Best Resources for this Course
Searching the catalog doesn't find everything we have! Check out the tabs below to search for more specific types of information.
Finding Books and Ebooks
Bowman Library has a large variety of books and ebooks that are chosen for their relevance to the courses offered. You can access ebooks directly from the library website whether you are off or on campus. Books and ebooks are good for finding overviews and history of your topic. You don't need to read the whole book to get the information you need for your project; often one chapter of a scholarly book will cover the information you need.
Find books by using these search subjects:
Search by Subject for your author, using their first and last name. Click Biography or Literature- Authorship & Criticism on the left-hand panel to discover sections in books in which your author may discuss their writing. In the advanced search you may also find results by entering: ,
- Keyword: Author (I.e. Keyword- Alice Walker) AND
- Subject: "Biography" or "Criticism, Interpretation, etc."
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism: This 95 volume set contains literary criticism of author's works and might provide quotes from authors about their work.
- Academic Search Premier (via EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
Provides searching of over 8,500 journals, including peer-reviewed, across a wide range of topics. coverage: 1975 to present - Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive database of biographical information on more than one million people throughout history and around the world. It combines biographies from 70 Gale Group publications, the complete Marquis Who's Who, Merriam-Webster's collegiate and biographical dictionaries, and full-text articles from over 250 periodicals. The Biography Research Guide will help you get started doing biographical research. - Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Digital Reference Books
Provides full-text reference books in 20 subject areas. It includes over 180 titles and 65,000 images "powered by a network of cross-references that cut across topics, titles and publishers to provide answers - and new connections - in context." coverage: Varies - EBSCOhost (includes several component databases) This link opens in a new windowProvides online access to an extensive collection of databases, including Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete, Newspaper Source, Alt HealthWatch, Health Source, and APA PsycArticles/PsycInfo. Offers the ability to search any and all of these at the same time. Sources include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, reports, and more.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window* ONLY INTERVIEWS BEFORE 2005/2006 *
Allows you to search a single eBook or multiple eBooks at once, including multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, and specialized reference sources. Subjects covered include Arts, Biography, Business, Education, Environment, History, Law, Literature, Medicine, Multicultural Studies, Nation and World, Religion, Science, Social Science, and more. coverage: Updated continuously - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A full-text collection of more than 400 journals in business and the liberal arts, with especially strong coverage of business, finance, economics, history, regional studies, education, and sociology. (Our subscription includes the Arts & Sciences I, Arts & Sciences IV, Business I, and Business II collections.) JSTOR is notable for the high quality of the journals it includes. The most recent three to five years of each journal are usually excluded from JSTOR, however.
- Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Provides full text criticisms, biographies, bibliographies, and work overviews. "Find up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world, supplemented by the scholarly materials of the Scribner Writers Series and Twayne's World, U.S., and English Authors Series."
Tips for using the databases:
Here are some tips for finding author biographies and interviews in library databases. Remember to search multiple databases to discover different content about your author.
Academic Search Premier: Search for interviews in Document Type. Select full-text to have access downloadable PDF.
Biography in Context: Search by name for Biographical information about an author.
EBSCOhost: Contains Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; search by your author's name and the word "biography."
Gale Virtual Reference Library: A Collection of online books on many topics, including biographical information and literary criticism.
Literature Resource Center: Use the "person-By or About" in the pull down menu to search for your author; then use the "Biographies" link on the right hand side to look for possible interviews.
- Flipster This link opens in a new window
Flipster is a next-generation digital magazine reader.
Bowman Library has access to select past issues of the following magazines: .net, Film Comment, Fit & Well, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine, Popular Science, ReNew, Web Designer, and World Soccer
Finding Historical Background Info
The New York Times' coverage goes back to 1851 with the Times Machine feature, so this is particularly useful for researching authors from earlier periods. Activate your free Menlo College subscription using one of the links at the bottom of this section.
Credo Reference is also a good, credible source for historical background information. Try using Credo as an alternative to Wikipedia when searching for background information.
- New York Times (NYTimes.com) This link opens in a new windowActivate your subscription from one of the links below and make sure you use the off campus activation link if you are off campus and the on campus activation link if you are on campus. After creating your account, you can log on to the New York Times site directly using your Menlo e-mail and the password you have set up. iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are available with your login. The Menlo Community has full-text access to the New York Times from 1851 to the present. For the years 1923-1980 there is a limit of 5 articles per day per user.
- New York Times One-Time Activation from On Campus This link opens in a new windowAfter activating your subscription here, log on to the New York Times site (https://www.nytimes.com) directly using your Menlo e-mail and the password you have set up. iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are available with your login. The Menlo Community has full-text access to the New York Times from 1851 to the present. For the years 1923-1980 there is a limit of 5 articles per day per user.
- New York Times One-Time Activation from Off Campus This link opens in a new window
To activate your NYT academic pass, click on the link, search for "Menlo College", and follow the instructions to create your NYTimes.com account from off campus. After activating your subscription, log on to the New York Times site (https://www.nytimes.com) directly using your Menlo e-mail address and the password you have set up for your NYTimes account. iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are available with your login. The Menlo Community has full-text access to the New York Times from 1851 to the present. For the years 1923-1980 there is a limit of 5 articles per day per user. Watch this access walkthrough video from NYT for additional assistance with activating your academic pass and registering your NYT account.
- New York Times: Times Machine This link opens in a new windowAfter activating your NYT subscription, search the Times Machine for digitized back issues from Volume 1, Number 1 through 2002.
Finding Author Information Online
Here are some websites that regularly post reviews and author interviews or curate author content. Search the site directly, or use Google site searching. Site searching can be done by entering site: website address + your topic or author.
Example- site: parisreview.com Lorrie Moore
Paris Review (Use the search box at the upper right to search for your author.)
Salon.com (Use the Search Box at the upper right to search for your author. You can also browse the Books tab too.)
Willow Springs Literary Journal
National Book Foundation Archives
Author website
You can also search for your author online to uncover a personal website or social media channels. Often, an author will post interviews or reviews of their work, so this is also a good place to find interviews. An author's website will usually feature a biography as well, which will help you find concise biographical information. Look for bios in an "About" section on the website. Sometimes it is labeled as "Bio" instead. You can also try searching for the author's publishing company for an author biography.
Try Searching Google Scholar
Try Searching Google Books
Class Activity 4/5/22
We <3 Short Stories
