Scholarly research in science fiction, fantasy, and horror can be problematic given the popular nature of the topic. While certain titles, authors or topics may be covered by academic sources, it may be necessary to look at popular magazines and other non-scholarly sources for information, such as book reviews or interviews. This is especially true of very recent publications. In addition, science fiction, fantasy and horror, more than other genres, tend to crossover into other media with great frequency, so looking at resources on film, video games and other formats may be productive.

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

Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database is the electronic incarnation of Hal W. Hall’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Index (including all 3 volumes plus updates). It covers all aspects of science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural and weird fiction including criticism, commentary, reviews and some fan material from over 100 mainstream, literary and science fiction sources, mainly in English. There are currently over 50,000 items included, dating from 1878 to present.URL: http://library.tamu.edu/cushing/sffrd/

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, AI 3 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

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.

Web of Science is a collection of databases and indexes all subjects from 1982 to present. The entries are from Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index, thus including cited references as well as some abstracts and links to full-text electronic journals.

Film Index International includes filmographies on films made from 1930 to the present, in addition to references to current and historical critical articles and popular reviews.

Book Review Digest provides citations and excerpts from reviews in approximately 90 popular journals from 1983 to present in the electronic version. The paper version has excerpts from complete reviews for fiction and nonfiction many disciplines starting from 1905. Z1219 .C95.

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.PN 451 .D53.

Contemporary Authors also provides an overview of an author, as well as additional biographical and critical resources to consult.PN 451 .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.

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.

Reference Sources

Anatomy of wonder: a critical guide to science fiction, edited by Neil Barron. 3rd ed. New York: Bowker, 1987. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3433.8 .A53 1995

Science fiction writers: critical studies of the major authors from the early nineteenth century to the present day, E.F. Bleiler, editor. New York: Scribner, 1982. Evans Library stacks PS374 S35 S36 1982 Burgess, Michael.

Reference guide to science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1992. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3433.5 .B87 1992

The Encyclopedia of science fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls ; contributing editor Brian Stableford. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3433.4 .E53 1995 Contento, William.

Index to science fiction anthologies and collections. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1978. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PS374.S35 C65 Justice, Keith L.

Science fiction, fantasy, and horror reference: an annotated bibliography of works about literature and film. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1989. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3433.5 J86 1989

Survey of science fiction literature: five hundred 2,000-word essay reviews of world-famous science fiction novels with 2,500 bibliographical references, by Frank N. Magill. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1979. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3448.S45 S88

New England Science Fiction Association. The N.E.S.F.A. Index: science fiction magazines and original anthologies. Cambridge, MA. New England Science Fiction Association, 1976. Cushing Library/Science Fiction (Does not circulate) Z5917.S36 I55 Reginald, R.

Science fiction and fantasy literature: a checklist, 1700-1974; 1975-1991. Detroit: Gale Research, 1979. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3448.S45 R44 1979

The science fiction reference book: a comprehensive handbook and guide to the history , literature, scholarship, and related activities of the science fiction and fantasy fields, edited by Marshall B. TymnMercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1981. Cushing Library/Science Fiction (Does not circulate) PN3433.5 .S33 Wolfe, Gary K.

Critical terms for science fiction and fantasy: a glossary and guide to scholarship. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN3435 .W64 1986

Film Literature Index. Albany, Filmdex, inc. This quarterly publication is an author-subject index to the international literature of film. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN1993.5.A1 F516

López, Daniel. Films by genre: 775 categories, styles, trends, and movements defined, with a filmography for each. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., c1993. Reference (Evans Library 1st floor) PN1998 .L63 1993

Useful Web Sites

Entries excerpted from: Arant, Wendi and Hal W. Hall. “Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Guide to Resources on the Web.” College and Research Libraries News 63.9 (October 2002).

The Locus Magazine Web Page at http://www.locusmag.com/Links/Portal.html is perhaps the best first place to check when looking for science fiction and fantasy information on the web. It includes fairly comprehensive access to scholarly resources for research with the Locus Index to Science Fiction at http://www.locusmag.com/index/ , including a number of valuable reference sources with the including Brown and Contento’s the Locus Index to Science Fiction from 1984 to 2002; the Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections, Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Weird Fiction Magazine Checklist, Mystery Short Fiction: 1990-2000 and the listing of  Locus Awards. URL: http://www.locusmag.com

SF Site - The Best in Science Fiction and Fantasy, updated on a monthly basis, is a good source of current information and news on books and other SFF media, featuring reviews and interviews of contemporary authors, readings lists and links to fan sites, newsgroups and zines. In addition, the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase at http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb/sfdbase.html, provides bibliographic control of more than 100,000 titles (with an admitted emphasis on text creations) searchable by name, title, year or series. The ISFDB is a good starting point to get an overview of an author’s work, but should be supplemented by other sources. URL: http://www.sfsite.com/

Science Fiction Resource Guide from SF-Lovers is one of the more useful resources on the web as well as being one of those more long-term sites. It contains links to archives and mailing lists, science fiction artists, authors, awards, bibliographies and bookstores, conventions and comics, fiction and movie resources, reviews and criticism, role-playing and other SF-related gaming, television and program guides. It also provides one of the more complete list of links to fandom sites. URL: http://sf.emse.fr/SFRG/

International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts maintains a web site focused mainly on member-exclusive information with conference and journal information. While the content is fairly sparse, it does contain a listing of links “of interest to teachers and scholars of the fantastic” and bibliographic information on items appearing in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. URL: http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/iafa/iafa.home.html

Science Fiction Research Association may be brief in its content, but it takes a more scholarly approach to science fiction, offering calls for papers, conference information, links to SFRA Review and publishing guidelines, and news items of import. URL: http://www.sfra.org/

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 Sterling C. Evans Library. You may also contact them via phone at 845-3826 or via online chat or email through AskNow.

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.