Some Basic Online Research Tools
Academic alternatives to Wikipedia!
- Oxford ReferenceContains the texts of more than 100 reference titles published by Oxford University Press.
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlineDeveloped cooperatively with scholars and librarians worldwide, Oxford Bibliographies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource guides researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.
- Sage KnowledgeA database of reference books published by SAGE covering the social sciences and education, including such areas as African American studies, aging & gerontology, anthropology, business and management, communication and media studies, counseling and psychotherapy, criminology and criminal justice, economics, education, environment, family studies, gender & sexuality studies, geography, health and social welfare, history, politics and international relations, psychology, research methods and evaluation, science, philosophy, and theology, social issues, social work and social policy, and sociology, and urban studies and planning.
- Gale eBooksProvides searchable full-text e-book versions of many reference works, including multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company history compilations, consumer health references, and specialized handbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. in a wide range of subject areas. Subject categories include arts, biography, business, education, environment, history, law, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, nation and world, religion, science, and social sciences.
Media Studies Reference Sources
SAGE Handbook of Social Media
Publication Date: Sage, 2018Addresses the most significant research themes, methodological approaches and debates in the study of social media. It contains substantial chapters written especially for this book by leading scholars from a range of disciplinary perspectives, covering everything from computational social science to sexual self-expression.
Literature Reference Resources
Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory
Call Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PN 81 E435 2011Publication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011Arranged in three volumes covering Literary Theory from 1900 to 1966, Literary Theory from 1966 to the present, and Cultural Theory, this encyclopedia provides accessible entries on the important concepts, theorists and trends in post-1900 literary and cultural theory.Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
Call Number: Print: Olin Reference PS21 E537 2004 +Publication Date: Oxford UP, 20044 vols. Contains essays on US poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists. Figures such as Whitman, Melville, and Morrison are discussed in detail and examined in the context of their times, with an assessment of the writer's current reputation, a bibliography of major works, and a list of major critical and biographical works about the writer.Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory
Call Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PN81 .O94 2022 +Publication Date: Oxford UP, 2022Illustrates the problems, the concepts, and the methodologies that arise when we discuss literary criticism. Around 180 full-length essays written by international experts discuss the theoretical categories and formal structures; the institutions that support the production, dissemination, interpretation, and valuation of literary texts; the identities of the real and textual persons who interact in the study of texts; and the systematic methodologies of literary interpretation and understanding.
Reference Sources on Race & Society
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism
Call Number: Print copy: Olin Library Reference E184.A1 E584 2013 (also online)Publication Date: 20133 vols. Examines the anthropological, sociological, historical, economic, and scientific theories of race and racism in the modern era. Delves into the historic origins of ideas of race and racism and explores their social and scientific consequences. Some of the nearly 400 articles address broad theoretical topics that have helped to shape modern ideas about race and racism; others address more specific subjects in the larger fields.Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society
Publication Date: 2008Covers important topics, events, and persons relevant to race and ethicity in society. Also addresses other issues of inequality that intersect with race and ethnicity, including ability status, age, class, gender, and sexual orientation.Oxford African American Studies Center
Scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture. Features articles by top scholars in the field, images, primary sources with specially written commentaries, maps,charts and tables, and biographies.