR 56 .A68 1993 Redrawing the Boundaries: The Transformation of English and American Literary Studies. MLA.: Bookstacks PR 21 .R43 1992; also in Reference
Possible searches, among others: new criticism, feminist criticism, deconstruction, canon literature. If these are keyword searches, put the phrases in quotation marks, i.e., “canon literature”

SMALL PRESS / ALTERNATIVE LITERATURE

Index of American Periodical Verse. 1971-. Ref. PN 1021 .I53 Schofer, Y. and B. Richards. “Little Magazine Interview Index,”: Serials Review 22(1) 1996, 81-100. Serials 2nd floor South. This annual list appears in an issue of Serials Review. Print subscription canceled after 1998 but available with full text articles through ScienceDirect. Link through “Articles, Indexes, Databases.” Search by name of journal and use the terms “little magazine” and “interview.”
International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses. Ref. Z 6944 .L5 D5: Library has latest annual issue. Lists current publications and back lists of publishers as well as directory information.

For individual stories or poems, look in Reader’s Guide and Humanities Index. Use the headings “poems” and“short stories.” Library has RG through 1999 (Ref. AI 3 .R48) and HI through 1998 (Ref. AI 3 .H84).Library now has a retrospective Reader’s Guide. Access from the link to “Articles, Indexes, Databases.”

ELECTRONIC SOURCES

The English Server http://eserver.org Seneca List http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/cas/lit/lit.html: Includes links to electronic texts such as Project Gutenberg (full text, public domain books), the Complete World of Shakespeare, e texts archives, etc.
American Verse Project http://www.hti.umich.edu/english/amverse: Pre-1920’s archives of American poetry
Alex: Catalog of Electronic Texts on the Internet. http://www.infomotions.com/alex VoS -- Voice of the Shuttle. http://vos.ucsb.edu Look for the heading “Literature (in English).”

SEARCHING SOUTHcat, THE CATALOG

Keyword examples:
“american literature” and 20^th	“authors american” and mystery
“american fiction” and “women authors’	“asian american” and collection?
“science fiction”	authors and south? and bibliography

"afro american" and literature (might help find some older books)

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Questions (jwrights@jaguar1.usouthal.edu) or call (251) 460-7025.
URL: http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/guides/amerlit.htm
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Last updated: 5/26/06. te. kpw