Subject Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias are great for:
- choosing a topic
- educating yourself quickl
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, terminology
- bibliography
Reference Sources on Literature
- Gale Literature Resource CenterA literature database combining biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Draws from Gale Group's core literary databases including Contemporary authors, Dictionary of literary biography, and Contemporary literary criticism. Provides additional search capability for Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of literature and Gale literary index.
Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-century American Short Story.Call Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PS374 S5 C57x 2000Publication Date: Columbia University Press, c2000.Emphasizing criticism as opposed to theory, essays cover a wide array of themes (e.g., African American short story -- Asian American short story -- Chicano-Latino short story -- Ecological short story -- Lesbian and gay short stories -- Native American short story -- American short stories of the Holocaust) and over 100 individual authors. Author essays are arranged alphabetically and include biographies, as well as critical overviews of their works. Indexed.
Encyclopedia of African LiteratureCall Number: Olin Reference PL8010 .E63x 2003ISBN: 9780415230193Publication Date: Routledge, 2003Covers the key historical and cultural issues in the field; contains over 600 entries covering criticism and theory, African literature's development as a field of scholarship, and studies of established and lesser-known writers and their texts. Also covers the literature back to the earliest eras of story-telling and oral transmission,Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in English
Call Number: Olin Reference PR9080 A52 E53 2005Publication Date: Routledge, 2005This three-volume set covers the history and development of the literatures of the colonies of the former British Commonwealth, and includes original research relating to the literatures of some fifty countries and mandated territories. In addition to entries by genre, subject, and biography, there are also important "overviews" for selected major subjects and genres in the form of comparative essays which explore the issues over a variety of countries. Includes a comprehensive index to authors, subjects, and works.
Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural TheoryCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PN 81 E435 2011Publication Date: Malden, Mass.: 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.
Reference Sources in Other Disciplines
Use authoritative dictionaries and reference sources.
Wikipedia might be a handy tool in some cases, but it's not what your professors would call a reliable or authoritative reference source. The library resources listed below provide access to scholarly information on a range of subjects. Use the Library Subject Guides to find many more.
Encyclopedia of AfricaPublication Date: Oxford UP, 2010Focuses on African history and culture with articles that cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa.
Cambridge History of AfricaCall Number: Print copy: Olin Library DT20 .C17 (8 vols.)Publication Date: Cambridge UP, 1977-1986Multi-volume work containing scholarly essays covering all periods of African history through most of the 20th century. Included in Cambridge Histories Online.
Encyclopedia of gender and societyCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference HQ1115 E54 2009+Publication Date: Sage, 20092 volumes; Focuses on significant gender scholarship within commonly recognized areas of social research.
Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and SocietyPublication 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.
Encyclopedia of PhilosophyCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference B51 .E56 2006 +Publication Date: 2005Comprehensive English-language reference source for philosophy.
Encyclopedia of Postcolonial StudiesCall Number: Olin Reference PN849.U43 E535 2016 + (print version)Publication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016Covers the period from 1492 to the present, including the dynamics of European conquest from Columbus to China, and critiques of colonialism. Entries are written by leading scholars in the field.
- Oxford Bibliographies: African StudiesOffers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on African history and culture. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.