Library Research Help for Oral Presentations on Secondary Materials and Historical Background

§ Biography Index via Firstsearch. http://firstsearch.oclc.org/FSIP

§ Dictionary of American Biography. Location: MSUM REF. E176 .D56

Most important reference source for American biography. Excellent bibliographies. Covers deceased subjects through 1935.

Supplement, v. 1-10. Covers deceased subjects from 1935 through 1980.

§ American National Biography. Location: MSUM Reference CT213 .A68 1999

§ Encyclopedia of American Biography. Location: MSUM REF. CT213 .E53 1995

"Thorough, but by necessity, selective, this revision of the 1974 edition includes entries for 1,000 Americans who have made significant historical or cultural contributions to American life."

The Norton Book of Interviews: An Anthology from 1859-Present Day. Location: MSUM CT119 .P37 1996 (4^th Floor)

The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia. Location: Concordia and NDSU -- REFERENCE CT103 .C36 1998

Interpreting the Self: 200 Years of American Autobiography. Location: Concordia and NDSU -- CT25 .B56 1998

 

Author Biographies

American Women Writers. 5 vols. Location: MSUM Ref/ PS/ 147/ .A4

Includes information about American women writers over three centuries – biographical data, critical comments, complete bibliography of the author’s writings, and a bibliography of criticism.

American Writers. 10 vols. Location: MSUM Ref/ PS/ 129/ .A55

Author Biography Master Index. Location: MSUM Ref/ PN/ 452/ .A9/ 1994

British Writers. 10 vols. Location: MSUM Ref/ PR/ 85/ .S688

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Index for set: MSUM Ref/ PN/ 452/ .D5

Multi-volume set still being published. Intended to cover all who have contributed to the "greatness of literature" in America, England, and elsewhere. Very close to being comprehensive for major American and English writers – but coverage for international is not as thorough. Lengthy, signed articles written by experts.

FirstSearch: Article First, Art Index, Biography Index, Humanities Index, Periodicals Contents, Wilson Select, and many more.

http://firstsearch.oclc.org/FSIP/

MLA Bibliography [CD-Rom -- 1963-present]

Excellent source for literary criticism. Two separate discs: 1963-1980; 1981-1997. Currently available at Guest 1 CD-ROM station on the 1^st floor of the Library. No full text. No abstracts.

North American Women’s Letters and Diaries.

"When complete, North American Women's Letters and Diaries will be the largest collection of women's diaries and correspondence ever assembled. Spanning more than 300 years, it will bring the personal experiences of 1,500 women to researchers, students, and general readers. The uses for the collection will be many and varied. For historians, sociologists, students of literature, researchers in genealogy, and others, NAWLD will prove a dramatic new resource. These diaries bring us much more than the personal. They provide a detailed record of what women wore, the conditions under which they worked, what they ate, what they read, and how they amused themselves."

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/asp/NAWLD/

JSTOR Full Text Journals. JSTOR is an electronic database of full-text back issues of 117 academic journals in the subject areas of African-American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Population/Demography, Education, Finance, History, Literature, Sociology, and Statistics. All articles are scanned from the original journal.

http://www.jstor.org

Project Muse.

Full-text database of over 100 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences and mathematics.  Many articles are scanned from the original journal. Includes access to the journal Early American Literature: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eal/

http://muse.jhu.edu

 

Also--search WebPALS Library Catalog for your writer’s name and combine the word "criticism."

 

American Writers Before 1800: A Biographical and Critical Dictionary. Location: MSUM – Reference PS 185 A4 1983 (Also available at Concordia and NDSU)

American Women Writers to 1800 / edited by Sharon M. Harris. Location: MSUM – PS 508 .W7 A49 1996

American Writers of the Early Republic. Location: MSUM Reference PS 208 .A44 1985

The Cambridge Companion to Nineteenth-Century American Women’s Writing. Location: NDSU -- PS147 .C36 2001

Colonial American Travel Narratives / edited and with an introduction by Wendy Martin. Location – MSUM – E 162 .C69 1994

Colonial American English, a Glossary : Words and phrases found in colonial writing, now archaic, obscure, obsolete, or whose meanings have changed. Location: Concordia – Reference PE 2838. L43 1985

A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800 / edited by Janet Todd. Location – MSUM Reference PR 113 D5 1995

Early American Writing / edited and with an introduction by Giles Gunn.

Location: MSUM – PS 531 C65 1994 (4^th Floor)

Encyclopedia of North American Colonies. 3 volumes. Location: MSUM Reference E 45 .E53 1993

Fierce Communion: Family and Community in Early America / Helena M. Wall. Location: NDSU and Concordia – HN 57 .W27

Writing in the New Nation: Prose, Print, and Politics in the Early United States / Larzer Ziff. Location – NDSU – PS 367 Z5 1991

Early American Captivity Narratives

http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl310/captive.htm

The Massachusetts Bay Colony

http://members.aol.com/ntgen/hrtg/mass.html

Early American Literature Links

http://classweb.gmu.edu/drwillia/American.html

A Celebration of Women Writers - includes links for Bradstreet; Wheatley

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/

Brittney Goodman, goodmanb@mnstate.edu,

236-2358, Created 10/2/02

Updated 6/28/05 dewald@mnstate.edu