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Researching an Author

Researching an author involves finding biographical and critical information. A biography includes information about the author's life. Critical sources include other's opinions and interpretations of an author's works.

Finding Books
Access the library catalog. To find books about an author, do a subject search. You may find biographies and collections of criticism. If a book includes criticism, the record will include the line "criticism and interpretation."

For example:

Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945--criticism and interpretation

Reference Sources

Biography Resource Center+The Complete Marquis' Who's Who

Library Homepage

An excellent database that includes many biographical sources such as Contemporary Authors. The database also includes links to newspaper and magazine articles.

Britanica Online	Library Homepage

Contemporary Authors New Revision (CANR)	Ref 928.1 C762
Both are excellent sources of information for over 100,000 authors. Each entry includes personal information, a biographical essay, and a bibliography. The bibliography includes biographical and critical sources, which you can then consult for additional information.

Current Biography	Ref 920 .C967
An excellent source for information about people who are prominent in the news. An index that is cumulated periodically makes it more accessable.

Encyclopedia Americana	Ref 031 E56

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Ref 031 N4n I 5

These three general encyclopedias offer basic information about well-known authors.

Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century

Ref 805 E5

Articles cover individual authors, literary movements, types of literature and national literary characteristics.

Oxford Companion to American Literature

Ref 810.9 H33

Discusses authors, terminology, and specific literary works of the USA. We also have companions to English, Canadian, French and Spanish literature.

Collections of Criticism
Each of the following is a collection of excerpts of criticism about the works of creative writers. Each collection varies by date or subject matter.

Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)

Ref 809.04 C761c

Authors who are alive or died after 1959

CLC select

Library homepage

An abridged version of the CLC

Critical Survey of Long Fiction	Ref 823.009 C7

Critical Survey of Short Fiction	Ref 808.83 C75
Each entry includes a short biography and an analysis and interpretation of the author's work.

Modern American Literature	Ref 810.9 N99714
Each entry includes a short collection of selected criticism of nineteenth and twentieth century American literature.

Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism (NCLC)	Ref 809.034 N52

Authors who lived 1800-1899

Short Story Criticism (SSC)

Ref 808.83 S6

Authors of short fiction

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC)

Ref 809.04 T9

Authors who lived 1900-1960

Journal Articles
To find articles in journals or newspapers, try any of the following Periodical Indexes:

Biography Resource Center	Library Homepage
Book Review Digest	Index Area	1905-
Boston Globe	Library Homepage	1980-
Boston Herald	Library Homepage	1997-
Expanded Academic Index	Library Homepage	1980-
Lexis-Nexis	Library Homepage	20+ years
New York Times Index	Index Area	1960-2000
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature	Index Area	1953-1998

Web Sites
There are many good web sites out there, here are just a few.

Academic Info: American Literature
This site bills itself as "your gateway to quality educational websites".
American Authors
This page is excellent for finding information about individual American authors. It could be a good place to start your research if you haven't selected an author. It also has a brief timeline and information on literary movements.
Internet Public Library Criticism Collection
A collection of critical and biographical websites about authors and their works. You can browse by author, title, nationality, and literary period.
Librarian's Index to the Internet
A subject index to many web sites. You can search by genre, author, and time period to get an annotated list of web sites.
The 150 Best English Language Novels of the 20th Century
A combination of four lists to compile this list of the best 150 novels of the 20th century.
Outline of American Literature
This web site, arranged like a book, covers the span of American Literature from the beginning of the country to the present.

Please see a reference librarian for assistance with your research.

KNM 4/05