Literary Research and American Postmodernism: Strategies and Sources

by Emily Witsell

Overview

Literary Research and American Postmodernism is a guide to scholarly research in the field of American postmodern literature, which this volume defines as the period between 1950 and 1990. This work aims to provide advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars of literature with a comprehensive view of the print and online resources available in literature and related subject areas. The volume offers best practices for research, especially for the challenges inherent to the field of American postmodernism, and provides scholars with a path toward success in their research endeavors.

The opening chapters describe the state of academic research in the literary field and how to formulate an appropriate research topic, develop keywords, and use advanced search techniques to improve search results. One chapter is devoted to how to navigate library catalogs, read a catalog record, and locate materials in libraries worldwide. Subsequent chapters describe general reference resources, print and electronic bibliographies, and scholarly journals that focus on literature in the second half of the twentieth century. The author identifies resources for locating the book reviews and historical magazines and newspapers that can offer insight into the history of particular author’s publications. The unique challenges and promises of archival research are outlined, along with tips for getting the most out of a trip to a special collections library to perform primary research. Web resources and techniques for finding scholarly resources on the Internet are addressed in addition to subscription-based or library-owned materials. The final chapter synthesizes the information described in the previous chapters by taking the reader through a real-life research question and demonstrating how a scholar might locate resources on a difficult topic. An appendix of resources in related fields suggests additional directions the researcher might explore.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810892750
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/18/2016
Series:	Literary Research: Strategies and Sources
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Emily Witsell is a research librarian and coordinator of research and instruction at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. She holds an MLS from Indiana University and an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Georgia, where she specialized in the study of illness and medicine in contemporary literature.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

1 Basics of Online Searching 1

2 General Literary Reference Sources 15

3 Library Catalogs 33

4 Print and Electronic Bibliographies, Indexes, and Annual Reviews 53

5 Scholarly Journals 75

6 Contemporary Reviews 93

7 Magazines and Newspapers 105

8 Manuscripts and Archives 117

9 Web Resources 133

10 Researching a Thorny Problem 147

Appendix 157

Notes 181

Bibliography 183

Index 185

About the Author 197

Editorial Reviews

This guide to Literary Research and American Postmodernism will be useful to those who take the time to read through the approachable text and to educate themselves on literary research, as well as for anyone who dips in and out of the book for a guide or a database that may be useful at a given moment.

"American Reference Books Annual"

This guide to Literary Research and American Postmodernism will be useful to those who take thetime to read through the approachable text and toeducate themselves on literary research, as well asfor anyone who dips in and out of the book for aguide or a database that may be useful at a givenmoment.

Reference Reviews

This guide to Literary Research and American Postmodernism will be useful to those who take the time to read through the approachable text and to educate themselves on literary research, as well as for anyone who dips in and out of the book for a guide or a database that may be useful at a given moment.

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