http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/spanlit201.html
Research Guide for Spanish
Literature 201.03: Introduction to Hispanic Literature
DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGYSearch strategy is a library term for the process of finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner. Using a search strategy insures that you will find the information or material you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Research Steps:
- Choose your topic
- Find background information
- Find books on your topic
- Find periodical articles
- Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
- Cite your sources
For online help using on library research strategy and using library resources, try using Library Research, a Hypertext Guide - online, hypertext-based tutorial on library research.
- FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Guides and Handbooks
- The materials listed below are a selection of reference resources for finding background information and context for topics you will be covering in this class. Note the call numbers and library locations for these materials and check the reference collections for additional sources of background information.
The authors of articles in reference books often provide bibliographies of selected books and articles for further study.
- The materials listed below are a selection of reference resources for finding background information and context for topics you will be covering in this class. Note the call numbers and library locations for these materials and check the reference collections for additional sources of background information.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1978- . (Uris Ref PS 129 D55 - shelved on index table; some volumes in Olin Ref; also online as part of The Literature Resource Center. See entry below.)
An on-going set of volumes, published by Gale Research Company and designed to provide biographic, bibliographic, and critical material on major writers of America and Great Britain as well as some writers of Canada, France and Germany. Each volume is arranged alphabetically by the writers covered. There are numerous portraits and often there are appendices containing special information. A list of further reading concludes each volume. An index to all volumes appears at the end of each latest volume.
- Kanellos, Nicolas. Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Literature in the United
States : the Literature of Puerto Ricans, Cuban
Americans, and other Hispanic Writers. New York: Greenwood, 1989.
(Uris Ref
PQ 7420 2 K16; also Olin)
"Designed to make accessible to the English-language reader a literary world that, for the most part, has been articulated only in Spanish", (Preface) this is a guide to representative Hispanic writers living and writing in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Mexican American writers are excluded. Entries are divided into three sections: biography, major themes, and survey of criticism. Each entry ends with a substantial bibliography of works by and about the author. A general bibliography on Hispanic literature and an index round out the volume.
- Meier, Matt S. and Feliciano Rivera. Dictionary of Mexican American History.
Westport: Greenwood, 1981.
(Uris Ref E 184 M5 M511; also Olin)
An alphabetical listing of both brief and long entries describing the Mexican-American experience from the days of the opening and development of New Spain through 1980. Numerous cross references, and an index make finding specific terms, events or people relatively easy. Contains charts, statistical tables, lists of Mexican-American journals and much more. Many entries contain citations to further reading.
- Contemporary Literary Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, and Other Creative Writers. Detroit: Gale,1973- . Vol. 1- . (Uris Ref PN 771 C762 - shelved on index table; also available online in part within The Literature Resource Center. See entry below.)
Designed as an ongoing series of selective excerpts from critical writings (books and periodical articles) on contemporary authors. Writers treated are those who are either now living or who have died since January 1, 1960. Full citations to the source follow the excerpts. Arrangement of each volume is alphabetical by author's surname. Index to authors covered in series is cumulated in each volume. Olin Library has volumes one through eighteen in the stacks.
- Foster, David William, comp. Handbook of Latin American Literature. 2nd ed. New York: Garland, 1992.
(Olin Ref PQ 7081 A1 H23 1992; Uris Ref has 1987 ed.)
This is a collection of essays on the literary histories of various Latin American countries. A short annotated bibliography concludes each essay. An index is included.
- Hinds, Harold E., and Charles M. Tatum, eds. Handbook of Latin American Popular Culture. Westport:
Greenwood, 1985. (Olin Stacks F 1408.3 H23)
A compilation of essays dealing with various aspects of popular culture, such as film, popular music and sports, in both Spanish and Portuguese Latin America. Each essay provides historical background and a summary of current research, as well as a discussion of core literature in the field. Extensive bibliographies follow each chapter.
- The Hispanic American Almanac: A Reference Work on Hispanics in the United
States. Detroit: Gale, 1993. (Uris Ref E 184 S75
H557x 1993; also Olin stacks)
The Almanac surveys Hispanic life and culture in the U.S. Individual chapters cover the family, population, language, politics, education, religion, the arts, history, and primary documents. Signed essays are augmented by selective bibliographies of additional sources of information on the topic.
- Martinez, Julio A. and Francisco A. Lomeli. Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1985.
(Olin Ref
PS 153 M4 C53)
This guide provides an alphabetical arrangement of entries on major Chicano authors and important topics in the study of Chicano literature. The term "Chicano literature" is defined as the literary output of Mexican-Americans since 1848. Each author entry includes brief biographic information, a discussion of major works, a bibliography of the author's writings, and sources of criticism.
- Masterpieces of Latino Literature. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
(Uris Ref PQ 7081 A1 M41 1994)
This source includes 140 articles on classic and newly popular works of fiction and nonfiction (arranged alphabetically), and 33 general essays about the plays, short stories, poetry, and essays of major Latino writers and thinkers. Essays on specific works include plot summary, brief descriptions of major characters, and critical analysis of the work.
- New Immigrant Literatures in the United States. A Sourcebook to Our Multicultural Literary Heritage.
Knippling, Alpana Sharma, ed., Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
(Olin Ref PS 153 M56 N53 1996)
Presents a critical introduction to post-World War II immigrant literatures of the United States, including work by Asian-American, Caribbean-American, European-American, and Mexican-American writers. Sections provide a literary-cultural histories for each group, a summaries of dominant concerns of major authors, and extensive primary and secondary bibliographies. A great starting point for locating criticism on writers and literary works about which relatively little has been written.
There are other networked reference resources, including online encyclopedias and dictionaries, available in the General Interest and Reference section of the CU Library Gateway including the following databases:
- Britannica Online offers the full text of the multivolume paper encyclopedia set, including its numerous bibliographies, maps, and photographs, as well as supplying links to related Web sites for many of the topics covered.
- Literature Online.
(LION) (Library Gateway.)
A full-text collection of poetry, drama, and prose with complementary references sources. Primary texts include English poetry from 600 to the present; American and African-American poetry from 1603 to the present; English drama; English prose; articles, monographs and dissertations from the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature; full-text articles from literary journals; and biographical information on widely studied authors. Subsumed in the database are the contents of several Chadwyck-Healey CD-ROM products, including: The Bible in English; Database of African-American Poetry, 1760-1900; Database of Twentieth Century African American Poetry; Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare; and English Poetry.
- The Literature Resource Center. [Farmington Hills, MI] : Gale Group, c1999-.
Cornell Library Gateway
"The Literature Resource Center (LRC) is a complete literature reference database designed for the undergraduate student. LRC combines biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information to deliver a complete reference/resource package on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Centering on respected Gale sources, including Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Literary Criticism, this data set is augmented with full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material illuminating an oeuvre or era. In partnership with Merriam-Webster, Inc., LRC offers the Encyclopedia of Literature including over 10,000 entries for authors, works, literary landmarks, literary and critical terms, mythological and folkloric figures, fictional characters, literary movements, and prizes. Partnering with Macmillan Library Reference, LRC offers The Scribner Writer Series, providing more than 1500 original biocritical essays on authors of all nationalities and time periods. And The Twayne Authors Series: Twayne's US Authors, Twayne's English Authors and Twayne's World Authors,providing literary criticism, history and influence of literary movements, and the development of literary genres for approximately 200 authors.
- Spanish-English Dictionaries (Links from Bucknell Univ.)
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.
- Roget's Internet thesaurus of English words and phrases
FINDING BOOKS
Cornell Library Catalog Plus, Olin Library Card Catalog
FINDING BOOKS
Cornell Library Catalog Plus, Olin Library Card Catalog
- Help Using the Cornell Library Catalog
Search Commands, Subject Searching, Keyword Searching, and other functions of the online catalog are explained on these pages.
- Connect to the Cornell Library Catalog
- The Cornell Library Catalog currently includes all items from all Cornell libraries cataloged since 1973, some pre-1973 items, and items on order or in process. Included in the Cornell Library Catalog are books, periodicals and government documents, as well as some other materials located in the libraries at Cornell. The catalog provides the call number, the name of the library, and the circulation status for most materials.
When to Check the Card Catalog
- When the book you want was published before 1973 and it's not in the Cornell Library Catalog, check the card catalog located in the John M. Olin Library. This card catalog contains cards for authors, subjects and titles filed in an alphabetical, word-by-word arrangement for books cataloged through December 1972. Whenever you cannot locate the material you need, ask at a reference desk for assistance.
- Connect to the Cornell Library Catalog
FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
Articles
Periodical articles are an excellent source for detailed analysis or up-to-date information on a topic. These articles are from materials that are published "periodically" or in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or even irregular intervals. They are found in newspapers, magazines, journals, yearbooks, and other sources.
Periodicals are available in several formats: bound paper volumes (like books), microfiche or microfilm, and increasingly as electronic text.
Indexes and Abstracts
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts are Reference resources that identify and locate articles in periodical publications. They are often subject-oriented and list author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication in entries called bibliographic citations. For information about bibliographic format and how to cite resources that you use in your research, go to Citing Sources.
Networked indexes and abstracts come in a variety of versions and interfaces: telnet, Web, InfoShare (linked to the Catalog), and full-text, to name a few. For more information about finding Networked Resources available through the Cornell University Library, go to Finding Networked Resources.
Linked Indexes
InfoShare indexes are directly linked to holdings in the library catalog. This means your search will yield two kinds of information: 1) It identifies articles on your topic. And 2) It tells you where that source is in the Cornell Library system.
When using indexes and abstracts linked to the catalog, look for the message: Held by library--type HOL for holdings information. This note will appear in the lower lefthand corner of the screen in records where the Cornell Library has the journal or magazine listed as the source of the article. Typing HOL will take you to the Holdings information detailing what libraries on campus have the journal, what volumes they have, call numbers and special locations, and the circulation status of the material.
When using unlinked indexes (essentially all non-InfoShare indexes), search the Cornell Library Catalog (CU) by the title of the periodical (i.e. Time, Scientific American, etc.). If you have questions, ask at the Reference Desk.
Full-text Articles
An ever growing number of periodical indexes offer access to the full-text of articles electronically. Use the Library Gateway to find full-text resources.
Selected Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
- Chicano Database. (Library Gateway)
An index to articles and other writings on Mexican-American topics 1967 to the present. Scope expanded 1992 to include the broader Latino experience, including Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Central American immigrants. Includes the Spanish Speaking Mental Health Database. Portions of the Chicano Database have been published as the Chicano Periodical Index, covering 1967-1988; the Chicano Index, of articles and books added since 1989; Arte Chicano: An Annotated Bibliography of Chicano Art, 1965-1981; the Chicano Anthology Index; and the Chicana Studies Index: Twenty Years of Gender Research, 1971-1991.
- Handbook of Latin American Studies. (HLAS) Gainesville: Florida P, 1935- .
(Library Gateway; also in print: Olin Ref Z 1605 H23)
The Handbook is a bibliography on Latin America consisting of works selected and annotated by scholars. Edited by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress, the multidisciplinary Handbook alternates annually between the social sciences (anthropology, economics, education, film, geography, government and politics, international relations, and sociology) and the humanities (art, film, history, language, literature, music, and philosophy). Each year, more than 130 academics from around the world choose over 5,000 works for inclusion. Continuously published since 1935, the Handbook offers Latin Americanists an essential guide to available resources. Each volume also contains special articles on particular phases of life and culture and inter-American relations. The online version combines the contents of all volumes into one searchable database.
-
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI). UCLA Latin American Center, 1970- . Quarterly.
(Library Gateway; also in print at Olin Ref +AI 17 H67)
Contains citations to articles, book reviews, documents, and original literary works in over 400 scholarly journals published in Latin America or treating Latin American and U.S. Hispanic topics. Subjects covered include business, finance, education, literature, management, politics, public health, trade, women's studies and current topics such as the drug war and NAFTA. It excludes weekly news magazines and newspapers and pure science and technical sources. Materials are written in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. The language of the title determines the language of the article. This database uses the index terms in the HAPI Thesaurus and Name Authority, 1970-1989 in Olin Library (+Z 1605 H67 V17 1990).
- LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe
Lexis-Nexis' Academic Universe provides access to full text resources on topics including current and general news; business and financial information; newspapers; company directories; government and politics; medical and health topics; accounting, auditing, and tax; federal and state laws; legal cases; and regulations. Resources include TV and radio news transcripts. Under the News category there is a link for Foreign Language News. A search limited to Spanish language sources will include more than 60 newspapers and periodicals.
- MLA International Bibliography (Linked to the Catalog version) InfoShare Telnet interface
MLA International Bibliography (Web version) OCLC Web interface
MLA International Bibliography . New York: Modern Language Association, 1963- . (Print copy; Olin Ref Z 7006 M68)
An international index and database providing references to scholarly articles from over 4000 journals dealing with languages, literature, folklore and linguistics. It is useful for finding literary criticism of a particular author or work, as well as articles on literary theory, women's studies, popular culture, and performing arts. The online version of MLA covers 1963 to present. The print version, available at Olin Ref (Z 7006 .M68), covers 1921 to the present.
Other indexes and abstracts of interest to this class can be found in paper volumes or at non-networked CD-ROM computer workstations in Olin or Uris Reference. Selected titles include:
- America History and Life
- Humanities Index
- Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
FINDING NETWORKED RESOURCES
Cornell Library Gateway
FINDING NETWORKED RESOURCES
Cornell Library Gateway
The Cornell Library Gateway is a web site which provides a unified approach to finding information about the Cornell University Library and to selecting and connecting to our diverse and growing constellation of networked electronic resources and services.
Buttons on the left side of the screen will always be available to help you navigate among a variety of choices. The Cornell University Library Catalog is at the top of the array to make it easy for you to connect and search for books, journal titles and many other types of materials at Cornell. Networked Resources, the default display on the right side of the screen, enables you to identify and connect to networked electronic resources, such as periodical indexes, full text documents or numeric data files. About CU Library leads you to a wealth of information about the Library, including individual library web sites. Services provides information about library services such as circulation, instruction and reference, and enables you to make a variety of requests, electronically, for services such as book renewals and interlibrary borrowing. Help provides information on a wide variety of general and technical topics that will help you understand and use the CU Library as well as the Library Gateway. And if you need personal help you can click on "Ask a Librarian" at the bottom of each page. Last, but not least, the CUInfo button enables you to connect easily to the Cornell University information system.
Networked Resources contains titles, descriptive information, and links to over 2,000 networked electronic resources, including periodical indexes, numeric and spatial data files, catalogs, audio-visual materials, and full text documents such as electronic journals and reference sources. It is a "database of databases." There are two main ways to search for databases in your areas of interest: searching and browsing.
Searching for Databases
Click on the top search box to select the type of resource you are interested in, such as indexes or full text, or all types, then type a keyword or keywords in the second search box. The Networked Resources database will then generate a list of resources (databases) that match your search request.
Browsing for Databases
Below the Search boxes you will find a menu of subject categories. Click on a subject category to browse lists of resources available in that subject area. Or, you can browse the lists of New Resources, "Greatest Hits" (frequently used databases), or the Alphabetical List of titles contained in the Networked Resources database (over 1,200 titles and growing).
Once you have identified the networked resource you are interested in, you can then connect to it directly to gather the information you need to perform a search on your specific topic in the file or database you have selected.
FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES
SEARCH ENGINES AND SUBJECT GUIDES
FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES
SEARCH ENGINES AND SUBJECT GUIDES
Use search engines or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software that allow you to search the contents of web pages and Subject Guides are web pages that use menus and lists to sort and classify web sites.
Question Authority! The Internet is a very democratic tool, in that anyone can write or say virtually anything they wish to on it. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. Does the individual or institution have a particular bias or concern or agenda in presenting their information. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative?
See the Library Gateway Help page on evaluating Web sites, as well as Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages.
SELECTED INTERNET RESOURCES
- Literatura Argentina Contemporanea
- Critic@Virtual (Chilean literature site)
- Yahoo! en espanol Yahoo's Spanish-language resource page.
- Hispanic Magazine
- Latino Links
- The Voice of the Shuttle: Minority Studies Page
- Human Languages Page Huge compendium of links to language resources on the Web.
- Cornell University Library Literature Page
CITING SOURCES
CITING SOURCES
- MLA Style (MLA's web site)
- How to Cite Information From the Internet and the World Wide Web (APA's web site)
- APA and MLA Style sheets for print sources (U. of Illinois web site)
- How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
RESEARCH HELP ONLINE
- Library Gateway Help
- The Reference Home Page at O*K*U Libraries
- Library Research at Cornell: A Hypertext Guide
- Library Vocabulary: Definitions of Library Terms
REFERENCE HELP
You can ask your questions at our reference and information desks, over the phone, or by e-mail.
- Reference Desk Schedules in Olin and Uris Libraries
- Olin Library Reference phone number: 255-4144
- Uris Library Reference phone number: 255-2339
- Olin Kroch Uris Reference e-mail address: okuref@cornell.edu
Question? Ask a Librarian
Reference Home Page
February 21, 2000
Fred Muratori, fmm1@cornell.edu
Reference Services Division, Olin Kroch Uris Libraries
Cornell University Library
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/spanlit201.html
Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca
NY 14853
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, okucirc@cornell.edu