General background readings, short biographies, overviews:

Britannica.com -- An online version of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Includes all articles from the print version, plus links to reputable Web sites covering a wide variety of subjects. Print index in the Rolvaag Reference Room (RR AE5 .E56 2005)

Specialized Encyclopedias and Dictionaries:

Berkshire encyclopedia of world history 5v. [RR D23 .B45 2005]

Encyclopedia of interior design 2v. [RR NK1165 .E48 1997]

Encyclopedia of contemporary British culture [RR DA589.4 .E53 1999]

International encyclopedia of dance 6v. [RR GV1585 .I586 1998]

The Encyclopedia of dance & ballet [RR GV1585 .E5]

Biographical and bio-critical sources:

General:

Biography and Genealogy Master Index -- It will point you to biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries, many of which we own at St. Olaf.

Specific to literature:

Contemporary Authors -- Provides biographical and bibliographical information and references on more than 120,000 U.S. and international authors. Includes writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Print index in the Rolvaag Reference Room (RR PN451 .C6)

Dictionary of Literary Biography -- Biographical and bibliographical information on literary authors. Print index in the Rolvaag Reference Room (PN451 .D...) See, for example, vol. 10 in the series, The Bloomsbury Group.

Other useful books in the Reference Room to provide biographies:

Oxford dictionary of national biography, in association with the British Academy, from the earliest times to the year 2000. 60v. [RR DA28 .O95 2004] Great source for biographies on British people.

Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopedia. [RR DA566 .T835 1995]

The Oxford dictionary of philosophy. [RR B41 .B53 1994] Also available as an e-book through our catalog, Bridge.

The dictionary of art. 34v. [RR N31 .D5 1996]

Phaidon dictionary of twentieth-century art. [ RR N6490 .P46]

Literary criticism:

Gale Series in Literary Criticism:

Use Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index [RR PN451 .C632 2004] as a shortcut to identify all relevant titles within the series.

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC) [RR PN771 .G3; v.1- 1978-] Excerpts from criticism on the 20th cent. literature, arranged chronologically. Includes annotated bibliography at the end of each author section.

Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) [RR PN771 .C59; v. 1- 1973-] Critical evaluations of modern literature up to the most current commentaries. Includes bibliographies and, in many cases, interviews with authors.

Short Story Criticism (SSC) [RR PN3373 .S386; v.1- 1988-] Provides excerpts from criticism of the works of the most-studied short story writers of all eras and nationalities.

CATALOG

You will find many biographies and books devoted to critical evaluations of the Bloomsbury authors in our catalog, Bridge.

You may search Bridge by Title, Author, Keyword or Subject. Try combining relevant terms or concepts in Keyword search to focus your search (e.g. "virginia woolf biograph*"). Use asterisk (*) to truncate words (e.g. "biograph* will search for "biography," "biographies," "biographical,"etc.)

"Criticism and interpretation" are useful terms to remember while searching for critical evaluations in Bridge. Good subjects to explore in the Bridge:

Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 -- Criticism And Interpretation;
Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation.

You may request materials housed at Carleton directly from Bridge by clicking on the red "Request" button.

INDEXES AND DATABASES

Unlike our on-line catalog, which searches for journal titles and book titles, indexes and databases allow you to search for articles within journals, essays within books, or conference papers within proceedings. Some indexes and databases are interdisciplinary, i.e. they include sources from many different disciplines or fields, some are disciplinary, i.e. specialized in a particular discipline. Information on all of the indexes is available from the Libraries' Home Page, under " Electronic Research Tools: Articles, Indexes, Encyclopedias & More... "

Interdisciplinary:
Academic Search Premier -- This database provides access to over 8040 multi-disciplinary publications, both scholarly and popular, many in full-text. Covers 1975 to present.

MasterFILE Premier -- A general multidisciplinary database to mostly popular publications. Includes biographies, reference books, primary source documents, maps and photos. Covers 1975 to present.

JSTOR -- An index to and full text of select, academic journals.

Project Muse -- An index to and full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other scholarly publishers. Disciplines include humanities, arts, and social sciences.

Literature:
MLA International Bibliography -- The major index to literature journals. Also covers dissertations, proceedings, and articles in books. Subjects include literature, folklore, languages, and linguistics. Covers 1963-present.

Art:
Art Index -- Indexes English-language art periodicals, plus museum bulletins, bibliographies, film reviews, and conference reports. Covers 1984 to the present.

Philosophy:
Philosopher's Index -- An index with abstracts to philosophy books and journals.

History:
America: History & Life -- An index to approximately 2,800 journals, plus dissertations and books in North American History. See also Historical Abstracts, an index to history journals, books, and dissertations beyond North American history.

Newspapers:
ProQuest Newstand Complete -- Full-text and abstracted newspapers (1984- )

New York Times -- Offers "full-page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue."

LexisNexis Academic -- Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal and reference information. Excellent source for full-text articles in national and international newspapers.

Remember to evaluate each site critically for authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.

Based on "Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask." UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops. 7Jan. 2005. 14 Feb. 2005. <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html>, and "Evaluating Web Sites." The Ohio State Univeristy Libraries. 14 Feb. 2005. <http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/>

A few good directories that evaluate web contents:

Librarians' Index to the Internet -- "A searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 14,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of public libraries."

Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections -- "A virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff."

The Scout Report Archives -- "A searchable and browseable database containing critical annotations of carefully selected Internet sites and mailing lists."

Use alexa.com service to glean more information about a Web site, including traffic ranking, statistics, and other pages that link to it.

HOW TO CITE

Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper . Includes thorough examples from Turabian, Chicago, MLA, and APA style manuals. Provided by Duke University Libraries.

Citation Guide from Purdue University by Jennifer Liethen Kunka and Joe Barbato. Provides examples and explanations of in-text citations and works cited in MLA format.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Rolvaag Reference Room [RR LB2369. G53]