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- Michelle Oswell, Humanities Librarian for Music and Literature (HC)
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Exploring the Critical Context of a Work
Bibliographies are lists of books, journal articles, etc. Their coverage can be extremely broad, like Books in Print, which lists all books currently available from U.S. publishers, or they can be very specific, like David L. Middleton's Toni Morrison: An Analytical Bibliography, which lists works by and about only this one author. In literature studies, you will find bibliographies about the work of a single author or group of authors, a genre, a national or ethnic literature, a time period, a topic, or an individual work. In many cases, bibliographies include annotations that describe or evaluate the works cited so that you can better choose which of the many available sources to read. In addition to the kinds of bibliographies listed here, you will also find useful the bibliographies listed in section IA and those found in the encyclopedias and histories listed in section II of this guide as well as the bibliographies and notes accompanying the journal articles and monographs you are reading.
Cumulative Bibliographies
Bibliographies come in two main types, cumulative and serial. Cumulative, sometimes called retrospective, bibliographies can represent only the material available at the time of publication; such a bibliography is cumulative or retrospective, as opposed to current, in that it cumulates in one place citations to items published over a span of years and thus looks back on the history of its subject from the time of its own publication. Cumulative bibliographies list books and journal articles; some, however, are bibliographies of bibliographies. Cumulative bibliographies come in all sizes and scopes; some are very general in their coverage of a genre, period, or national literature, while others are specific to a group or school of writers or a topic, and still others to an individual author or even a single work by an author.The works listed below serve only as examples of the many bibliographies in the Library.
A bibliographical guide to the study of Western American literature
Publisher: Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press in cooperation with the University of New Mexico, Center for the American West, c1995.
Serial Bibliographies and Indexes
Serial bibliographies, unlike cumulative bibliographies, keep up-to-date the same way a periodical does; thus, as a news magazine keeps you abreast of world events by printing weekly issues, so, too, a serial bibliography keeps you current in successive issues of new writing as it appears. Serial bibliographies may be published in print format, or you may find them as electronic databases.
MLA international bibliography
Provider: ProQuest
The MLA International Bibliography, most often referred to as "the MLA," is the standard, internationally comprehensive index to journal articles, books, essays, and dissertations on literary, folkloric, and linguistic topics. The MLA's coverage, scope, and title have changed over the years. For years prior to 1969 the index was published as part of the journal Publications of the Modern Language Association.
Of the serial bibliographies listed here, MLA is the only one with extensive coverage of literatures in languages other than English. A thorough search of the literature of a given topic or author would probably have to include American Literary Scholarship or Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature as well, but the MLA would be, in most cases, the place to start.
Although the Bibliography is currently published in both printed and electronic editions, Haverford stopped receiving the printed edition in 1992 and now subscribes only to the electronic version, which covers the period from 1963 forward. Note that the Bibliography began indexing by topical subjects only in 1981.
Of the serial bibliographies listed here, MLA is the only one with extensive coverage of literatures in languages other than English. A thorough search of the literature of a given topic or author would probably have to include American Literary Scholarship or Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature as well, but the MLA would be, in most cases, the place to start.
Although the Bibliography is currently published in both printed and electronic editions, Haverford stopped receiving the printed edition in 1992 and now subscribes only to the electronic version, which covers the period from 1963 forward. Note that the Bibliography began indexing by topical subjects only in 1981.
American literary scholarship
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1998-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1998-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1998-present.
Publisher: Durham, N.C. : Duke University Press.
ALS is an annual survey of research in U.S. literature, covering major authors in individual chapters and arranging the rest of the material chronologically and by genre. Each chapter is a critical bibliographic essay written by a scholarly expert. ALS is useful for singling out the important works of scholarship published each year, for studying trends in scholarship, and for getting a feel for the critical tradition on a given author or period. It is also available in print for issues before 1998.
Contemporary literary criticism.
Publisher: Detroit, Gale Research Co.
Also available online from the Literature Resource Center, this set compiles excerpts from critical analyses and reviews of works written by authors now living or who died after December 31, 1959. It is thus useful as an annotated bibliography for locating information on recent authors who do not yet appear in the standard reference sources. It is also helpful because of the ease with which you can scan numerous excerpted pieces of criticism. Citations are given for each excerpt printed so that you can locate the full texts of the articles, books, or essays that seem most promising. Use the cumulative index in the latest volume to locate criticism on an author, being aware that the index also refers to publications that Haverford does not own.
Historical abstracts
Provider: EBSCO
This index to journals in world history and its counterpart for U.S. history, America, History and Life, are excellent sources for material on the social and cultural relations of literature.
Annual bibliography of English language and literature.
Publisher: London [etc.]
The Association's Annual Bibliography, most often referred to as "the MHRA," indexes books, pamphlets, dissertations, and articles from 1300 English-language periodicals, arranging listings by period with an author/subject index at the back. Citations to book reviews appear with entries for books, making it easier to check critical opinion when evaluating a book's scholarship. Note that there is a substantial lag in publication.
19th century masterfile
Provider: Paratext
Indexes by subject U.S. and British nineteenth-century general interest magazines, legal and religious periodicals, newspapers, government publications, and books, "general interest" in the nineteenth century implying a more educated readership than the same term does today. Provides access to contemporary news, opinion, and analysis of events, people, and issues in all fields. Its chronological coverage is unique among the indexes offered by the Library. The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900 is also invaluable for those working in the nineteenth century. It reproduces tables of contents from the major periodicals of the period; it has an author index in vol. V but no subject index.
Women's studies international
Provider: NISC
An interdisciplinary index formed from Women Studies Abstracts (1984-present), Women's Studies Database (1972-present), New Books on Women and Feminism (1987-present), Women of Color and Southern Women (1975-present), The History of Women and Science, Health, and Technology: A Bibliographic Guide to the Professions and Disciplines (1970-1995), Women's Health and Development: An Annotated Bibliography (1995), Women, Race, and Ethnicity: A Bibliography (1970- 1990), WAVE: Women's Audiovisuals in English: A Guide to Nonprint Resources in Women's Studies (1985-1990). New databases will be added as they become available.
The year's work in critical and cultural theory
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1996-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1996-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 2002-present except most recent 1 year(s).
Publisher: Oxford : Published for the English Association by Blackwell Publishers,
Sprung like Athena from the head of Zeus and following its parent's bibliographic essay format, this annual survey develops into an independent publication a section of The Year's Work in English Studies(below). Print volumes are available for years prior to 2002.
The Year's work in English studies.
Publisher: London : Published for the English Association by Oxford University Press, 1920-
As its name implies, this annual publication is a detailed critical review, cast in the form of lengthy bibliographic essays, of scholarship on British, U.S., and Commonwealth literatures, with emphasis on British. It is arranged by geography and period.
Evaluating Sources:
Book reviews serve a dual purpose for literary research. First, they record the critical reception of a work, thus giving you valuable insight into contemporary values and the climate of critical opinion. Second, they evaluate the major works of literary criticism and biography, helping you identify reliable and useful titles. See also Proquest Research Library for citations to book reviews.
Book review digest.
Publisher: [Bronx, N.Y.] : H.W. Wilson Co., 1906-
This work indexes reviews from general interest and large-circulation, popular magazines and newspapers and prints brief excerpts from many of the reviews.
Book review index
Provider: Gale
A comprehensive online guide to book reviews with over five million review citations from thousands of publications. Covers 1965-present.