ASRC 422 Library Research Guide--Africana Library, Cornell University

Library Research Guide for ASRC 422 African Literature
(http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/faculty/asrc422.html)

Compiled by Eric Kofi Acree, Librarian

The intention of this guide is to help you locate materials dealing with African literature.

Encyclopedias listed below can be used to locate background information:

African Authors: A Companion to Black African Writing 1300-1973
Africana Reference Collection PL 8010 .H54 1974

Over 500 biographical entries ranging from half-a-column to several pages. Basic bibliographies are provided for each author. Many useful appendices, listing authors by genre, for example, or by language employed. This is a useful reference source for anyone researching African literature.

African Writers (2 volumes)
Africana Reference Collection PL 8010 .A453x 1997

An excellent resource with extensive critical essays on about 50 major contemporary African writers. There is a helpful chronology of African literature linked to historical events. Exhaustive bibliographies.

The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia
Africana Reference Collection PR 9387.9 .A3 Z459 2003

This reference is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to Chinua Achebe's life and writings. Included are several hundred alphabetically arranged entries.

The Companion to African Literatures
Africana Reference Collection PR 9340 .C65x 2000

This book is a comprehensive guide to work written in English or widely available in translation from other languages. Alphabetical format includes authors' biographical details and major publications; selected individual books; selected African languages with published literatures; wider themes: the links with literature in major African languages, Afro-American, Afro-British and Caribbean literature, religion, politics, war literature, women in literature, censorship; literary discourse, influences and movements; and special topic entries: apartheid, Maghrebi literature, Nigeria-Biafra war, publishing in sub-Sahara Africa, and writing systems.

Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers: First Series
Africana Reference Collection PR 9205 A52 T96 1992

Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers: Second Series
Africana Reference Collection PR 9205 A52 T97 1993

Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers: Third Series
Africana Reference Collection PR 9205 .A52 T893x 1996

These 3 volumes provide extensive essays illustrated with photos and dust jacket or manuscript page reproductions and accompanied by bibliographies and references.

Selected Author Guide:

For selected information on authors covered in ASRC 422 check out Author's Guide.

Research Tools:

Research Strategy: A Tutorial
Distinguishing Scholarly From Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria
Critically Analyzing Information Sources

Searching Techniques:

Whether you are clicking your way across the Web, searching for resources in the Cornell Library Catalog, or looking for scholarly articles in specialized subject databases, being aware of a few simple techniques can improve the effectiveness of your searches.

Do you know how to use the following search techniques?

keywords vs. phrase searching
boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT (for combining search terms)
truncation and wildcard symbols (for finding singular, plural, and other keyword variations)
field searching (for narrowing a search to specific parts of a record)
controlled vocabulary (subject headings)

See the following sites for details on how to refine and perfect your search results:

Introduction to Database Searching Skills
Search Strategies

Finding Books:

Cornell Library Online Catalog
Browse by doing a [basic]command keyword on the name of the author, followed by the word criticism. For example, use the term, "chinua achebe" and criticism.

Browse by doing [basic] command keyword search. For example, use the terms; criticism and "african literature"

Finding Book Reviews:

For tips locating book reviews visit; http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/bookreviews.html

Finding Articles:

Select one of the databases below to locate articles.

African Studies Database
African Studies is an exclusive combination of 16 databases from three continents providing access to multi-disciplinary information on Africa. Combining 16 databases from three continents searchable together for the first time, this premier information resource contains over 849,270+ indexed references, many with abstracts. Records are derived from books, periodical articles, pamphlets, maps and music recordings. Topics include politics, history, economics, business, mining, development, social issues, anthropology, literature, language, law, music and much more.

Contemporary Authors Online
A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields.

Contemporary Literary Criticism
Provides an extensive collection of critical essays on contemporary writers. Each entry also contains a biographical/critical introduction including pseudonyms and nationality, a listing of principal works, and sources for further study.

JSTOR
JSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature.

MLA Bibliography
MLA bibliography is the largest and most comprehensive database covering scholarship in the modern languages, linguistics, literature, folklore, and drama, including film, opera, radio, television and theater. Literary criticism and literary theory are covered extensively. Approximately 4,000 journals and series are screened, and entries for books are included. Entries appear both for collections of essays and for their contents.

Periodical Abstracts
Periodical Abstracts indexes and abstracts an extensive number of periodicals, covering general interest magazines and scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities and sciences. Also included are citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Full text of many articles is provided.

Project Muse
Searchable database that provides access to the full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers such fields as literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others.

Social Sciences Citation
ISI citation databases are multidisciplinary databases of bibliographic information indexed to be searched by subject, author, journal, and/or author address. They can also be searched for articles that cite a known author or work. Cited reference searching allows use of a given work as if it were a subject term, to identify more recent articles on the same topic.

Citing Sources:

Give credit where credit is due.

By properly citing the sources you use in your research projects you are both identifying the resources that you used to complete your work and you are formally acknowledging the authors or creators of those resources. This allows others to find what you have found and to verify your research.

Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity

Here is information about the MLA citation style:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.)
CU Library Reference locations include Olin and Uris Libraries at call number: Z253 .M68 2003 .

MLA Citation Style (Gateway Help)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)


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		Print This Page Library Research Guide for ASRC 422 African Literature (http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/faculty/asrc422.html) Compiled by Eric Kofi Acree, Librarian The intention of this guide is to help you locate materials dealing with African literature. Encyclopedias listed below can be used to locate background information: African Authors: A Companion to Black African Writing 1300-1973 Africana Reference Collection PL 8010 .H54 1974 Over 500 biographical entries ranging from half-a-column to several pages. Basic bibliographies are provided for each author. Many useful appendices, listing authors by genre, for example, or by language employed. This is a useful reference source for anyone researching African literature. African Writers (2 volumes) Africana Reference Collection PL 8010 .A453x 1997 An excellent resource with extensive critical essays on about 50 major contemporary African writers. There is a helpful chronology of African literature linked to historical events. Exhaustive bibliographies. The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia Africana Reference Collection PR 9387.9 .A3 Z459 2003 This reference is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to Chinua Achebe's life and writings. Included are several hundred alphabetically arranged entries. The Companion to African Literatures Africana Reference Collection PR 9340 .C65x 2000 This book is a comprehensive guide to work written in English or widely available in translation from other languages. Alphabetical format includes authors' biographical details and major publications; selected individual books; selected African languages with published literatures; wider themes: the links with literature in major African languages, Afro-American, Afro-British and Caribbean literature, religion, politics, war literature, women in literature, censorship; literary discourse, influences and movements; and special topic entries: apartheid, Maghrebi literature, Nigeria-Biafra war, publishing in sub-Sahara Africa, and writing systems. Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers: First Series Africana Reference Collection PR 9205 A52 T96 1992 Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers: Second Series Africana Reference Collection PR 9205 A52 T97 1993 Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers: Third Series Africana Reference Collection PR 9205 .A52 T893x 1996 These 3 volumes provide extensive essays illustrated with photos and dust jacket or manuscript page reproductions and accompanied by bibliographies and references. Selected Author Guide: For selected information on authors covered in ASRC 422 check out Author's Guide. Research Tools: Research Strategy: A Tutorial Distinguishing Scholarly From Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria Critically Analyzing Information Sources Searching Techniques: Whether you are clicking your way across the Web, searching for resources in the Cornell Library Catalog, or looking for scholarly articles in specialized subject databases, being aware of a few simple techniques can improve the effectiveness of your searches. Do you know how to use the following search techniques? keywords vs. phrase searching boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT (for combining search terms) truncation and wildcard symbols (for finding singular, plural, and other keyword variations) field searching (for narrowing a search to specific parts of a record) controlled vocabulary (subject headings) See the following sites for details on how to refine and perfect your search results: Introduction to Database Searching Skills Search Strategies Finding Books: Cornell Library Online Catalog Browse by doing a [basic]command keyword on the name of the author, followed by the word criticism. For example, use the term, "chinua achebe" and criticism. Browse by doing [basic] command keyword search. For example, use the terms; criticism and "african literature" Finding Book Reviews: For tips locating book reviews visit; http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/bookreviews.html Finding Articles: Select one of the databases below to locate articles. African Studies Database African Studies is an exclusive combination of 16 databases from three continents providing access to multi-disciplinary information on Africa. Combining 16 databases from three continents searchable together for the first time, this premier information resource contains over 849,270+ indexed references, many with abstracts. Records are derived from books, periodical articles, pamphlets, maps and music recordings. Topics include politics, history, economics, business, mining, development, social issues, anthropology, literature, language, law, music and much more. Contemporary Authors Online A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Contemporary Literary Criticism Provides an extensive collection of critical essays on contemporary writers. Each entry also contains a biographical/critical introduction including pseudonyms and nationality, a listing of principal works, and sources for further study. JSTOR JSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature. MLA Bibliography MLA bibliography is the largest and most comprehensive database covering scholarship in the modern languages, linguistics, literature, folklore, and drama, including film, opera, radio, television and theater. Literary criticism and literary theory are covered extensively. Approximately 4,000 journals and series are screened, and entries for books are included. Entries appear both for collections of essays and for their contents. Periodical Abstracts Periodical Abstracts indexes and abstracts an extensive number of periodicals, covering general interest magazines and scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities and sciences. Also included are citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Full text of many articles is provided. Project Muse Searchable database that provides access to the full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers such fields as literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others. Social Sciences Citation ISI citation databases are multidisciplinary databases of bibliographic information indexed to be searched by subject, author, journal, and/or author address. They can also be searched for articles that cite a known author or work. Cited reference searching allows use of a given work as if it were a subject term, to identify more recent articles on the same topic. Citing Sources: Give credit where credit is due. By properly citing the sources you use in your research projects you are both identifying the resources that you used to complete your work and you are formally acknowledging the authors or creators of those resources. This allows others to find what you have found and to verify your research. Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity Here is information about the MLA citation style: *MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers* (6th ed.) CU Library Reference locations include Olin and Uris Libraries at call number: Z253 .M68 2003 . MLA Citation Style (Gateway Help) MLA Style (MLA's web site)

Library Research Guide for ASRC 422 African Literature (http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/faculty/asrc422.html)

Library Research Guide for ASRC 422 African Literature
(http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/faculty/asrc422.html)