Black Studies 54/English 15 : Black Music/Black Poetry
Fall 2004
LIBRARY CATALOGS | GENERAL BACKGROUND| LITERARY-CRITICAL AND MUSIC SOURCES | DICTIONARIES | CITING SOURCES
Catalogs
Find books, journals, movies, etc. in the 4-college online library catalog (for Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Smith); there is a separate UMass catalog. A SUBJECT search requires the exact word or phrase chosen by libraries to define your topic. For example, the library catalog now defines Americans of African descent as "African Americans". Personal names can always be subjects. But remember that a name is always listed last name first for author and subject searches: "brooks gwendolyn" not "gwendolyn brooks".
General Background
Britannica
Online
For general information, a good encyclopedia is often best.
Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual
History. New York: Scribner's, 2001. 3 vols.
Essays of cultural and intellectual United States history; includes movements,
people, and events. (Ref E 169.1 E624 2001)
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History.
New York, Macmillan, 1996. 5 vols.
A source of helpful background information about many aspects of African
American life and history. Some essays have short bibliographies. (Ref
E 185 E54 1996)
The African-American Almanac. 8th edition. Detroit:
Gale, 2000.
A handbook which briefly surveys many aspects of African American history
and contemporary life. Good for historical chronology, reprints of some
key documents, short biographies of important African Americans, etc.
(Ref E 185.5 N34)
The
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. New York, Macmillan,
1980. 20 vols.
A general encyclopedia of music with entries on styles and genres, composers,
performers, etc. (Ref ML 100 N48) Also available in an electronic version
from any Amherst computer; click on the above link.
The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 2nd edition.
Enfield UK/New York, Guinness/Stockton, 1995. 6 vols.
Brief entries on individuals and groups, record labels, etc. (Ref ML 102
P66 G84 1995)
Gospel Music Encyclopedia. New York, Sterling Pub.
Co., 1979
Biographies and background info, with a 40-page discography. (MUSIC Ref
ML 102.G6 A5)
Literary-Critical and Music Sources
Harlem Renaissance: A Gale Critical Companion.
Detroit: Gale, 2003. 3 vols.
The first volume has extensive background essays about Harlem in the 1920s.
Volumes 2 and 3 have extensive essays on African American authors from
the Harlem Renaissance and includes reprints of critical literary essays.
(Ref PS 153.N5 H245 2003)
The Oxford Companion to African American Literature.
New York: Oxford, 1997.
Brief information arranged by authors, titles, themes, etc., many with
further readings recommended.. (Ref PS 153 N5 O96 1997)
Afro-American Poets since 1955. Detroit,
Mich: Gale, 1985.
Biographical and literary summaries of African American poets with brief
bibliographies. (Ref PS N5 A38 1985)
Contemporary Literary Criticism Online
Mostly excerpts from critical essays and interviews with more biographical
information.
Academic
Search Premier and Expanded
Academic 1980-
An index to articles from a wide variety of academic journals. It lists
articles from history, Black Studies, American Studies, Women's Studies,
etc., as well as from literature and music. Many references include the
complete text of the articles.
MLA International Bibliography. 1963-
An online listing of scholarly articles about literature, folklore, linguistics,
and more. You can search by an author's name if you want articles about
him/her; you can look up keyword topics. No book reviews.
Afro-American Folk Culture. Philadephia, ISHI, 1978.
2 vols.
Bibliography of books and journal articles on African American folklore,
including music. Volume One treats North America. Arranged alphabetically
by author; use the index to track down listings on "music",
"songs", etc. (Ref Z 5984 A44 S95)
Bibliography of Black Music . Westport CT, Greenwood
Press, 1981. 4 vols.
A major listing of books and articles on African and African-American
musics. Volume Two focuses on "Afro-American Idioms"; Volume
Four deals with themes, including a section on "Language and Literature"
in relation to music. (MUSIC Ref ML 128 S4 J3)
International Index to Music Periodicals. 1874-
An online listing of articles about music; some of the indexing goes
back to the 19th Century. You can search by a composer's or performer's
name if you want articles about him/her; you can look up keyword topics.
Dictionaries
OED
Online or the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (Ref
PE 1625 O87 1989)
Encarta World English Dictionary (Ref PE 1628 S5824 1999)
Black Talk (Ref PE 33102 N4 S65 2000)
Juba to Jive (Ref PE 3727 N4 M34 1994)
Citing Sources
Be sure to credit the sources you use for a research project -- whether printed books and journals or online texts, websites, etc. The MLA Style Manual from the Writing Center at University of Wisconsin, Madison tells you how to cite all kinds of sources in a form acceptable to courses in literature. Also available in paper: MLA Handbook 6th ed. (Ref Desk LB 2329 G53 2003).
Do you have questions about research in this course? Fill out a form to ASK US.