Prof. Daniel Reagan
Spring 2006
This is a guide to selected sources of information related to autobiography literature in Geisel Library. It is meant as a starting point
for your research. For further research assistance, please take advantage of the reference services
available to you in the library. Stop by the reference desk or contact us online at Ask a Librarian.
The reference librarians have created a group of Web pages named Research Help and a tutorial called Searchpath to help teach you the basics of library research and to introduce you to Geisel Library. On the Research Help pages, you will find a guide on Research Basics and a helpful guide on evaluating Web resources titled, Judging What You Find. Please take advantage of these resources.
Search strategy: a process of finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner. Using a search strategy insures that you will find the information and materials you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Research Steps:
- Choose your topic
- Find background information
- Find books on your topic
- Find periodical articles
- Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
- Evaluate your sources
- Cite your sources
Reference books are shelved by Library
of Congress call number in the reference stacks
near the reference desk. They may not be checked out,
but photocopiers are available on the lower level
of the library. Online reference sources can be found
in the library catalog, or listed on E-Reference Resources.
Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature 4 vols.
REF PS21 .E537
See Volume 1, pages 92-116: "Autobiography: General Essay"
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas 5 vols.
REF CB9 .N49
See Volume 1, page 183: "Autobiography"
A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
REF PN41 .C83
A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory
REF PN44.5 .H37
Critical Survey of Literary Theory 4 vols.
REF PN45 .C74
A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms
REF PN41 .F6
Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs 2 vols.
REF PN43 .D48
Allusions: Cultural, Literary, Biblical, Historical: A Thematic Dictionary
REF PN43 .A4
Literature Resource Center
Find biographical information on authors, as well as bibliographies, plot summaries,
and literary criticism of their works. Also get full-text articles from more than
100 literary journals. More than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists,
and other writers are covered here. This site also provides links to the
Encyclopedia of Literature and a Literary-Historical Timeline.
Literature Resource Center includes the following databases:
Contemporary Authors: A bio-bibliographical guide to over 120,000 current authors
Contemporary Literary Criticism Select: Critical essays on contemporary authors
Dictionary of Literary Biography: Bio-critical essays on 7,000 authors
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: Includes authors who died between 1900 and 1959
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Find overviews on a wide variety of topics by searching this online encyclopedia.
Besides the search feature, there is also a helpful subject browse, timeline browse,
and online atlas. Try the Workspace feature to create a customized page for a research project.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature 4 vols.
REF PS21 .E537
See Volume 2, pages 134-138: "Malcolm X"
Modern American Women Writers
REF PS151 .M54
See page 251: "Maxine Hong Kingston"
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Catalog
Subject headings:
- Autobiography in literature
- Narration (Rhetoric)
- Self in literature
- Biography as a literary form
Keywords:
- Autobiography
- life writing
:
The Forms of Autobiography: Episodes in the History of the Literary Genre
CT25.S63
Imagining a Self : Autobiography and Novel in Eighteenth-Century England
PR858.I3S6
Light Writing & Life Writing: Photography in Autobiography
PS366.A88 A33 2000
The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative
PR756.A9 G67 2001
Turns in the Road: Narrative Studies of Lives in Transition
BF637.L53 T87 2001
The Value of the Individual: Self and Circumstance in Autobiography
CT25.W37
Works on Paper: The Craft of Biography and Autobiography
PR6058.O47 W67 2002
Constructing American Lives: Biography & Culture in Nineteenth-Century America
CT34.U6 C37
If you are unable to locate materials in the Geisel Library Catalog, search libraries worldwide using WorldCat.
A book review is a critical article written about a published book. Most often, reviews are written
shortly after the work is published; however, some well known books continue to be reviewed
for many years. In general, book reviews can be good sources for:
- Plot summary
- Author biography
- Background information (historical events, social trends, etc.)
- Insight into how a book was received by the community upon its original publication
- Strengths and weaknesses of the content
You will need to know:
- The author's full name
- The book's complete title
- The publication year of the book. Determine the publication date (or copyright date)
of the book's first edition and any subsequent editions. The date usually is on the back
of the title page or may be found by searching the Geisel Library Catalog or the WorldCat database.
Many of our electronic databases allow you to limit your search to book reviews. Often you will
use a drop down menu, from which you can select to limit your search to "book review."
Online Databases–General
Academic Search Premier
This is the world's largest scholarly source of full-text articles. Search here for citations and abstracts in areas including: social
sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, physics, chemistry, language & linguistics, arts & literature, medical
sciences, ethnic studies and more. (Coverage varies by publication. Click on Publications tab for more information.)
New York Times
You can get full-text access to every page of the New York Times, from 1851 to 2002. The searchable collection includes
digital reproductions, so that even advertisements and political cartoons from every available issue may be viewed. (1851–2002)
LexisNexis Academic Universe
Find full-text newspaper articles from local, national, and international papers.
Project MUSE
This database offers all full-text articles from over 300 peer-reviewed journals;
subjects include humanities, arts, medicine, mathematics, social sciences, and more.
ChoiceReviews.online
CHOICE reviews current books and electronic media of interest to those in higher education.
They publish nearly 7,000 reviews each year, covering all academic disciplines, and are often the first
critical appraisal of scholarly works.
JSTOR
Search here for full-text articles from major journals in the humanities and social sciences. Coverage
is generally from the beginning of publication to within 5 years of the current issue.
Online Databases–by Subject
America: History and Life
If you want to know where to find articles on the history of the United States or Canada, start your search here.
You'll find abstracts from over 1,700 journals published worldwide, including book/media reviews, all with a focus on
North American history and culture from prehistoric times to the present.
Historical Abstracts
This index provides abstracts to key history journals from around the globe, covering world history from 1450 to the present.
Historical Abstracts includes citations from books, dissertations, and a targeted selection of journals in the social sciences and humanities.
Alternative Press Index
Provides citations (some with abstracts) from over 250 alternative, radical, and international periodicals,
covering cultural, economic, political and social change.
Book Review Digest 1905-2000
Provides citations to and brief summaries of book reviews in 75 journals. Search under the author's last name.
Book Review Index 1965-1992
Provides citations to book reviews in hundreds of journals. Search under the author's last name.
New York Review of Books
Use the Archive feature to search for book reviews from 1963 to present.
New York Times on the Web: Books
Use the Book Search feature to find book reviews from 1996 to present.
Literature Resource Center
Find biographical information on authors, as well as bibliographies, plot summaries, and literary
criticism of their works. This resource also provides the full text of articles from more than 100
literary journals.
MLA International Bibliography
Produced by the Modern Language Association of America, this electronic
index consists of bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language,
linguistics, and folklore. (1963 - present) Journal list User guide
Academic Search Premier
Gain access to full-text as well as indexing and abstracting for a wide range of journal titles covering business, social sciences, humanities, general science, and education.
Project MUSE
"Project MUSE provides online, worldwide, institutional subscription access to the full text of more
than 200 scholarly journals in arts and humanities, social sciences, and mathematics." Journal List
America: History and Life
Provides abstracts to journal articles, book/media reviews, and dissertations with a focus on United States and Canadian history and culture from prehistoric times to the present. (1964 - present)
Alternative Press Index
Provides citations (some with abstracts) from over 250 alternative, radical, and international periodicals,
covering cultural, economic, political and social change.
JSTOR
Geisel Library subscribes to three JSTOR collections: Arts & Sciences I and II and Biological Sciences.
These are large collections of the full text of back issues of major journals in the humanities and
social sciences, including Annual Review of Sociology, Nineteenth-Century Literature,
Philosophical Quarterly, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Coverage is
generally from the beginning of publication to within 5 years of the current issue.
Journal list for: Arts & Sciences I Arts & Sciences II Biological Sciences
See the library's How To Cite Your Sources guide for resources on how to properly cite research materials. Always confirm the style required by your instructor.
Compiled by: Judy Romein
