English 67/Black Studies 40 : Contemporary African Fiction
Spring 2008
GENERAL SOURCES | ENCYCLOPEDIAS, ATLASES | BIBLIOGRAPHIES, INDEXES | JOURNAL ARTICLES | DICTIONARIES
General Sources
One of the best places to start research is
in the online Five-College Library
Catalog. All books are listed by their AUTHORS, TITLES, and SUBJECTS, and you can
also search by KEYWORD.
KEYWORD searching is not likely to yield a complete list of
locally-owned books on any particular topic, but it's often a good way
to start; you can type in a common language characterization of your topic,
say "nigerian novel", then, if you browse through the resulting list,
select titles relevant to your research interests, and note which official
subject headings are assigned, you can click on those and do a more thorough
SUBJECT search.
SUBJECT searching, as such, requires that you use the exact
word or phrase libraries have chosen to describe your topic. The official
SUBJECT for the above topic, for instance, is Nigerian Fiction (English),
not "nigerian novel". Also, most subject headings have detailed
sub-divisions (such as Nigerian Fiction (English)--History and Criticism) which can help you narrow your search. The five-volume Library of Congress
Subject Headings, near the Reference Desk, is a thesaurus of official
library terminology. Consult it if you're not sure of the official subject
vocabulary, or use the KEYWORD feature interactively, and/or ask for assistance
from a Reference Librarian.
For quick background information, try the Britannica Online from any computer running Internet Explorer or Netscape
on the Amherst College campus.
Encyclopedias, Atlases, etc.
Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers.
Detroit, Gale Research, 1992-1996. 3 volumes.
Dozens of substantial profiles of African writers, with excerpts
from critical writing and reliable author bibliographies. (Ref PR 9205
A52 T88/89/893)
Encyclopedia of African Literature. London &
N.Y., Routledge, 2003.
Short entries on well-known authors, countries, and topics.
(Ref PL 8010 E63 2003)
Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara. N.Y.,
Scribner's, 1997. 4 volumes.
Brief articles about places, notable individuals, ethnic groups,
events, themes in African studies, most with short lists of further readings.
(Ref DT 351 E53 1997)
Encyclopedia of African History.
N.Y. & London, Fitzroy Dearborn, 2005. 3 volumes.
Reliable
treatments, with brief bibliographies, of themes, events, places and people in African history. (Ref
DT 20 E53 2007)
Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Boston, G.K. Hall,
1995. 10 volumes.
Alphabetically-arranged entries on ethnic groups, with information
on languages, history, economy, anthropology, religion; volume 9 treats
"Africa and the Middle East". (Ref GN 307 E53 1991)
Cultural Atlas of Africa. Revised edition. N.Y.,
Checkmark/Facts on File, 1998.
Maps, both political and topographic, plus descriptive sections
with photos, treating history and culture. (Ref G 2446 E1 C8 1998)
Africa South of the Sahara. London, Europa, 1971--
Excellent annual survey including brief essays on general
topics, as well as up-to-date country-by-country statistical data; most
recent volume is dated 2007; previous volumes in stacks. (Ref DT 351 A37)
Indexes, Bibliographies
Black African Literature in English, A Guide to Information
Sources. Detroit, Gale, 1979; plus Supplements: 1977-1981, 1982-1986,
1987-1991, 1992-1996, and 1997-1999.
This cites no original literary works, but has references
to critical evaluations of particular authors, themes, trends, etc. (Ref
PR 9340 L562)
MLA
International Bibliography. 1981--
A comprehensive, computerized index to literary critical articles
(compiled by the Modern Languages Association), available by clicking
on the colored link above, or highlight the Quick Links button on the lefthand side of the Library homepage, click on Research Databases, then select Literature.
A Few Words About Journal Articles
Printed and computerized indexes and bibliographies provide citations to journal articles which may or may not be owned by the Amherst College Library. To find out if and where we have a backfile of a particular journal, you must look up each journal title (not article titles or authors) in the Library Catalog. Be attentive to volume numbers and dates since sometimes we've started or stopped a subscription in the middle of a run.
Please note: some older volumes of journals may be housed in the Amherst College Depository, an off-campus storage facility. You can request volumes from the Depository by filling out a brief form which appears onscreen when you select 'Request Forms' from the Library Homepage, then click on 'Depository'; materials will be delivered to the Circulation Desk in Frost the next weekday.
More and more journals are offering full-texts in electronic form; those we subscribe to are linked to records in the online Library Catalog and/or you can search for electronic versions using the Journal Locator, (click here or in the Quick Search box, above right). Also, when using most electronic indexes (like the MLA International Bibliography ), a button labeled 'AC Links' permits you to search automatically for electronic versions of articles you find cited; if the Library does not have access to an electronic version, 'AC Links' will automatically search for a print-format version of the journal in the Library Catalog.
Dictionaries
When you are reading any literature, you will find it useful to consult a good, unabridged dictionary, such as Webster's Third New International Dictionary or the second edition of the Random House Dictionary of the English Language; copies of both may be found on counters or desks around the Library. Best of all is the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (available electronically from any computer on the Amherst network - just click on the link here, or on online reference under Research in the Library homepage, then on Dictionaries - and in print in the Reference Collection under the call number Ref PE 1625 O87 1989), which provides definitions and also illustrates historical changes in words' meanings; its scholarly inclusiveness means that you are even likely to find information on words which have migrated into English. Occasionally though, the OED needs supplementing. Try more specialized works, like A Dictionary of Africanisms (Ref PE 3401 D3 1982), A Dictionary of Nigerian English Usage (Ref PE 3442 N594 I38 2002), or A Dictionary of South African English (Ref PE 3451 B7 1987).
Do you have questions about research in this course?
Contact Michael
Kasper