Mark Szarko
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Course Pages

21L.702: Studies in Fiction/Rethinking the American Masterpiece

Resources for Researching Your Topic

I've designed the following list of resources to get you started with your research.

Background || Books || Articles

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The following sources will provide quick but brief background information on a topic.

Oxford English Dictionary http://libraries.mit.edu/get/oed	Web version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
Oxford Reference Online http://libraries.mit.edu/get/oxfordref	Excellent source for definitions and quick background information. Covers a variety of disciplines, so click on "Literature" to limit your search for this class. Better for quick information such as terms or very basic information about authors and texts; most entries tend to be short. Access limited to 5 users; try again later if you can't get in.
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism Online http://libraries.mit.edu/get/ltco	Provides an overview and historical survey of literary and cultural theory from Plato to postmodernism. Coverage is international. Essays provide more in-depth coverage of topic. Entries cover both individuals and schools of thought.
Literature Resource Center http://libraries.mit.edu/get/galelit	Provides both biographical information and selected literary criticism on a wide range of authors. Covers three major literary encyclopedias published by Gale: Contemporary Author, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Access limited to 2 users; try again later if you can't get in.
Literature Online (LION) http://libraries.mit.edu/get/lion	Contains biographical information, literary criticism, and some full-text access to selected literary works. Includes access to 2 literature databases: the Modern Language Association International Bibliography (MLAIB) and the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL). Access limited to 4 users; try again later if you can't get in.
Britannica Online http://libraries.mit.edu/get/britannica	Online encyclopedia Coverage varies, depending on subject
Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture: A Multi-Media Archive http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/	Excellent online archive of material about the novel, from book covers to sheet music to scholarly criticism. Maintained by Stephen Railton at the University of Virginia.
The Library of Congress: American Memory http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html	Excellent online archive of material related to American history and culture. Try searching for either "Harriet Beecher Stowe" or "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Find other reference sources (e.g. encyclopedias and handbooks) on your topic in Barton, the MIT Libraries catalog (see below in Books). You can also try our Virtual Reference Collection for other electronic resources.

BOOKS

Search the following library catalogs to identify books on your topic. Remember that book chapters may be excellent sources of information, and that most books will contain a bibliography of other potentially useful sources.

BOOK CATALOGS
Barton, the MIT Libraries catalog http://libraries.mit.edu/barton	Search here first! Includes books and journal titles owned by all of the MIT Libraries. You can also get more help on using Barton from our online tutorials available at: http://libraries.mit.edu/tutorials/video/index.html.
Boston Library Consortium libraries catalogs http://www.blc.org	If MIT Libraries do not own the book you need, get a borrower's card from the reference desk to borrow books from BLC libraries. Search each of the BLC libraries' catalogs separately, then go to that library and check the book out.

ARTICLES

NOTES:

- MIT Libraries subscribe to many journal article databases; some contain full text, others contain citations; abstracts only.
- You may want to search more than one to be comprehensive.
- See Locate the Full Text for guidance in tracking down the documents you need.
- From off-campus, you need certificates to access these databases.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND SUBJECT SPECIFIC ARTICLE DATABASES
LION http://libraries.mit.edu/get/lion	Allows you to search 2 literary databases at once: MLA and ABELL. Access limited to 4 users; try again later if you can't get in.
MLA International Bibliography http://libraries.mit.edu/get/mla	Excellent source for literary criticism. Literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore from over 4,000 journals and series published worldwide. Provides citations of articles or book chapters; you'll need to use Barton or Vera and search for the title of the journal to find the actual article. Also searchable through LION.
ABELL - The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (part of LION) http://libraries.mit.edu/get/abell	A database within LION (Literature Online), ABELL - The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature - contains over 500,000 records covering monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews, collections of essays and doctoral dissertations published anywhere in the world from 1920 onwards.
JSTOR http://libraries.mit.edu/get/jstor	Interdisciplinary scope covers a range of subjects, including literature. All articles are full-text.
Project Muse	Interdisciplinary scope covers a range of subjects, including literature. Most articles are full-text, although access to some may be through links.
MIT LIBRARIES DATABASES FOR OTHER SUBJECTS
Vera http://libraries.mit.edu/vera	MIT Libraries' gateway to databases in various subject areas
HOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT A MAGAZINE, JOURNAL OR NEWSPAPER
Ulrich's Internationl Periodicals http://libraries.mit.edu/get/ulrichs	Provides information on magazines, journals, and newspapers, including whether the title is scholarly and/or peer-reviewed. Peer-reviewed (or refereed) titles have a symbol shaped like a referee's shirt next to them. Some entries have reviews, which can sometimes tell you a publication's political slant. Note: Only 5 users can be in at one time, so if access is denied, try again later.

For more help with searching databases, you can also consult our online tutorials at: http://libraries.mit.edu/tutorials/video/index.html.

This page was last updated on 10/03/07