English Pathfinder: Contemporary U.S. Literature

The following lists are not comprehensive. The items listed on this page are representative of some of the most frequently used research materials on this topic. To find more material, consult the library catalog or contact your librarian for assistance.


Indexes

An index is a specialized database that organizes information about the locations of articles in journals/magazines, reports and newspapers; and book chapters, papers in conference proceedings, and book reviews. Indexes provide the complete bibliographic citation of an article, including the title of the article, author, name of the journal, volume number, the pages of the journal in which the article can be found, and a short summary, or abstract, of the article. Some indexes are in book form, and some are electronic databases. Some electronic databases, including MLA, do NOT provide the complete text of articles. For tips on how to effectively search databases, and how to find journals that are not available on-line, contact your librarian, or consult How to Find Materials on English in the Waidner-Spahr Library.

MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
The premier scholarly index for literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.

America: History and Life
Covers scholarly literature on United States and Canadian history. Materials treating all aspects of history from prehistoric times to the present. The rest of modern world history is covered in a companion database, Historical Abstracts.

Essay and General Literature Index
Indexes chapters and essays contained in books of collected works.

Historical Abstracts
Historical Abstracts covers materials treating all aspects of world history, except the United States and Canada, from 1450 to the present.

Humanities Full Text
Covers journal articles in the humanities, archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, history, journalism and communications, linguistics, literature, music, performing arts, and religion

Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective
A bibliographic database that cites articles from English-language periodicals. Coverage includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of humanities and social sciences journals.

JSTOR
An interdisciplinary archive of over 600 journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Project Muse
Search journals published by university presses.



Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Dictionaries and encyclopedias are helpful in finding basic information about your topic area. They may also serve as sources of inspiration to you as you search for new topics to research. The following list is not comprehensive. Search the library catalog for more encyclopedias and dictionaries. Refer to How to Find Materials on English in the Waidner-Spahr Library for tips on how to best perform a search, or contact your librarian for assistance.

Characters in 20th-Century Literature
REF PN56.4 .C4 1989

Cyclopedia of Literary Characters
REF PN44. M3 1998

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English
REF PR85. C29 1993

Cambridge Handbook of American Literature
REF PS21. C36 1986

Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature
REF PS21. E53 2003

Oxford Companion to American Literature
REF PS21. H3 1995

A Field Guide to the Study of American Literature
REF PS88

 

 

Biographies

Print:

American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies
REF PS129. A55 1974

Contemporary Authors
REF PN771. C6

Electronic:

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Biography and Genealogy Master Index is the first place you should look when seeking biographical information on any living or deceased person worldwide. It is an electronic index to over 13 million biographical entries in 3,400+ biographical reference works.

Contemporary Authors

A database that includes biographic details on approximately 100,000 modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists and scriptwriters. Featured are current writers, the most-studied literary figures of the early 20th Century and authors from around the world whose works have been translated into English or published in the United States. Included are the author's writings, media adaptations, works in progress sidelights and interviews.

American National Biography (ANB)
Nearly 20,000 biographies, revised three times per year.

Criticism

Print:

Critical Perspective
REF PR85. C76 1985

The Critical Temper
REF PR85. C77

Electronic:

Literary Index
Gale's Literary Index is a master index to the major literature products published by Gale, including Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Critisicm, and Poetry Criticism.

Literature Criticism Online
This index includes several literary criticism series including Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) and Twentieth Century Literature Criticism (TCLC).

 

Primary Resources

American Literary Manuscripts: A Checklist of Holdings (to 1977)
REF PS88. M6 1977

 

Websites

Literary Resources on the Net
A "meta" site maintained by Rutgers University — Newark.