English 571: American Indian Literature  Tags: american_literature literature american_indian_literature indigenous_writers  

Question: What value lies in a reference work? Why, for example, would a researcher bother to consult a scholarly encyclopedia?

Answer: Reference books help researchers contextualize their topics and in turn begin to ask the right questions. Reference books set the stage for more efficient database searching; researchers cannot elicit relevant search results if they don't know which keywords (or search terms) to use.

Scholarly reference books also contain bibliographies that lead researchers to the most respected secondary and most useful primary sources on a topic.

In short, reference books are a great way to begin your research.

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism contains contextual info on critics and theorists, critical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the guide to the meaning, history, pronunciation, and variant spellings of words, both present and past.

Oxford Reference Online is a collection of core reference materials across numerous subject areas. 

     

• Oxford Companion to American Literature
  
  
• Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
  
  
• Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English
  
  
• Dictionary of Writers and Their Works

Cambridge Histories Online contains volumes from the various well-known Cambridge Histories. 

       

Literature Online (LION) contains a small collection of literary reference materials. Search or browse the Criticism & Reference section.

     

• Encyclopedia of the Novel