Research
Guide for
Professor John Stauffer's Literature and Arts A-86:
American Protest
Literature from Tom Paine to Tupac,
Spring
2005
Please Note: This page was created in a previous semester. It may be useful to those who are interested in seeing the work we have done in the past. Some links may no longer be active, and the Library will not be updating them. If you wish to visit a site with an inactive link, please consider using a search engine or contacting a reference librarian for assistance.
Finding
Your Way in the Harvard Libraries
The Harvard University Library (map
of the University Library) is made up of over ninety libraries that together
support study and research at all of the schools at Harvard. We suggest you
start with one of the eleven libraries that makes up the Harvard
College Library.
If you are an undergraduate student, you may find that the Lamont
Library best meets your needs. The Lamont staff, as well as the collection,
are focused on meeting the research needs of undergraduates. Lamont is also
the library where you will find course reserves. If you are a graduate student,
you may often find yourself at Widener Library.
Widener has a large collection of humanities and social sciences materials.
To request a book, article or dissertation not available in the
Harvard libraries, go to the online
Interlibrary Loan request system.
The Harvard Libraries site
is the library portal to a wide variety of web-based information sources. In
it you will find library catalogs, electronic resources such as online journals
and indexes to journal articles, and introductory information about all of the
Harvard libraries including their locations and phone numbers. For advice on
how to find resources on the Harvard Libraries site that are relevant to your
research, sign up for an instruction
session.
Some of the networked resources you will need are available to
you through a subscription paid for by the Harvard libraries. When you use these
resources from outside of a Harvard library, you will be asked to enter your
Harvard ID number and PIN. If you do not yet have a Harvard PIN and would like
to use these resources from your dorm room (or anywhere else), go to the Harvard
University PIN Administration Site.
Reference
Tools: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries,
Guides and Bibliographies
Subject Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- The Oxford encyclopedia of American literature, Jay Parini, editor
in chief. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004. (Widener RR
3128.2)
Four volumes of essays on people and topics relevant to the study of American
literature. Includes references to further reading not mentioned in the
MLA or other sources.
- Oxford
Reference Online Premium Collection contains dictionary
and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. Allows
searching across a number of titles including The Oxford Companion to
American Literature.
- Grove
Dictionary of Art Online: The Grove Dictionary of
Art is the world's first comprehensive art reference work covering
all forms of the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic
and decorative arts, and photography from prehistory to the 1990s. Global
coverage provides detailed analysis of the arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas,
the Pacific, and Europe. In addition, influences on the production of art
such as trade, geography, history and politics are fully addressed, helping
to place art in context and further a broad understanding of the history
of artistic endeavor.
- Grove
Music Online: Grove Music Online is an integrated music resource
that includes the full text of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
(second edition), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and The New Grove Dictionary
of Jazz (second edition). The resource is international in scope and includes
articles about persons, places, organizations, and terminology associated
with the study of western classical, popular, and world music. Bibliographies,
lists of works, and illustrations enhance many of the articles.
Guides and Bibliographies
- Johns
Hopkins guide to literary theory and criticism. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1994. Find it online through the electronic resources
section of the Harvard Libraries site or in print. (Widener: RR3005.31.13)
- New
Princeton encyclopedia of poetry and poetics, ed. by Alex Preminger
and T.V.F. Brogan. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1993. (Widener:
RR3603.5.2)
A very useful source for theory and for literary studies, generally. It
is in print and is included in Literature
Online’s (LION) Reference sources. From the main page, select
“Search Criticism and Reference,” then highlight “Reference”
from the search screen to see the individual sources and search this or
other literary reference tools there.
- Columbia
Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism, ed. by Joseph
Childers and Gary Hentzi. New York : Columbia University Press, c1995. (Widener:
RR3005.31.30)
In print and in Literature Online. From the main page, select “Search
Criticism and Reference,” then highlight “Reference” from
the search screen to see the individual sources and search this or other
literary reference tools there.
- Dictionary of literary terms and literary theory, by J.A.
Cuddon, Edition : 4th ed. Oxford, UK ; Malden, Mass. : Blackwell, 1998.
(Widener: RR 3005.31.9)
- A glossary of contemporary literary theory, by Jeremy Hawthorn.
4th ed. London : Arnold, ; New York : Co-published in the United States
by Oxford University Press, 2000. ( Widener: RR 3005.31.11)
- Dictionary of concepts in literary criticism and theory, by
Wendell V. Harris. New York : Greenwood Press, 1992. (Widener: RR 3005.31.8)
- Bibliography
of American Literature, compiled by Jacob Blanck. New Haven : Yale
University Press. (Widener RR 3122.2.3)
Describes the first editions and printings of books by American authors
from the American Revolution through 1930.
Biographical Sources
Using
HOLLIS
Once you're in the HOLLIS
Catalog, if you're searching for books on a certain topic then click on
"Expanded Search," in the menu at the top of the screen. Then, select
"Anywhere" from the "Keywords from" menu and enter your
terms in the search windows.
Tips
Put
" " around words in a phrase, and use ? to truncate
search terms.
To
email search results, click on Print/Save/Send when you are looking
at a record.
Once
you find a relevant book, click on its subject heading (look for these in
the field labeled Subject) to get a list of similar items divided
by subtopic.
For
a more targeted search, you may want to browse subject headings. On the initial
Search screen, select "Subject beginning with..." and enter a subject
heading in the "Browse for" window...
To search for discussion of an author's life or his/her work use the author's
name (last name, first name). For example, if you browse for the subject
Baldwin, James, you'll find:
Criticism and interpretation
Correspondence
Interviews
Political and Social Views
To find works on the forms of protest literature, and their history, or
to find historical information on protest movements in the U.S. try these
subjects:
Protest literature, American-- History and criticism
Protest movements
Protest movements--United States
Protest movements--United States--History
Protest poetry, American --History and criticism
Protest songs
Protest songs-- United States--History and criticism
Finding
Scholarly Journal Articles, Criticism and Reviews
-
Use the
MLA
Bibliography to identify journal articles, chapters in books, books,
and dissertations in literature, linguistics, folklore and film.
Tips
Put
quotes around words in a phrase, and use an asterisk * to
truncate search terms.
Print
or email individual citations, or add several citations to your "Folder"
to be printed or emailed as a group.
Save
your search as an "Alert" to be notified of future publications
on your topic by using the tools under the "Search History/Alerts"
tab.
- Use Lion
(Literature Online), to access a growing collection of over 300,000
works of poetry, drama, and prose with complementary reference resources.
Also included are secondary sources such as LIFT, a literary journal index
with full text of selected articles, and the Annual Bibliography of
English Language and Literature from 1920- (ABELL).
Tips
When you enter the Lion database, select "Search criticism
and reference" from the list on the right side of the page.
Use the buttons on the left-hand menu bar to navigate through the database.
If you are unsure of the author's name or whether your search term(s) is
used as a subject in the database, enter your terms in the author/subject
search box and select "browse."
- Academic
Search Premier is a multi-disciplinary database that includes citations
and abstracts from over 4,500 publications (journals, magazines and newspapers).
Full text is available for more than 3,500 of the publications. Most complete
coverage begins in the 1990s. This is a good source for book reviews, which
are not included in the MLA Bibliography. To limit your search
to academic journals, select "Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals"
in the "Refine Search" form at the bottom of the search screen.
- For citations to articles in a variety of humanities and social sciences
from the 18th century to the present, use the Periodicals
Contents Index (PCI).
- If you are interested in the historical context of a topic, search America:
History and Life for citations to journal articles about U.S. and Canadian
history.
- If you are interested in an anthropological perspective on a subject,
search Anthropology
Plus which allows you to search simultaneously the two major databases
which index the top journals in the field.
- Sociofile
is the premier online resource for researchers in sociology, social planning/policy,
and related disciplines. It includes citations and abstracts from over 1800
journals indexed by Sociological Abstracts.
- Women's
Resources International (1972-): Citations and abstracts are drawn from
a variety of essential women's studies databases which range in coverage
from classic works & core studies to the latest scholarship in feminist
research.
- GLBT Life:
GLBT Life provides indexing and abstracts for over eighty magazines, academic
journals, newspapers, and newsletters that deal with gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender concerns. GLBT Life also includes indexing and abstracts
for monographs, reference books, and other sources.
- International
Index to Black Periodicals Full Text: The International Index to Black
Periodicals (IIBP) Full Text includes current and retrospective bibliographic
citations and abstracts from over 150 scholarly and popular journals, newspapers,
and newsletters from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean.
Full text coverage is available from 1998 forward for some 40 core Black
Studies periodicals.
- Environmental
Issues and Policy Index (1950-): Subjects covered include relevant areas
of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, environmental law, geography,
marine and freshwater resources, public policy, social impacts, and urban
planning.
- If the above resources do not yield the results you had hoped
for, try a different resource. To find journal indexes and databases
in your subject area, begin at the
section of the Harvard
Libraries site. Use the "Select a subject" and "Select a type"
drop-down menus towards the bottom of the screen: 1) Click on the arrow
button below "Select a subject" and choose the subject that is closest to
your area of research. 2) Click on the gray arrow button below "Select a
type" and choose "All but e-journals." 3) Click on 
.
Your results list will include electronic resources in your field of study.
To see a list of resources that are useful for research in Language and
Literature, try this
link.
Tips
To
learn the scope and content of any of the sources in your results list, click
on "more info..." after the name of the source.
If
you'd like assistance in choosing a resource, ask a reference librarian for
advice.
Finding
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Finding Electronic Texts, E-Journal Collections
and Digital Music
Electronic Texts
E-Journal Collections
- JSTOR
(Access to selected journals, excluding recent issues): JSTOR is comprised
of the full text of more than 500 academic journals covering a wide range
of disciplines. JSTOR allows browsing by issue and full text searching of
individual titles, by discipline(s) or the entire collection. Each title is
included from its inception. For titles that are currently published, the
last 1-7 years (varies) are not available.
- Project Muse:
Project Muse intends to provide networked access to the full text of more
than 200 scholarly journals published by several university presses in the
humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
Digital Music
- Naxos Music
Library: Naxos Music Library provides online streaming audio access to
the entire Naxos, Marco Polo and Dacapo catalogs of recordings. The resource
currently comprises 85,000 tracks, including classical music, jazz, world,
folk and Chinese music, searchable by composer, artist, period, year of composition,
instrument or genre. Searchable full text of the CD liner notes, as well as
biographical information about selected composers and performers, supplements
the recordings. Naxos's new releases (currently around 200 CDs per year) are
continually added to the library. See the Harvard Libraries More
Info page for software requirements.
Using the "Find It
@ Harvard" Citation Linker
When you have a citation to a journal article, either from
a bibliography or from a Harvard Libraries e-resource such as MLA
Bibliography, look for the full text of the article by following
these instructions:
-
If you're in a Harvard Libraries e-resource and see
a
button, click on it. A new screen will open that provides a link to
an electronic version of your article, if available. If there is no
link to an electronic version of your article then follow the link
to the HOLLIS Catalog, which will show you which Harvard libraries
own a paper copy (see
Locating Journals
for instructions on how to locate the paper copy in a library).
-
If you're not in a Harvard Libraries e-resource (if,
for example, you found your citation in the bibliography of a work
you consulted), or if you're in a Harvard Libraries e-resource but
don't see a
button, you'll have to take a few extra steps to get the article you
need:
1. Open a new browser window and go to the "Find
it @ Harvard"
Citation
Linker in the
section of the Harvard Libraries site.
2. Enter the article's citation information (e.g.
journal title, date, volume number, etc.), then click on
.
3. A new screen will open that provides a link to
an electronic version of your article, if available. If there is no
link to an electronic version of your article then follow the link
to the HOLLIS Catalog, which will show you which Harvard libraries
own a paper copy (see
Locating Journals
for instructions on how to locate the paper copy in a library).
If the "Find it @ Harvard" Citation Linker
does not bring you to either an electronic version of your article
or a HOLLIS Catalog record, then:
1. Go to the Harvard
Libraries site and click on 
in the upper left-hand corner.
2. Once you're in HOLLIS, click on "Journals"
in the menu at the top of the screen.
3. Search for the title of the journal in which the
article appeared:
a) In the "Browse an Alphabetical List" menu,
click on "Journal title beginning with..."
b) Type the title of the journal in the search window, then click on
the "Browse" button.
c) Select the matching title in the Browse List.
d) If more than one title is displayed, select the one that is the closest
match. The record for that title will show you which Harvard libraries
own paper copies of the journal you need.
e) See Locating Journals for instructions
on how to locate the paper copy in a library.
Locating
Journals in the Libraries
From the HOLLIS record for the journal:
1) Click on "Holdings" to find out
if the library owns the issue you need.
2) Back on the Full View of the record in HOLLIS, click on
the![[Library Info]](../../../images/info.gif)
icon to find out where the library is located and what its hours are.
3) At most libraries, recent issues (published in the past
year or so) are shelved separately from older issues.
-
At Widener: Recent issues can be found in the
Periodicals Reading Room on the 1st floor, and older are shelved by call
number in the Stacks. Be sure to note the call number for journals at
Widener.
-
At Lamont: Recent issues
can be found in the Reference Room on the 3rd floor, and older issues
are shelved by title on the 2nd floor.
Citation
Guides
For advice on how to cite sources and manage a working bibliography,
see Guides
to Citation and Citation Management Resources in English
and American Literature Literature: Resources for Graduate Students by Laura
Farwell Blake.
Questions?
We would be glad to meet with you if you have any questions about
your research and the libraries. Please don't hesitate to contact us.
Laura Farwell Blake, Research Librarian, Widener Library, 496-0108,
farwell@fas.harvard.edu
Carrie Macfarlane, HCL Instructional Services, Widener Library, 495-9935,
cmmacfar@fas.harvard.edu
This page
is http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/classes/2005spring/laA86Stauffer.html
Last updated:
September 14, 2005
Copyright ©
2009
President and Fellows of Harvard College
If you have questions or comments,
please contact Laura Farwell Blake (farwell@fas.harvard.edu)
or Carrie Macfarlane
(cmmacfar@fas.harvard.edu).
