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Library Instruction
English 1302 : Favorite Writer
Martin

DEFINE TOPIC

This first part is designed to assist you in limiting or defining your research topic. These sources are some of the SAC reference materials that can be used to do your favorite writer research.

 

Literary Dictionaries, Encyclopedias

  
 Ref PN41 .B4 1996  Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia
 Ref PN41 .H355 2003  Handbook to Literature
 Ref PN44.5 .K46 2006  Longman Dictionary of Literary Terms
 Ref PS21 .H3 1995  Oxford Companion to American Literature
 Database  Oxford Reference Online
 

Biographical Dictionaries and Surveys of Writers

  
 Ref PN451.D53  Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB)
 Ref PN1021 .C7 2003  Critical Survey of Poetry
 Ref PN1625 .C74 2004  Critical Survey of Drama
 Ref PN3321 .C7 2001  Critical Survey of Short Fiction
 Ref PN3451 .C75 2000  Critical Survey of Long Fiction
 Ref PS129.A55  American Writers
 Ref PS129.C66  Contemporary Authors, 100+v
 Ref PR85.B688  British Writers
 

Collections of Reprints of Critiques

  
 Ref PN771.C59  Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
 Ref PN771.G27  Twentieth Century Literary Criticism(TCLC)
 Ref PN761.N56  Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism (NCLC)
 Ref PN1010.P6  Poetry Criticism (PC)
 Ref PN1601.D59  Drama Criticism (DC)
 Ref PN3321.S5  Short Story Criticism (SSC)
 

Multipurpose References

  
 Ref PN50 .L574  Literature and Its Times
 Ref PN451 .M67  World Literature and its Times
 Ref PN1101.P64  Poetry for Students
 Ref PN1701.D73  Drama for Students
 Ref PN3365.N68  Novels for Students
 Ref PN3373.S56  Short Stories for Students
 Ref PS374.S5 E93  Short Fiction : a Critical Companion


DEVISE STRATEGY

Once you have defined your topic, you will need to know where to search for additional information. The sources you use are often determined by the instructor or assignment. You will need to make a list of keywords to search the library catalog, databases, and the Web.

SEARCH SOURCES

Begin at the library's home page at http://www.accd.edu/sac/library/

Searching these sources can be as easy as using the index of a book or it may involve advanced searching methods used in the catalog, databases, or Web search engines. Use your list of keywords to search in the following:

Click on Books & Media to search the catalog for books, government documents, microforms, audiovisuals, and electronic/digital resources. You may search by author, title, subject, and keyword. On the keyword search page on the right are examples of boolean operators (and, or, and not) and wildcards (*) (**) (?).

Example of a subject search:

  • bradstreet anne
  • chopin kate
  • erdrich louise
  • hansberry lorraine
  • updike john

Examples of keyword searches:

  • maxine hong kingston and biography
  • gary soto and biography

To access eBooks go to netLibrary.

Click on Articles & Reference to search for magazine, journal, newspaper articles, reference, and more. The following databases may be helpful for your assignment:

Full text articles may be emailed to your address, downloaded to a disk, or printed after purchasing a print card. If an article is not full text it may be available in another database or in paper or microfilm on the 4th floor. Check Journals by Title to see if the article appears in another SAC database, or do a title search in the catalog to see if the library subscribes to the journal you need.

Click on Web Guides to find additional sources on the Web. For example click on Literature Links: American & British, World Literature, or Writing & Research Guides.

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