The resources listed herein are merely starting points. The library can provide many more resources specific to a particular topic. Many of the sources below are databases accessible via the Internet.

Catalogs and Union Catalogs

Online Catalog LibCat includes the materials (books, journals, videos, documents and other materials) that the Libraries hold. Be aware that there are groups of materials not included in the catalog: many government documents and microform sets that we own may not appear in LibCat.

WorldCat Catalog of books and journals, the contents of over 14,000 research libraries, mainly in North America. Anything found on WorldCat that is not available in Evans Library can be ordered through Interlibrary Services or Get it for me.

Literature Criticism and Reviews

MLA International Bibliography This database indexes sources on literature, linguistics and drama from 1963 to present. Also available in print back to 1920. While it indexes secondary literature, it may lead to other pertinent information on the topic. PB1 .M46 from 1920 to 1962; from 1963 to present, on the web.

Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature An electronic index of critical articles and book reviews on language and literature in English back to 1892. The print index of article citations on English language and literature covers published articles from 1920 to present. PB1 .A55.

Wilson Indexes A collection of databases of article citations, on a variety of subjects from science to business to the social sciences. The web versions of Humanities Index, Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and Essay and General Literature Index will provide citations to literary criticism articles and book chapters. Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, AI3 .R48, continues Poole’s Index, AI3 .P7, covering periodical literature from 1800 to present. Essay and General Literature Index includes citations to articles and book chapters from 1900 to present, AI3 .E752. Humanities Index will provide citations to criticism articles in literature, including poetry, short fiction, drama and novels. The print indexes back to 1972. AI3 .H84

EBSCOHost (Academic Search Complete) is a collection of selected full text periodicals and scholarly journals, U.S. and international newspapers, reference books and detailed pamphlets from a variety of disciplines.

PCI (Periodicals Contents Index) includes citations and selected full-text from critical articles as well as book and performance review in humanities and social sciences journals from 1770 to 1993. This is the only electronic resource available that indexes back to the 1770s.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index are part of the Web of Knowledge, an online database indexing resources in all areas. It includes citations of critical articles on popular culture, film and television. The online versions go back to 1982 while the paper version of Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Z5931 .A78 goes back to 1975, and Social Sciences Citation Index, Z7163 .S6 extends back to 1956.

Author Bio-bibliographical Resources

Dictionary of Literary Biography is a valuable place to start when doing research on an author. It provides personal background, a bibliography, brief critique of the body of their work and contributions to the fields, as well as locations of major collections. PN451 .D53.

Contemporary Authors also provides an overview of an author, as well as additional biographical and critical resources to consult. PN451 .C6.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index is an index of indices, providing coverage of Biography Index, Who’s Who, Contemporary Authors and other biographical sources. CT120 .B56.

Indexes to Primary Sources (Held in Evans Reference)

ALA Index to General Literature and Supplement indexes selected books, documents, conference proceedings, & some journals from before 1901; supplements Poole's Index. AI3 .A3

Contents-Subject Index to General and Periodical Literature indexes selected books & journals from before 1900. AI3 .C7 1900a

Essay and General Literature Index includes citations to articles and book chapters from 1900 to present, AI3 .E752.

Index to American Periodicals of the 1700s. The libraries have all of the magazines indexed by this on microfilm. Z6951 .I533 1986.

Index to American Periodicals of the 1800s covers 1800-1809; the libraries have some of the magazines it indexes. Z6951 .I534 1989.

Nineteenth Century Readers Guide indexes selected magazines from 1890 to 1900. AI3 .R496.

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature indexes some magazines, 1787-1906. Most are American; a few British magazines are included. AI3 .P7 1963.

Public Affairs Information Service Bulletin indexes political and related topics from 1913 onward. H96 .P83.

Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, AI3 .R48, continues Poole’s Index, covering periodical literature from 1800 to present.

Also check the newspaper indexes for firsthand accounts of historical events: New York Times Index and the Personal Name Index to the New York Times Index; London Times Index; and The Birth of America: The Year in Review, 1763-1783 (Z1237 .J63) followed by The Federalist Years: The Years in Review, 1789-1800 (E310 .R67).

Electronic Journals and Full-text Databases

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe is a full-text resource including newspapers as well as popular, trade and scholarly publications in all areas from about 20 years to the present. It will have the full-text of critical articles and reviews from current sources.

Project Muse and JStor are packages of electronic journals in the Humanities. They are among the more than 1500 online titles to which the Library has access. Project Muse is a full-text collection of humanities journals from 1995 to present; JStor is a full-text collection of history, philosophy, economics, and political science journals from their conception (at times, from the 1700s) to present. These are also accessible via the library’s web page at http://library.tamu.edu.

Selected Resources

Diaries of girls and women: a midwestern American sampler, edited by Suzanne L. Bunkers. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001. CT3260 .D53 2001

Graham, Adeline. Adeline and Julia: growing up in Michigan and on the Kansas frontier: diaries from 19th-century America, edited by Janet L. Coryell and Robert C. Myers. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2000. F574 .B47 G73 2000

Kalfopoulou, Adrianne. A discussion of the ideology of the American dream in the culture's female discourses: the untidy house. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. PS147 .K35 2000

Letters of intent: women cross the generations to talk about family, work, sex, love and the future of feminism, edited by Anna Bondoc and Meg Daly. New York, NY: Free Press, 1999. HQ1229 .L55 1999

The mountains we have crossed: diaries and letters of the Oregon Mission, 1838, introductions and editorial notes by Clifford Merrill Drury. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. F597 .M78 1999

Clayton, Sarah Conley. Requiem for a lost city: a memoir of Civil War Atlanta and the Old South, edited by Robert Scott Davis, Jr. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1999. E605 .C595 1999

Apte, Helen Jacobus. Heart of a wife: the diary of a Southern Jewish woman, edited and with essays by her grandson Marcus D. Rosenbaum. Wilmington, Del.: SR Books, 1998. F220 .J5 A68 1998

Library Assistance

If you need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to go the Evans Reference Desk for Help. They are located on the 1^st floor of the Main Library building. You may also contact them via phone at 845-5741 or via email at lib-help@tamu.edu.

If you want specialized help, you may schedule an appointment with me, as liaison librarian to the Department of English, and I will be happy to help you with your research topic, recommend sources and introduce you to searching some of the electronic materials.

Candace R. Benefiel
Associate Professor
979-862-1044
cbenefie@lib-gw.tamu.edu