Literary Research and Postcolonial Literatures in English: Strategies and Sources [1 ed.] 081088383X, 9780810883833

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LITERARY RESEARCH: STRATEGIES AND SOURCES Series Editors: Peggy Keeran & Jennifer Bowers Every literary age presents scholars with both predictable and unique research challenges. This series fills a gap in the field of reference literature by featuring research strategies and by recommending the best tools for conducting specialized period and national literary research. Emphasizing research methodology, each series volume takes into account the unique challenges inherent in conducting research of that specific literary period and outlines the best practices for researching within it. Volumes place the research process within the period’s historical context and use a narrative structure to analyze and compare print and electronic reference sources. Following an introduction to online searching, chapters will typically cover these types of resources: general literary reference materials; library catalogs; print and online bibliographies, indexes, and annual reviews; scholarly journals; contemporary reviews; period journals and newspapers; microform and digital collections; manuscripts and archives; and Web resources. Additional or alternative chapters might be included to highlight a particular research problem or to examine other pertinent period or national literary resources. 1. Literary Research and the British Romantic Era by Peggy Keeran and Jennifer Bowers, 2005. 2. Literary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and Romanticism by Angela Courtney, 2008. 3. Literary Research and American Modernism Era by Robert N. Matuozzi and Elizabeth B. Lindsay, 2008. 4. Literary Research and the American Realism and Naturalism Period by Linda L. Stein and Peter J. Lehu, 2009. 5. Literary Research and Irish Literature by J. Greg Matthews, 2009. 6. Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand by H. Faye Christenberry and Angela Courtney, 2011. 7. Literary Research and British Modernism by Alison M. Lewis, 2010. 8. Literary Research and the British Renaissance and Early Modern Period by Jennifer Bowers and Peggy Keeran, 2010. 9. Literary Research and the Victorian and Edwardian Ages, 1830–1910 by Melissa S. Van Vuuren, 2011. 10. Literary Research and Canadian Literature by Gabriella Natasha Reznowski, 2011. 11. Literary Research and Postcolonial Literatures in English by H. Faye Christenberry, Angela Courtney, Liorah Golomb, and Melissa S. Van Vuuren, 2012.

Literary Research and Postcolonial Literatures in English Strategies and Sources H. Faye Christenberry, Angela Courtney, Liorah Golomb, and Melissa S. Van Vuuren Literary Research: Strategies and Sources, No. 11

THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.

Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2012

Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com 10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom Copyright © 2012 by H. Faye Christenberry, Angela Courtney, Liorah Golomb, and Melissa S. Van Vuuren All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Literary research and postcolonial literatures in English strategies and sources / H. Faye Christenberry ... [et al.]. p. cm. — (Literary research: strategies and sources ; no. 11) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-0-8108-8383-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-8384-0 (ebook) 1. Literature—Research—Data processing. 2. Postcolonialism in literature. I. Christenberry, H. Faye, 1963– PN73.L53 2012 807.2—dc23 2012009243 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America

Contents Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Basics of Online Searching Chapter 2: General Literary Reference Sources Chapter 3: Library Catalogs Chapter 4: Print and Electronic Bibliographies, Indexes, and Annual Reviews Chapter 5: Scholarly Journals Chapter 6: Literary Reviews Chapter 7: Magazines and Newspapers Chapter 8: Microform and Digital Collections Chapter 9: Manuscripts and Archives Chapter 10: Web Resources Chapter 11: Researching a Thorny Issue Appendix Bibliography About the Authors

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Jennifer Bowers and Peggy Keeran, editors of the Literary Research: Strategies and Sources series, for their guidance and insight. We also thank our colleagues at our respective institutions—the University of Washington, Indiana University, the University of Oklahoma, and James Madison University—for their support and advice. Finally, we are very grateful for the assistance of Dana Tuley-Williams, Systems Librarian at Oklahoma City Community College, who patiently and generously helped us navigate the sometimes murky waters of cataloging.

Introduction That the past engenders the present is of course undeniable; it is equally undeniable that the reasons why I write in English are ultimately rooted in my country’s history. Yet, the ways in which we remember the past are not determined solely by the brute facts of time: they are also open to choice, reflection and judgment. —Amitav Ghosh1

Amitav Ghosh’s statement is taken from a letter he wrote to the Commonwealth Foundation, in which he announced his withdrawal from consideration for the 2001 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, citing his wish not to be recognized “partly because [The Glass Palace] was written in English and partly because I happen to belong to a region that was once conquered and ruled by Imperial Britain.” His objection is well worth noting, as it begs the question: Why discuss the literary output of three diverse regions in one book? As the sources described throughout this volume illustrate, this is not a unique approach. That does not mean, however, that the grouping is uncontested. Postcolonial literatures in English defy easy parameters and definitions, perhaps more than any other literature or period covered in Scarecrow Press’s Literary Research: Strategies and Sources series. The literatures that were once considered “Commonwealth” and are now termed “postcolonial” are what this volume explores in terms of both research methods and resources. This introduction attempts to sketch out some of the issues and concerns of postindependence literatures from African, Caribbean, and South Asian nations, but it would be foolish to think that such complex literary traditions can be summed up in just a few pages. Postcolonial literatures can be defined as the body of creative work written by authors whose lands were formerly subjugated under colonial rule. This volume offers guidance for those researching the postcolonial literatures of former British colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Literatures in English from Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand— also former British territories—have been discussed in previous volumes in the series. When composing this volume, the authors faced several unique challenges in addressing the sources and strategies best suited for researching postcolonial literatures in English. Whereas each volume in the series typically focuses on literature of a particular time period (e.g., the American modernist period) or a specific nation’s entire literary tradition (e.g., Irish literature), this volume ambitiously attempts to cover the literatures of nearly forty nations from three diverse continents. It would be naïve to contend that these countries share the same literary traditions simply because they are all former British colonies; however, the paucity of resources available for any one country or even region necessitates grouping these literatures together. We do not, however, want to mistakenly conflate disparate literary traditions. Each nation has its own authors, texts, styles, history, and concerns. Beyond geography, defining postcolonial literatures is fuzzy at best. Even the dates are contested. Although protests and uprisings against British colonial rule, including the Indian 2

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Mutiny or First War of Independence in 1847, and literary works speaking out against imperialism (e.g., Kipling’s Kim and Forster’s A Passage to India) predate the fall of colonialism, this guide begins its coverage in 1947, when both India and Pakistan gained their independence. These two countries were followed by thirty-seven other nations, including Ghana (1957), Jamaica (1962), Swaziland (1968), Belize (1981), and Namibia (1990). The notable exception to our 1947 starting date is South Africa, which formed the Union of South Africa in 1910. In the 1950s, shortly after the dissolution of the British Empire, scholars began studying what was termed “Commonwealth literature,” which in some ways stands as the predecessor to postcolonial studies. As John McLeod suggests in Beginning Postcolonialism, “The creation of the category of ‘Commonwealth literature’ as a special area of study was an attempt to identify and evaluate this vigorous literary activity, and to consider via a comparative approach the common concerns and attributes that these manifold literary voices might have.” This term was used specifically to describe English-language literatures written in former and soon-to-be former British colonies. Early conceptions of Commonwealth literature included the literatures of African, Caribbean, Oceanic, and South Asian nations but explicitly excluded the literatures of Ireland and the United States. The term emphasized the commonalities among disparate nations’ literatures rather than their diversity. These countries all shared a supposed common colonial past, and their literary works were measured against and incorporated into canonical English literature. In general, scholars did not view Commonwealth literature as addressing issues of nation and identity but as being about general concerns related to the human condition, similar to the works of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British authors. The transition from “Commonwealth” to “postcolonial” occurred in the 1980s, along with the emergence of major theorists such as Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Homi K. Bhabha. Not simply a new label, the change in nomenclature signified new ways of measuring the value of literature, of determining one’s identity, of positioning one’s self in the world. The impact of colonialism had not been restricted to Britain’s military, political, and economic dominance of these nations; rather, the colonial project sought to change the ways in which the colonized and colonizers thought of themselves in relation to the rest of the world. The success of colonialism, in short, had necessitated that the indigenous people adopt the beliefs, culture, and language of the colonizer. Postcolonialism then has the task of redefining culture and identity on the other side of colonialism. As McLeod asserts: 4

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So, freedom from colonialism comes not just from the signing of declarations of independence and the lowering and raising of flags. There must also be a change of minds, a disputing with the dominant ways of thinking. This is a challenge to those from both the colonised and the colonising nations.6

One way to begin this change of minds, this redefining of culture and identity, is through literature. The poetry, plays, and fiction of these distinct nations all wrestle in their own way with what individual and national identities look like in a postcolonial world. They illustrate ways of living in a world of relatively new independence yet with recent memories of the colonial past. The literatures help to redefine what it means to be Pakistani and Ghanaian and Trinidadian, among other identities.

The literatures created by authors from these nations represent diverse experiences in and responses to the postcolonial condition. Throughout this volume we have used literatures rather than the singular literature because there is no one common body of writing that expresses the identities and concerns of people from such varied nations. Although postcolonial literatures in English are not unified, some overarching themes run throughout many of the literary works. Following is a representative rather than exhaustive list of themes, authors, and texts: Diaspora and Exile: Shiva Naipaul’s The Chip-Chip Gatherers (Trinidad), Bharati Mukherjee’s Leave It to Me (India), Ama Ata Aidoo’s An Angry Letter in January (Ghana) Gender and Sexuality: Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family (Sri Lanka), Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea (Dominica), Anita Desai’s Cry the Peacock (India) Identity: Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place (Antigua), Michelle Cliff’s Claiming an Identity They Taught Me to Despise (Jamaica), Musaemura B. Zimunya’s Zimbabwe Ruins (Zimbabwe) Impact of Colonialism: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (Nigeria), Mimi Chan’s All the King’s Women (Hong Kong), Ismith Khan’s The Crucifixion (Trinidad) Language: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Decolonising the Mind (Kenya), Derek Walcott’s Omeros (St. Lucia) National Allegory: Wole Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests (Nigeria), Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (India) Place and Space: Derek Walcott’s In a Green Night (St. Lucia), Boey Kim Cheng’s Another Place (Singapore), Imtiaz Dharker’s Postcards from God (India) Racism: Nadine Gordimer’s A World of Strangers (South Africa), Sasthi Brata’s “Smiles Among the Bric-a-Brac” (India), James Berry’s Fractured Circles (Jamaica) Although incomplete, this list illustrates the broad concerns of postcolonial literatures in English that extend beyond national boundaries and cultural identities. In addition to a colonial past, perhaps these concerns are what loosely bind together the varied literatures of Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Not only have postcolonial authors received local and regional attention, but the global community has also recognized the high quality of the literature written by postcolonial authors. Though the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and The Man Booker Prize are specific to literature from member nations of the British Commonwealth, the Nobel Prize for Literature has an international focus and may be given to an author from any culture or linguistic group. The Booker, which is awarded to the best fiction book in English since 1969, has been awarded to postcolonial authors such as Kiran Desai (2006), J. M. Coetzee (1983 and 1999), Michael Ondaatje (1992), Ben Okri (1991), Salman Rushdie (1981), Nadine Gordimer (1974), and V. S. Naipaul (1971). In addition, every two years since 2005 The Man Booker International Prize has been awarded to an author in recognition of his or her lifetime

achievement in writing. Nigerian author Chinua Achebe received this honor in 2007. Like the Booker in its focus on Commonwealth literature, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize was established in 1987 to recognize the Best Book and Best First Book in four regions: Africa, Caribbean and Canada, South Asia and Europe, and South East Asia and Pacific. In 2011 the Commonwealth Foundation revised the award, substituting the Commonwealth Book Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the former awards. Finally, the Nobel Prize for Literature has recognized several postcolonial authors in recent decades: Wole Soyinka (1986), Nadine Gordimer (1991), Derek Walcott (1992), V. S. Naipaul (2001), J. M. Coetzee (2003), and Doris Lessing (2007). Awards such as these bring global attention to new and established writers in English. Postcolonial literature is both part of and separate from postcolonial studies and postcolonial theory. On the one hand, postcolonial studies not only encompass postcolonial literatures but also include disciplines such as art, history, sociology, political science, and theater. They also touch on broader interdisciplinary areas such as cultural studies, women’s studies, gender studies, comparative literature, and ethnic studies. Postcolonial theory, on the other hand, provides a critical framework for discussing postcolonial literature and studies. Just as the literatures and cultures are not unified, neither is the critical language. This theoretical branch uses terms such as other and Orientalism (Said), hybridity and mimicry (Bhabha), and subaltern (Spivak) as a means of describing the identity and position of postcolonial writers and to discuss their literary works. Not all literary works address these specific concerns, but the language provided by these theorists can be used to examine the same ideas that creative writers express in their poetry, prose, fiction, and plays. This volume introduces both new and experienced scholars to the techniques and tools needed to research these diverse literatures and the cultures from which they come. The following chapters explain research techniques, introduce primary and secondary source materials, and address some of the challenges specific to researching postcolonial literatures. In selecting sources for this book, we carefully weighed the question of resource availability. Sources that appeared to have promising content but were only available in a few libraries around the world were excluded. Although a significant number of works from American and British publishers are discussed in this volume, having a Western publisher was by no means necessary for a source to be included. Readily available resources from postcolonial nations are discussed alongside those from Western publishers. The early chapters of this volume lay the foundation for searching skills and general resources that new scholars should master before engaging with more advanced information sources. Chapter 1 introduces the basics of online searching. It walks scholars through formulating a topic; listing and organizing keywords; understanding MARC records; using search strategies such as Boolean operators, truncation and wildcards, phrase searching, nesting and search strings, and proximity operators; evaluating results; and understanding databases, indexes, and search engines. Chapter 3 builds on these concepts and looks more explicitly at library catalogs. Here we cover author, title, and subject searches in-depth so that you will be able to use online resources both efficiently and effectively. In addition, major

union and national library catalogs are described. Between the discussions of search strategies, chapter 2 covers general literary reference sources. These include major research guides, encyclopedias and companions, literary histories, biographical sources, chronologies, and select individual author- and genre-specific reference resources. Works such as these frequently provide background information and topicspecific bibliographies that give direction for further research. They are generally intended to be starting rather than ending points. Chapters 4 through 6 all discuss various types of secondary source materials, ranging from bibliographies to journals to reviews. Chapter 4 examines print and electronic bibliographies, indexes, and annual reviews, all of which are designed to direct scholars to additional primary and secondary sources. The bibliographies, indexes, and annual reviews assessed in this chapter are organized according to general sources, those that address multiple areas within postcolonial literatures, as well as those that specifically examine Africa, the Caribbean, or South Asia. A discussion of scholarly journals follows in chapter 5. The journals are organized according to African literatures in English, Caribbean literatures in English, South Asian literatures in English, and postcolonial literatures in English. Chapter 6 introduces scholars to locating literary reviews through both general works that have reviews as well as authorspecific sources. Whereas chapters 4 through 6 emphasize search strategies and secondary sources, the following three chapters address various types of primary sources, including magazines and newspapers, microform and digital collections, and manuscripts and archives. Although newspapers and magazines have broader coverage than literary authors, texts, and topics, they remain valuable sources of cultural information and for contemporary reviews. Chapter 7 examines magazines and newspapers, with an emphasis on those that have published literary works, book reviews, and interviews with authors. Individual sections of this chapter cover locating newspapers and magazines from specific geographic regions; indexes to periodical content; and digital archives of African, Caribbean, and South Asian periodicals in English. The next two chapters pair nicely, with microform and digital collections comprising chapter 8, and chapter 9 covering manuscripts and archives. Chapter 8 begins with a thorough discussion of both microform and digital formats, continues with information on locating these resources, and concludes with an overview of selected collections. To prepare scholars to conduct archival research, the following chapter describes how to use archives and outlines typical policies and procedures. This chapter is broken into subsections that describe guides, directories, databases, and websites for locating archives and manuscript repositories, and concludes with national archives pertinent to postcolonial literatures in English. Web resources are discussed in the final resource-specific chapter. Chapter 10 examines open-access Internet sources that frequently correspond with the various types of primary and secondary sources discussed in the previous chapters. After a general discussion on evaluating Web resources, we consider websites themselves, which are categorized into scholarly portals, current awareness tools, electronic text archives, author sites, reference tools, cultural and historical resources, and organizations’ sites.

The final chapter examines a thorny research issue, addressing both pragmatic concerns about resource availability and the theoretical concerns from which they stem. In addition to highlighting some of the challenges of researching postcolonial literatures in English and applying many of the strategies and sources outlined throughout the book, this chapter raises questions about the nature of postcolonial literature and how it is understood in relation to the canon. The appendix in this volume is a guide to major reference resources in allied disciplines. Along with general resources, it introduces works in art, film studies, historical atlases and geographic resources, history, language and linguistics, literary terms and theory, music, philosophy, religion, science and medicine, the social sciences, and theater. Although neither the individual chapters nor the appendix seeks to be comprehensive, they are designed to give you a holistic overview of the varied research strategies and resources available to scholars of postcolonial literatures in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. NOTES 1. Amitav Ghosh, “Amitav Ghosh’s Letter to the Commonwealth Foundation,” Iaclals Newsletter, July 2001, http://iaclals.8m.com/nl/01jul/01jul08.htm (accessed January 9, 2012). 2. Ibid. 3. J. Greg Matthews, Literary Research and Irish Literature: Strategies and Sources (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009); H. Faye Christenberry and Angela Courtney, Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand: Strategies and Sources (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010); Gabriella Natasha Reznowski, Literary Research and Canadian Literature: Strategies and Sources (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2011). 4. John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism, 2nd ed. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010), 12. 5. Ibid., 17 6. Ibid., 25.

Chapter One

Basics of Online Searching Research is about discovery, about answering questions or exploring avenues of curiosity. Even when you look for a movie review or compare features on vacuum cleaners, you’re doing research. Before the Internet age, movie reviews were found in newspapers, in magazines, and on television. Selecting an appliance might have involved trips to several stores to examine various models. For scholars, researching a topic was mostly a matter of consulting catalogs, indexes, and bibliographies in print or on computer disks. Today, we use search engines and online databases. People use Internet search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo, all the time in their daily lives. Search engines track many (but not all) sites on the World Wide Web. They help us get to the websites we need to follow the weather, read news, make travel plans, compare prices, buy shoes, and get information or advice on virtually any topic. Though the underlying mechanisms driving search engines vary, they all look more or less the same: they feature a box for entering search terms. The terms that are searched usually produce a list of results—often tens of thousands of hits. Perhaps because search engine use is so common, some researchers expect online databases to behave in the same manner. After all, databases also feature boxes for entering terms. Increasingly, database providers are striving to offer the user a more “Google-like” experience. But databases differ from Web search engines in significant ways, and understanding those differences will lead to more effective research. This chapter discusses some of what occurs behind the scenes of a database to help you improve your search strategies and get relevant, useful results. Before discussing the steps to successful online searching, clarification of terms is in order. “Online searching” covers many different types of computer-searchable matter, as described in the following paragraphs. Catalogs. A catalog, whether of clothing or library books, is a collection of items available from a specific source or group of sources. Your library’s catalog is the database of books, journals, DVDs, and other physical material owned by your library, as well as, in many cases, e-books, streaming video, websites, and other electronically delivered material. Proprietary databases. Proprietary databases are privately owned and distributed, typically through a vendor such as EBSCO, ProQuest, or Gale Cengage. Your library likely pays a large annual fee to license its databases. To access a proprietary database you may need to be a current student at or employee of a university and be able to prove it by logging on to a university or library website. Bibliographic indexes. A type of database, a bibliographic index points users to content from

books and periodicals. These indexes are often confined to literature from a particular discipline. For example, the Film and Television Literature Index contains article information for the journal Studies in South Asian Film & Media, whereas articles from the Journal of Postcolonial Writing are indexed in the MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB). Citations for journal articles comprise the bulk of most bibliographic indexes, but book chapters, dissertations, and newspaper items may also be included. If your library subscribes to a periodical in electronic form, you may be able to access an article from a link in the bibliographic index. If not, your library may subscribe to the periodical in print. Failing that, most academic (and many public) libraries participate in a lending service, interlibrary loan. Remember, finding a reference to an article in a database is not a guarantee that your library subscribes to the journal, either electronically or in print. Unlike catalogs, indexes are created from a large body of material of interest to scholars in a discipline and are not restricted to your library’s collection. Digitized collections. Perhaps the best-known digitized collections of journal articles are JSTOR and Project Muse. JSTOR is a service whose mission is to create electronic archives of scholarly journals in a number of disciplines and to store them perpetually. It contracts with individual publishers to digitize all articles from a journal’s first issue onward, but typically, there is a three- to five-year “moving wall” embargo. The mission of Project Muse is similar to JSTOR’s, but it generally begins with more recent volumes of a journal and goes up to the current issue. JSTOR and Project Muse are often mistaken for bibliographic databases, even by advanced researchers. They are not bibliographic indexes; they are only a way to search the content of specific digitized collections. Although JSTOR and Project Muse are very important parts of a library’s holdings, their usefulness is limited because they contain only a small fraction of the material published in any given discipline. The open Web. Some databases are accessible by virtually anyone with an Internet connection. WorldCat.org is one example of an open Web database; Wikipedia.org is another. Though Wikipedia (or indeed any encyclopedia) should not be relied upon for scholarly research, it can be a handy source of quick facts. In postcolonial studies, for example, a researcher might come upon unfamiliar terms such as Ceylon or Northern Rhodesia. A quick and relatively reliable resource like Wikipedia will clarify that these countries are now Sri Lanka and Zambia. So, what is the difference between a search engine and a database? On the one hand, a search engine looks for content throughout the World Wide Web and returns results without making any distinction between scholarly and unscholarly material, credible and questionable sources, good information and bad. Also, the results typically are ordered according to an algorithm that may privilege popularity (measured by number of hits) over relevance or currency. A database, on the other hand, is limited to a particular body of information. For example, although Google Scholar uses the Google search engine, it is in fact a database, because the matter being searched is confined to articles from scholarly journals, conference papers, and other academic material. Now that we have identified some online products that can be searched, we can turn to the

best way to use them. The steps in this chapter will guide you through the research process. STEP 1: FORMULATE THE TOPIC The key to fruitful database searching is a well-formed topic. Think about what you want to know and write it down as a question. Your topic will usually combine at least two concepts. For example, you might want to compare fiction written in India during and after British colonization. In question form, this could be expressed as: “Did Indian fiction change after independence?” Or you might want to understand how a particular event, condition, or other factor influenced postcolonial literatures. Suppose you want to explore themes in works by postcolonial women writing in English. Are there commonalities? Does geography play a role? If you expressed exactly what you wanted to know, the question might be: “What are the themes in women’s writing across former British colonies, and do they vary from region to region?” STEP 2: LIST AND ORGANIZE KEYWORDS Now that you have your topic question, identify the keywords and any related terms. It helps to identify the various concepts of the topic, which are often nouns. Words from the our sample topic question might be divided as shown in table 1.1:

Table 1.1. Keywords for searching the topic of postcolonial women writing in English. Concept 1 Women’s writing

Concept 2 Former British colonies

Concept 3 Regions

Think about any other terms that might be closely related or synonymous and add them to the chart (see table 1.2). For example, postcolonial is another term for former British colonies; the British Empire includes those countries that were once British colonies.

Table 1.2. Expanded list of keywords for searching the topic of postcolonial women writing in English. Concept 1 Women’s writing Women’s narrative Women’s texts Women authors Women writers Feminist writing

Concept 2

Concept 3

Former British colonies Postcolonial—English speaking Postcolonial—Anglophone Post–British Empire

Regions Africa Caribbean South Asia

Not every term in a column has to be an exact synonym. Not all women’s writing is feminist, nor does feminist writing have to be produced by a woman. However, because feminist writing is related to women’s writing, we add it to the list. In the “Concept 3” column we have specified the regions we want to know about. You will not use every term in your concepts list in the search, and often you will succeed best by starting your search with only one or two concepts. As discussed in step 4, starting with a broad search and narrowing it down is often the best strategy. Fortunately, narrowing a search can often be done using a catalog or citation record, as discussed in step 3. Keep in mind that your research is adding to the scholarly discussion; you may not find a book or article that precisely answers your question. Conversely, if you find several articles, books, or book chapters on your topic, then you must ask yourself whether there is more to say on the subject. STEP 3: BEHIND THE SCENES OF A MARC RECORD Most online catalogs create records using a set of rules known as Machine-Readable Cataloging, or MARC. These rules were established by the Library of Congress and are followed by catalogers in their work to make material accessible to the library user. MARC records are invisible to the researcher, but understanding how they work can give you an advantage as you structure your queries. Figure 1.1 is a record from a university library catalog for the book Decolonizing Gender: Literature and the Poetics of the Real. It was found through a search of the library’s online catalog for the search string women authors and postcolonial and English. (Search strings are explained in step 4.) It is typical of a catalog record that would be found in an academic library, formatted as a user would see it:

Figure 1.1. Modified catalog record for Decolonizing Gender: Literature and a Poetics of the Real. University of Oklahoma Libraries Catalog

Figure 1.2 is the same record in MARC format:

Figure 1.2. Modified MARC record for Decolonizing Gender: Literature and a Poetics of the Real with fields 100, 245, 440, and 650 highlighted. University of Oklahoma Libraries Catalog

Each numbered line represents a field, a specific type of data. There are many more field codes than the ones shown in the preceding example. Also, a catalog record for a given book might vary from library to library; even though the Library of Congress has standardized catalog formatting to a degree, individual catalogers have quite a bit of leeway in creating records. To begin at the top, the 100 field is used for a personal name, generally the author or editor. When searching for an author in an online catalog, the catalog looks for MARC field codes 100 (author) and 700 (additional author). The 245 field is where the title and titlerelated information appears, and the 260 and 300 fields provide the remaining bibliographic information and the physical description of the material. This example is volume 19 in a series, Routledge Research in Postcolonial Literatures, which is the information in the 440 field. Series titles may also appear in a 490 field. Skipping the very important 650 field momentarily, this catalog record also has a link to the book’s table of contents online, which is placed in the 856 field, electronic location and access. The data in the highlighted fields in this record are hyperlinked to other information in the library’s catalog. Clicking on the 100 field in this record will produce records for other material by author Carolyn Rooney, including chapters she may have published in books edited by other people. The ability to hyperlink is what makes the 650 field so useful. When you search by subject in a catalog, you are searching the subject headings across the library’s holdings. If your search turns up one book that looks relevant, clicking on a 650 field will bring up others. The first 650 link, African literature (English)—Women authors—History and criticism led to nine other books owned by this library, all containing the same subject term. The Library of Congress allows a catalog record to have up to ten subject headings. Even without the hyperlinks, the subject headings provide a better sense of what a book is about so that you can determine if it will be useful. They will also help you understand how the Library of Congress uses controlled vocabulary, a term that is explained later. No library owns everything ever published, not even the Library of Congress. To complement their own collections, many libraries around the world participate in one or more cooperative lending programs. Their catalogs can be searched online, and chapter 3 discusses tools for doing so. STEP 4: SEARCH STRATEGIES Even though online databases have made researching a topic far easier than ever before, some patience is still required to do a search that is both thorough and relevant. As shown by table 1.2, there is often more than one appropriate term to search, and as demonstrated in figures 1.1 and 1.2, one result may have several Library of Congress subject headings. There are a number of measures you can take to increase relevant results. Before discussing them in detail, it will help to examine the basic anatomy of a search screen. Figure 1.3 is from the MLA International Bibliography via EBSCOhost, but it is typical of the advanced search function of most databases.

Figure 1.3. Modified MLA International Bibliography advanced search screen. MLAIB, via EBSCO

In this example there are three empty boxes in which the user can place search terms. These terms will come from the keywords selected in step 2. To the right of each is a pull-down arrow containing fields, like the fields in a MARC record, that can be selected to tell the computer where to look for the terms. Figure 1.4 shows a partial list of fields available in this particular database and as provided by this particular company. Your institution might provide the MLA International Bibliography through a different vendor, and the field options may vary.

Figure 1.4. Partial list of field options in MLA International Bibliography. MLAIB, via EBSCO

When you select a field, you are letting the computer know where to look for your search terms. Entering a name in the author field, for example, tells the computer to search its index of authors. On the other hand, when a term is entered in the keyword field, or in fields labeled “select a field,” “all text,” or something similar, the computer searches the bibliographic record plus almost every word in the article. The available fields will depend on the database you’re using, but all share some basic characteristics. At a minimum, there will be indexes for the title of the article or chapter, the author(s), and the journal or book that is the source of the article or chapter. Boolean Operators In addition to fields, you can select the Boolean operators and, or, and not. Boolean operators,

named for the nineteenth-century English logician George Boole, are used by virtually all databases. Typically they are options available to the user, but sometimes they work behind the scenes. Even then, the researcher can control them. It is important to understand how Boolean operators function, because they are a major factor in how the database processes keywords. 1. The and operator. When search terms are connected by and, all of the terms will appear in the results. Results for a search of cats and dogs will return only results that have to do with both cats and dogs (and possibly hamsters, ferrets, etc.). Material that discusses cats but makes no mention of dogs will not show up in the record list. In Figure 1.5, the search was for women authors and postcolonial and English—the same example used in step 3. The shaded area, where all three terms intersect, represents the records retrieved for this search.

Figure 1.5. Venn diagram illustrating Boolean and search.

2. The or operator. Or is used when you want to return results for related or synonymous concepts. It lets the database know you want results that contain any of your terms, regardless of whether or not they appear in the same document. The search shown in figure 1.6 uses three of the six terms from the concept 1 column in step 2. There is no limit to the number of terms you can link with or, but bear in mind that more terms yield more

results, which is not always desirable. The object is to find the right results, so use or sparingly.

Figure 1.6. Venn diagram illustrating Boolean or search.

3. The not operator. Linking terms with not excludes a term from a search. Cats not Siamese will eliminate any mention of Siamese cats from the results. In figure 1.7, excluding French from the search for postcolonial literature eliminated about 40 results from the initial group of about 540. It does not address Spanish, Portuguese, or Dutch postcolonial literatures. We could add these to our not list, but that is probably not the best strategy, because we might eliminate useful articles that merely mentioned these languages. It is usually better to include the proper keywords in an and search, as we did above.

Figure 1.7. Venn diagram illustrating Boolean not search.

Truncation and Wildcards A database search can also be controlled by using truncation or wildcards. Truncation allows you to retrieve multiple forms of a word by entering the stem of the word into the search box and adding that database’s truncation symbol. To find write, writer, written, or writing, enter the letters common to all four forms, writ, and add the truncation symbol (e.g., writ*). Frequently the truncation symbol is an asterisk (*), although it might be a different character. A database usually has search tips or a help page explaining its symbols. Wildcards work much like truncation, but instead of adding to the first few letters of a word, they can substitute for one or more characters. For example, if the wildcard symbol is a question mark (?), typing wom?n will return results containing the word woman or women. You can also use a wildcard to pick up variations in spelling: reali?e will find both realize (American spelling) and realise (British spelling). In some databases there is a second wildcard symbol, which can be used to find an extra character that may appear in the spelling of a word. In a database where this wildcard is a hash mark (#), entering travel#ing will produce traveling or travelling, both of which are legitimate spellings. Phrase Searching When you want to ensure that words remain together in a particular order, use phrase searching. Most often, phrase searching is accomplished by placing the search terms in quotation marks. “Historical fiction” will produce records in which those two words appear as a phrase. Without the quotation marks, you might turn up a very interesting sounding article on “The Historical Death Ray and Science Fiction in the 1920s and 1930s,” but it won’t be helpful to your research project.

Nesting and Search Strings Sometimes searching with Boolean operators can be ambiguous. Your search may consist of a string of terms connected with and, or, and not. The database may have an established order in which it looks at terms, but that won’t always be evident to the researcher. To ensure that your search is understood by the computer, you can use nesting, a technique by which you can group operations using parentheses. The nesting parentheses in a search string work much the same way as they do in mathematical equations. The result of 5 + 12 ÷7 – 4 is different from that of (5 + 12) ÷ (7 – 4). Search strings are created in the advanced mode of a database whenever you enter terms connected with Boolean operators, but they can be entered in a basic search box as well. Also, the search tips discussed previously—phrase searching, truncation, and wildcards—can be included in a search string. Suppose the topic is the treatment of race in South African drama. Initially, our step 2 chart of the keywords might look like table 1.3:

Table 1.3. Keywords for searching the topic of the treatment of race in South African drama. Concept 1 South African

Concept 2 race

Concept 3 drama

Some brainstorming produces related terms, shown in table 1.4:

Table 1.4. Expanded list of keywords for searching the topic of the treatment of race in South African drama. Concept 1 South African

Concept 2 race ethnicity

Concept 3 drama theater/theatre

We know we can put quotation marks around South African to keep the words together as a phrase. In addition, we can use the wildcard symbol and truncate African to Africa*, to make sure we get the results for South Africa as well as South African. Although ethnicity is not a synonym for race, it is a related term, so this would be a good time to use the or operator. Drama and theatre (or theater) are related, so we can use or again. We can use a truncation symbol after the common root theat* to get both spellings. Finally, the truncation symbol can be used to truncate ethnicity to ethnic*. The search string, then, might be “south africa*” and race or ethnic* and drama or theat*. Entering this string in the MLA International Bibliography, however, produced more than

55,000 results. Why? Because the database misinterpreted our string. It thought we wanted information on South Africa and race (a huge subject), or else on ethnicity and drama (another huge subject) or else on theatre (an enormous subject). We can make the database understand what we actually want by using nesting. Like Ukranian Matryoshka dolls, nesting places one thing—in this case, one search statement—within another. To control how your search terms are understood, place parentheses around the elements: “south africa*” and (race or ethnic*) and (drama or theat*) You can see the benefits of taking the time to plot out your concepts and brainstorm keywords; once you understand what information you are seeking, you can structure your search to make the database understand, also. Proximity Searching One more little-known searching technique, proximity searching, is helpful. Proximity searching limits results by specifying the number of words that can separate the search terms. It is useful when word order may change for a concept, or where adjectives might separate two words in a concept. There are two common proximity operators, n for near and w for within. Each is followed by a number specifying the maximum number of words that may come between the terms. The n operator allows words to be in any order and can be used with truncation. For example, a search of the MLA International Bibliography for nigeria* n4 poet* produced approximately sixty results, including articles with titles that include the words “Nigerian Poetry,” “Nigerian Arabic Poetry,” and “Hausa Poetry on the Nigerian Civil War.” In contrast, a search for Nigeria* and poet* produced over eight hundred results. The w operator is similar to n, but the search terms have to appear in the order entered. So, Nigeria* w4 poet* eliminated some of the results found in the near search. An article titled “Season of Desert Flowers: Contemporary Women’s Poetry from Northern Nigeria” was omitted from the list of results because the word poetry appears before the word Nigeria. STEP 5: UNDERSTANDING RESULTS AND GETTING THE ONES YOU WANT Once you have executed your search, and assuming the database found something matching your terms, a list of results will appear. At this point you might decide you need to modify your search. There are several methods of doing this, including broadening your search by removing terms; narrowing it by adding terms; limiting to a specific date range, language, or document type; limiting to scholarly or peer-reviewed articles; changing the index searched (e.g., from keyword to subject); and entering different search terms.

Let’s look at a section of the results list for our Nigerian poetry search (see figure 1.8). This list is from the MLA International Bibliography as provided by EBSCO. MLAIB will look different on other vendors’ platforms, such as those of Gale Cengage or ProQuest, but it will have similar features. Your page might not appear quite the same even if your institution subscribes to MLAIB through EBSCO, because institutions can customize the interface to a degree.

Figure 1.8. Section of results list of MLAIB search for Nigeria* n4 poet*. MLAIB via EBSCO

Several limiters are available alongside the results list, including checking the option to see only peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters. When assigned a research paper, students are often required to limit their sources to peer-reviewed, refereed, academic, or scholarly articles. All of these terms refer to articles written for a specialized audience in an academic discipline; those that are peer-reviewed or refereed have been evaluated by scholars in the field and have been determined to be original, well-researched, and contributing to the body of knowledge in a given area. When options for refining a search by factors such as date, source type, and publication appear with a list of results, this is called faceted searching. Faceted searching allows a researcher to begin broadly and then narrow down the results to get those desired. Users who have ordered merchandise online will be familiar with the concept: a search might begin with

sandals and then be narrowed down according to style, size, color, or material. Figure 1.9 is a single record for the preceding search. Examining it, we see that the first element is the article title, with our search terms bolded. (Remember, by truncating Nigeria* and poet* we were able to retrieve variations on those terms.) The magnifying glass to the right of the title is an EBSCO feature that gives a quick look at other information, including an abstract if available. The next lines provide the remaining bibliographic information: author, journal title, date, volume and issue, and page ranges. It also informs us that the document is a journal article, as opposed to a website, book, or book article (i.e., chapter).

Figure 1.9. Record from MLAIB Search for Nigeria* n4 poet*. MLAIB via EBSCO

Below the bibliographic information are some subjects of the article. The subjects are determined by human indexers and selected from a list of controlled vocabulary. Controlled vocabulary is an established list of terms used in an index. The Modern Language Association has a set of controlled vocabulary for its bibliography, just as the Library of Congress has one

for use in MARC records, such as that shown in step 3. Controlled vocabulary provides the indexer and researcher with more precise language than a keyword search, and thus helps find the most relevant articles. Although the subject headings in the record from MLAIB are not hyperlinked, they can be copied and pasted into a search box. Sorting Results by Date or Relevance The final thing to note about figure 1.9 is the degree of relevance the article is determined to have. Most databases allow the user to sort the results in several ways, including by relevance, date ascending (oldest first), or date descending (newest first). It is worth noticing how your results are sorted. “Relevance” is determined by factors such as the number of times the searched terms appear in a document; how early in a document the terms occur; and whether the terms appear in the article title, subject or descriptors index, abstract, or body of the work. The exact algorithm that determines relevance is typically proprietary information and varies from provider to provider. It is a good idea, when possible, to check some of the results deemed less relevant to determine their usefulness to you. If you are not concerned with the age of an article, relevance sorting is probably your best option. STEP 6: UNDERSTANDING DATABASES, INDEXES, AND SEARCH ENGINES Throughout this chapter we have referred to the MLA International Bibliography “as provided by EBSCO.” But EBSCO is not the only platform on which MLAIB runs. The content for MLAIB is created by indexers—mostly librarians, professors, and independent scholars—for the Modern Language Association (MLA), which provides the content to several companies that make raw data searchable via search engines, such as EBSCO’s EBSCOhost. Currently, in addition to EBSCO, MLAIB is offered by Gale both as a stand-alone product and in conjunction with the Literature Resource Center database, and by ProQuest on its own platform and on the Chadwyck-Healey and CSA platforms. ProQuest has acquired ChadwyckHealey and CSA in recent years, so it is possible that it will eventually subsume those platforms. For a comparison of MLAIB’s features on the various platforms, see www.mla.org/bib_dist_comparison. When a database is hosted on multiple platforms, it is possible that seemingly identical searches will yield different results because of variances in search engine behavior. The MLA, for example, calls its subject headings “descriptors,” yet the database distributor might not have a field of that name. Instead, descriptors are made to fit into other categories. When a search engine performs a keyword search, where exactly is it looking? Is it checking authorprovided keywords and descriptors, looking at every word in the document, or looking at a set number of words in the document? You may never find out, precisely; this information is closely held by the database providers. However, you can consult the help menu for tips on the

best way to search that particular database. It is well worth spending a few moments learning how the search engine functions. MLAIB indexes articles from both print and online journals, books, book chapters, and websites published from 1926 to the present. It covers critical works on world literature, language, and folklore. Another source of citations for the study of postcolonial literatures is the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) online, created under the auspices of the Modern Humanities Research Association. If your institution subscribes to Chadwyck-Healey’s Literature Online and to MLAIB through ProQuest or Chadwyck-Healey, you will be able to search both databases simultaneously. Although there is overlap between the two resources, there are also entries unique to one or the other. ABELL indexes scholarly literature concerned with English language and literature dating back to 1920. If your university does not have online access to ABELL, check to see if it owns the print volumes. Because scholarship is increasingly inter- or multidisciplinary, a literary scholar might also benefit from searching databases focused on sociology, psychology, medicine, and so forth. The appendix to this volume lists several of these resources. If these databases are available at your institution, a librarian will be able to help you use them. A conscientious researcher will want to find citations using proprietary databases such as MLAIB and ABELL because they are far more thorough than the open Web and have been indexed by knowledgeable people not only for the basic bibliographic information (author, article title, journal, etc.), but also for meaningful keywords and subject terms. 1

Federated, Integrated, and Cross-Searching As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, there is a trend among database vendors and libraries to emulate the experience of searching Google or Amazon. Let’s take Amazon as an example, since it is a database and Google is a search engine. Whether you are shopping for a book, a pair of shoes, or a jar of mustard, the search process on Amazon.com is the same. It is the same whether the item is kept by Amazon in one of its warehouses or it has partnered with another brick-and-mortar or online shop. From the user’s perspective, there is a single box into which a search term or terms are entered. Many libraries have instituted a single-box search tool that harvests results from the library’s holdings and its databases at the same time. This is known as federated or integrated searching. (The terms are not precisely synonymous, but the difference is too complicated to discuss here.) The mechanism that enables federated or integrated searching will be invisible to the user, but is in fact an application such as EBSCO’s Discovery Service, Serial Solutions’s Summon, OCLC’s WorldCat Local, or Ex Libris’s Primo Central. Federated searching can cause more problems than it solves. First, it may not actually be searching every database useful to a topic. Second, it often produces tens of thousands of results from all kinds of sources, scholarly and popular, including brief news items, articles from trade magazines, reviews, and so forth. Third, it may cause technical issues such as taking up a “seat” in a database that may allow only a limited number of simultaneous users. Finally, fields unique to a literature database, for example genre or literary technique, are not available

in a federated or integrated search. Cross-searching allows for multiple databases, selected by the user, to be searched simultaneously. It is usually an option when searching a collection of databases supplied by the same company. ProQuest, EBSCO, Gale, and other companies host collections of databases that can be searched together, if the institution subscribes to them. In addition, libraries sometimes organize cross-searchable databases by subject area even when they are provided by different companies. Cross-searching is usually more efficient than federated or integrated searching, but again, some fields may not be searched at all. For example, the advanced search mode of MLAIB on EBSCO offers thirty-five searchable fields, including ones for folklore and linguistic topics. When cross-searched with the Film and Television Literature Index, however, only seven fields are available. Searching the Film and Television Literature Index alone offers fourteen fields, some of which are particularly useful for research in those areas. A researcher who wants better control and more relevant results will do best to search databases individually. UNDERSTANDING GOOGLE AND PUTTING IT TO GOOD USE Google does not share with the public all of the details of how it works its magic, but an explanation for lay users is available at www.google.com/corporate/tech.html. Basically, Google uses a continuously searching “crawler” to find and copy pages on the Web, creates an index of what the crawler has found, and stores the information on servers around the world. User search queries are compared to that index, and a results list is created. According to the company, it uses a page-ranking algorithm based on over two hundred signals in an attempt to return the most relevant results. Google has an advanced search function that allows a user to expand or limit a search using phrase searching, the Boolean or operator, language, date range, and other criteria. But it is also possible to control Google results from the basic search page by using the same Boolean operators used for databases. As in other databases, if you want to search for either term in a query, use the OR operator. (This must be typed in uppercase in a Google search.) However, instead of using the word and, Google uses a plus sign (+), and instead of the word not, the Google operator is a minus sign (–). The plus and minus signs must be followed by a term or phrase without a space between them. To find Web pages about postcolonial Nigerian novelists other than Amos Tutuola, the search would be structured, “Nigerian novelists” +postcolonial –Tutuola. By default, Google uses the and operator, but you will get much better results if you use the plus and minus signs. A natural language search for postcolonial Nigerian novelists –Tutuola retrieved about 266,000 results; the search for “Nigerian novelists” +postcolonial –Tutuola retrieved fewer than 350. Google orders results by relevance, but the sort can be changed to show the most recent results first, or to show results from a range of dates. You can further limit your search by site domain such as edu for educational institutions: “Nigeria novelists” +postcolonial –Tutuola site:edu. Note that there is no space after the colon (:). On the Internet, anyone can set up a URL as a .com or .org, but only nationally

accredited U.S. postsecondary institutions can claim the .edu domain. (Other countries have different conventions. In the United Kingdom, for example, educational institutions use .ac.uk, as in www.cam.ac.uk for Cambridge University.) Google also uses the asterisk (*) as a wildcard, but not in the same way many databases use it. In Google, the asterisk replaces an entire term or terms but cannot be added to the root of a word to get multiple forms. Though Google will automatically produce variations (called “stemming”) most of the time, there is no way to force it to check for them. Google will, however, check for synonyms using the tilde (~) symbol. Thus, ~dramatists also finds playwrights and even tragedies. Finally, Google has created a collection of articles, books, and chapters in various disciplines called Google Scholar. It, too, has an advanced search function with options to limit the search to broad subject areas or a particular publication. In addition to citations for or full text of literary criticism, you may find transcripts of lectures, letters to the editor, or even theater programs. Some of the documents found in a Google Scholar search are open access, and many libraries have linked their electronic content to it. However, although Google Scholar is a useful research tool, it is not a replacement for dedicated databases such as MLAIB. CONCLUSION If you follow the steps outlined in this chapter, you will find yourself well prepared to conduct research on postcolonial literatures using electronic databases and collections. You should have a good understanding of online catalogs and the MLA International Bibliography and be able to transfer your searching skills to other databases found in university and college libraries. Subsequent chapters point to useful print and electronic resources in and beyond the boundaries of a library. As stated at the beginning of this chapter, research is about discovery —and there are many tools to help you in your quest. NOTE 1. Scott Stebelman, “Retrieval Performance and Citation Characteristics of the MLA International Bibliography and the Annual Bibliography for [sic] English Language and Literature: A Comparative Study,” Journal of Documentation 56, no. 3 (2000): 332–340.

Chapter Two

General Literary Reference Sources Both novice and experienced scholars can benefit from the background information provided by general literary reference sources. This chapter identifies major research guides, encyclopedias and companions, literary histories, biographical sources, chronologies, and select individual author- and genre-specific reference resources. In addition to background information, these sources often include useful, targeted bibliographies on particular research topics. Although we have attempted to offer a complete survey of reference literature for postcolonial literatures in English, the coverage of African, Caribbean, and South Asian sources is uneven at best. Currently more sources in English exist for African literatures than for either of the other two areas. On occasion these resources may lack the depth and breadth of their counterparts in American and British literature because scholarship in the former areas is younger. RESEARCH GUIDES Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 2008. Also available online at www.mlalrg.org. Kagan, Alfred, and Yvette Scheven. Reference Guide to Africa: A Bibliography of Sources. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1999. Marcuse, Michael J. A Reference Guide for English Studies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. McIlwaine, John. Africa: A Guide to Reference Material. 2nd rev. and expanded ed. Lochcarron, Scotland: Hans Zell, 2007.

As for other literatures in English, general literary research guides may provide a good starting point for identifying research resources for English-language literatures from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. The research guides discussed in this section generally point scholars toward other literary reference sources, including bibliographies, chronologies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides to primary works, and handbooks. Two of the sources described here—Harner’s Literary Research Guide and Marcuse’s A Reference Guide for English Studies—cover English-language literatures broadly, whereas the final two works— Kagan and Scheven’s Reference Guide to Africa and McIlwaine’s Africa: A Guide to Reference Material—are more specific to the literatures addressed in this volume. Currently in its fifth edition, James L. Harner’s Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies is an indispensable resource for researching American, British, and world literatures in English. Harner surveys reference materials, such as abstracts, bibliographies, chronologies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides, handbooks, histories, and indexes, for all English and American literary periods and genres. In addition, he addresses sources in other literatures in English; Irish, Scottish, Welsh, foreign-

language, and comparative literatures; and literature-related topics and sources. Of the twentyone chapters, “Other Literatures in English,” which includes African, Australian, Canadian, Caribbean, Indian, and New Zealand literatures in English, is the most germane for postcolonial literature scholars. The depth of coverage for each literature varies widely, with the African and Indian literatures sections each listing guides to primary works and to scholarship and criticism, and the Caribbean literatures section containing guides to reference works; literary handbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias; bibliographies of bibliographies; scholarship and criticism; and genres. Individual entries comprise a citation, an annotation, and cross-references to other entries as applicable. In addition to browsing the Literary Research Guide’s organizational structure, scholars will also find the name, title, and subject indexes valuable tools for identifying other relevant resources. Since 2009 the Literary Research Guide has also been available online as a searchable database. This version contains the contents of the print edition but is continually updated; the most recent update reflects eight new entries, 439 revisions, and two deletions. In addition, the online Guide connects to sources such as individual library online catalogs, WorldCat, and Google Books, to enhance scholars’ access to materials. Although its primary focus is British and American literature, Michael J. Marcuse’s A Reference Guide for English Studies offers annotations for a select number of African, Caribbean, and South Asian literary resources. The entries are organized into twenty-four broad sections on general topics of interest, reference work types, areas of literary study, traditional literary periods, and genres. Within each broad section are entries for scholarly reference works, journals, and frequently recommended works. The entries include a citation, annotation, and cross-references. Resources for African, Caribbean, and South Asian literatures are generally located in the sections “Literature” and “English Literature.” Within “Literature” the subsection “African Languages and Literatures” is particularly relevant; “Commonwealth Literature and World Literatures Written in English,” “Africa,” “India,” and the “West Indies” are all useful subsections under “English Literature.” In addition to browsing these sections, scholars should use the indexes for authors, compilers, contributors, and editors; titles; and subjects and authors-as-subjects to identify other resources. Marcuse also includes a guide to “Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Sigla” and overviews of the guide’s organization, entries listing journals, and entries listing frequently recommended works and similar guides. Even though A Reference Guide for English Studies has not been updated since its initial publication in 1990, it remains a valuable resource for literary scholars. Although both Harner and Marcuse include world literatures in English, they emphasize British and American literature and do not have the same depth and breadth of coverage for other bodies of literature. Unfortunately there is no current, book-length research guide for literatures in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Only relevant for scholars of African studies, Alfred Kagan and Yvette Scheven’s Reference Guide to Africa: A Bibliography of Sources describes additional resources not offered by Harner or Marcuse. Not specific to literature, Reference Guide to Africa is organized in two broad sections: “General Sources” and “Subject Sources.” The general section has eight chapters: 1

“Bibliographies and Indexes,” “Guides, Handbooks, Directories, and Encyclopedias,” “Internet Sources,” “Current Events,” “Biography,” “Primary Sources,” “Government Publications,” and “Statistics.” The remaining seventeen chapters cover subjects such as “Agriculture and Food,” “Folklore,” “Languages and Linguistics,” “Literature,” “Publishing and the Book Trade,” “Religion,” and “Women.” The subject chapters list the following types of resources: research guides, surveys, directories, indexes and abstracts, bibliographies, periodicals, selected subject headings, and discipline-specific sources such as atlases. Individual entries comprise a citation and annotation. Most of the resources are in English; however, some are in French, German, and other languages. This reference guide also contains author/title and subject indexes. John McIlwaine’s Africa: A Guide to Reference Material, now in its second edition, is a robust and thorough overview of published resources covering a sweeping range of resource types and topics. He explains in the preface that many sources have been added since the 1993 first edition, and the content has been comprehensively overhauled. The most notable change is that this volume only includes resources published from 1938 onward, so for coverage of earlier imprint dates, one should look at the first edition. New topics in the second edition are earth and biological sciences. The text is arranged by area, beginning with a lengthy section, “Africa in General.” This is subdivided by resource type (handbooks, statistics, biographical resources, atlases, and so on) and further subdivided by subtypes, geography, language, or other topics. The rest of the book is organized by region and then by country. Within these sections are further divisions: handbooks, yearbooks, statistics, directories of organizations, biographical resources, atlases and gazetteers, earth sciences, and biological sciences. Annotations vary from just bibliographic information to moderate descriptions of content. There is an author-title index and a subject index, which includes an entry for literature. GENERAL POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURES IN ENGLISH: ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND COMPANIONS Benson, Eugene, and Leonard W. Conolly, eds. Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. 2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Routledge, 2005. Head, Dominic, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Sage, Lorna. The Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Serafin, Steven, ed. Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. 3rd ed. 4 vols. Farmington Hills, MI: St. James Press, 1999. Stringer, Jenny, ed. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Now in its second edition, the Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English is a valuable reference source. Edited by Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly, this two-volume set comprises eighteen hundred entries on genres, subjects, authors, regions, and countries of world literatures in English, excluding those of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the United States. Author-specific entries survey each individual’s life and literary output; topical entries typically cover genres, subjects, regions, and countries. The genre articles provide an overview and are followed by a series of articles about the history and development of that

genre in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the Caribbean, East Africa, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, St. Helena, South Africa, South Central Africa, the South Pacific, and West Africa, as applicable. The entries cross-reference to one another, and many have brief bibliographies of further readings. Volume 3 ends with a detailed index to people, texts, and topics covered in the set. Although broader in scope than postcolonial literatures from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, the Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century is an excellent source for background information. Edited by Steven R. Serafin, this four-volume work comprises more than twenty-three hundred entries on twentieth-century literatures from around the globe. In addition to biographical information, the Encyclopedia of World Literature contains essays on national literatures (e.g., “Pakistani Literature” and “Zambian Literature”), literary movements (e.g., “Afro-Cubanism” and “Expressionism”), and ideological movements (e.g., “Historicism” and “Phenomenology and Literature”). Author entries include vital statistics, biographical information, a critical assessment, a list of further works, and a bibliography. A national index and a general index to the set are found in volume 4. Also focusing on modern Anglophone literatures, Jenny Stringer’s The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English surveys the literary output of Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Composed of some three thousand entries, this companion covers authors, critical concepts, genres, literary groups, literary works, movements, and periodicals. The majority of entries are biographical; roughly 650 address other topics. The biographical entries are primarily for authors such as Indian novelist Shashi Deshpande, Antiguan novelist and shortstory writer Jamaica Kincaid, Nigerian poet Odia Ofeimun, and West Indian playwright Edgar White, but select biographers, critics, economists, historians, journalists, philosophers, scholars, sociologists, and travel writers are also included. Entries are organized alphabetically, cross-reference to one another, and may offer suggestions for further readings. This single-volume reference work lacks an index but has an appendix to literary prizes: the Booker Prize for Fiction, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the Pulitzer Prizes for fiction in book form, plays, and poetry. Now in its third edition, Dominic Head’s The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English addresses literature from Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the South Pacific, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its scope is much broader than postcolonial literatures in English; it has entries for individual authors such as Zaynab Alkali, Michael Anthony, G. V. Desani, Zulfikar Ghose, Amitav Ghosh, and R. K. Narayan, and for major literary works, including Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist. It also covers literary groups or schools, wider literary movements, literary genres, critical terms, rhetorical terms, critical schools or movements, poetic forms and subgenres of drama and fiction, theaters and theater companies, literary magazines, and literary prizes from the various Anglophone literary traditions. The entries are organized alphabetically, with no index or other internal finding aid. Entries cross-reference to one another and do not include bibliographies.

Works such as this one and the previously discussed Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English are best for background and factual information rather than in-depth analyses of authors, works, and topics. Like The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English and The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature, Lorna Sage’s The Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English is broader in scope than Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia yet still useful for scholars of those literatures. Unlike the previous reference works, this one focuses exclusively on women’s writing. The entries cover authors, texts, kinds of writing, genres and subgenres, literary terms, and critical schools. Although most entries are for authors and texts, scholars will find entries for topics such as “Bildungsroman,” “girls’ school stories,” “prophecy,” “post-colonial writing,” and “science fiction” scattered throughout this alphabetically arranged work. In addition to the index at the back of the book, this volume includes cross-references within entries to aid scholars in finding relevant information. LITERARY HISTORIES Arnold, A. James, ed. A History of Literature in the Caribbean. 3 vols. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1994–2001. Gérard, Albert S., ed. European-Language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2 vols. Budapest: Akadémiai Kaidó, 1986. Irele, F. Abiola, and Simon Gikandi, eds. The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature. 2 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Killam, Douglas. Literature of Africa. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna, ed. A History of Indian Literature in English. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Naik, M. K. A History of Indian English Literature. Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1982. Owomoyela, Oyekan. A History of Twentieth-Century African Literatures. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.

Edited by Albert S. Gérard, European-Language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa is part of the Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages series. In two volumes this work surveys the history and development of the English-, French-, and Portuguese-language literatures of Africa south of the Sahara. European-Language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa comprises eighteen chapters organized in four parts: “Under Western Eyes,” “Black Consciousness,” “Black Power,” and “Comparative Vistas.” Each chapter is then further divided into discrete sections written by various scholars. For instance, chapter 6, “Negritude,” is composed of three essays: “The Western Mood,” “Black Migrants in Paris,” and “The Negritude Debate.” Because of the linguistic diversity of African literatures, not all of the contents are relevant to scholars of Anglophone literature. The second volume ends with a bibliography, a “non-conclusion,” a contributor list, and an index to the set. The “nonconclusion” is thus named because, as Gérard writes, “To undertake the conclusion of a story that has barely begun would be unusually otiose” (1261). Rather, he suggests areas wherein more research is needed and considers the future directions of sub-Saharan African literature. Like European-Language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa, Oyekan Owomoyela’s A History of Twentieth-Century African Literatures comprises discrete essays about the history of African literatures. However, this work assesses literatures in English, French, Portuguese, and African languages from the twentieth century only, whereas the previous volume excludes

African languages and covers a broader time period. Rather than looking at literary developments in isolation, each essay in this work examines the ways in which historical events have influenced African literary traditions. Chapters address a variety of topics, including “English-Language Fiction from West Africa,” “Portuguese-Language Literature,” “African Women Writers: Towards a Literary History,” and “Publishing in Africa: The Crisis and the Challenge.” Each chapter has its own bibliography, and the volume ends with a contributor list and an index. Part of Greenwood Press’s Literature as Windows to World Cultures series, Douglas Killam’s Literature of Africa looks at the history of West, East, South-Central, and South African literatures. In addition to surveys of these regional literatures, each part—except for the section on South-Central Africa—contains essays that examine major authors and their works. The coverage of the other regions is uneven at best, with Chinua Achebe, Buchi Emechta, Ayi Kwei Armah, Miriama Ba, and Sembene Ousmane representing West Africa; Ngũgĩwa Thiong’o discussed for East Africa; and Nadine Gordimer, Alex La Guma, Alan Paton, and Bessie Head included for South Africa. Every chapter has a bibliography of further readings. In addition to the introduction, the volume begins with an essay titled “Africa and Europe.” It wraps up with brief biographies of African authors, a list of further readings, and an index. Spanning the literary output of two diverse literatures, The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature comprises forty essays in two volumes, outlining major developments, issues, and themes in these literatures. Although the title gives the two literary traditions equal billing, more chapters are devoted to African literatures than to Caribbean ones. Nevertheless, this is an excellent introduction to the literatures of both regions. Edited by F. Abiola Irele and Simon Gikandi, this set provides scholarly essays as well as an index and a chronology of historical, political, literary, and cultural events. Topics covered include “Africa and orality,” “Carnival and the folk origins of West Indian drama,” “African literature and the colonial factor,” “Anglophone literature of Central Africa,” and “Postcolonial Caribbean identities.” Scholars will find that the bibliographies accompanying each chapter are as valuable as the contents themselves. A History of Literature in the Caribbean claims to be the “first comprehensive attempt to chart” the diverse body of literature from “the Greater and Lesser Antilles and the Caribbean rimlands” (xii). Edited by A. James Arnold, this three-volume set examines the literary output of “Hispanic and Francophone Regions” and “English- and Dutch-Speaking Regions,” as well as “Cross-Cultural Studies.” Although the first volume may be less relevant to scholars of Anglophone Caribbean literature, the second and third volumes should prove to be of interest. For each of the four language groups, the chapters are arranged in broad sections: “Literary Development: A Contrastive History” and “Genre: A Contrastive History.” Those broad sections are then further subdivided as appropriate for the linguistic division. For example, “The Anglophone Caribbean” includes discussions of “Emergence of Language and Literature,” “Popular and Literature Cultures,” and “Islands and Territories” under “Literary Development” and the chapters “Fiction,” “Poetry,” “Drama,” and “Essay” under “Genre.” A

general introduction precedes each linguistic division. The chapters contain substantial reference lists. Because volume 3 is not specific to a language group, its chapters are organized in the following sections: “Preliminary Approaches,” “Literary Creoleness and Chaos Theory,” “Problematics of Literary Historiography,” “Literature and Popular Culture,” “Carnival and Carnivalization,” “Gender and Identity,” “The Caliban Complex,” “Genre and Postcoloniality,” and “Cross-Cultural Currents and Conundrums.” Each of the three volumes has its own “Index to Names of Writers and Significant Historical Figures.” Like EuropeanLanguage Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa, this set is part of the Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages series, which is sponsored by the International Comparative Literature Association. Published by the Sahitya Akademi, M. K. Naik’s A History of Indian English Literature gives a chronological overview of Anglophone Indian literature in English from its beginnings through the early 1980s. Organized in six chapters, this single-volume work covers the history and development of English-language poetry, prose, drama, novels, and short stories from Indian authors. Each chapter ends with a works cited list, and the volume concludes with an index and a select bibliography of “Bibliographies of Indian English Literature,” “Anthologies,” “Histories and Selective Critical Studies,” “Critical Studies,” “Studies of English and India and Indian English Literature,” “Poetry (Surveys and General Evaluation),” “Poetry (Studies of Individual Poets),” “The Novel (Surveys and General Studies),” “The Novel (Studies of Individual Novelists),” “Prose (General),” “Prose (Studies of Forms),” “Prose (Studies of Individual Writers),” “Criticism,” and “Periodicals.” Individual authors include poets Toro Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, and Pritish Nandy; novelists Mulk Raj Anand, Bhabani Bhattacharya, Sudhin Ghose, and Anita Desai; playwrights Sri Aurobindo and Asif Currimbhoy; and prose writers Swami Vivekananda, M. K. Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Nirad C. Chaudhuri. Because this work was published in India, the author cites more Indian and South Asian works than are typically found in similar works from the United States and Great Britain, which makes it a good pairing with similar guides from Western publishers. A History of Indian Literature in English surveys two centuries of dramatists, novelists, and poets, beginning coverage in 1800 and continuing through the start of the twenty-first century. Edited by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, this work comprises twenty-four essays on individual authors, groups of authors, and genres. Some of the authors covered are Henry Derozio, Behramji Malabari, Rabindranath Tagore, Verrier Elwin, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Salman Rushdie, and Kailash Sankhala. Topics include “The English Writings of Raja Rammohan Ray,” “Rudyard Kipling,” “The Beginnings of the Indian Novel,” “Two EarlyTwentieth-Century Women Writers: Cornelia Sorabji and Sarojini Naidu,” “Poetry Since Independence,” “From Sugar to Masala: Writing by the Indian Diaspora,” and “After Midnight: The Novel in the 1980s and 1990s.” Scholars interested in not only postcolonial literature but also the origins of Indian writing in English will find this volume particularly useful. This book also has a bibliography of further readings and an index.

AFRICAN LITERATURES IN ENGLISH: ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND COMPANIONS Cornwell, Gareth, Dirk Klopper, and Craig MacKenzie. The Columbia Guide to South African Literature in English since 1945. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. Gikandi, Simon, and Evan Mwangi. The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English since 1945. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Gikandi, Simon, ed. Encyclopedia of African Literature. New York: Routledge, 2003. Killam, Douglas, and Alicia L. Kerfoot. Student Encyclopedia of African Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. Killam, Douglas, and Ruth Rowe, eds. The Companion to African Literatures. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000. Moss, Joyce, and Lorraine Valestuk, eds. World Literature and Its Times: African Literature and Its Times. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Owomoyela, Oyekan. The Columbia Guide to West African Literature in English since 1945. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Roscoe, Adrian A. The Columbia Guide to Central African Literature in English since 1945. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.

Edited by Simon Gikandi, the ambitious Encyclopedia of African Literature aims to be “the most comprehensive reference work on African literature” (xii). With almost seven hundred entries, this encyclopedia covers authors, texts, and contexts, such as cultural and historical issues, critical and theoretical issues, and institutions and movements. Rather than focus on a particular century or language, it encompasses African literature from all time periods and in all languages, going far beyond the confines of postcolonial African literature in English; however, the majority of entries are for twentieth-century literary production. The entries themselves vary in length from a few lines to roughly three thousand words, cross-reference to one another, and end with brief bibliographies of further readings. Arranged alphabetically, entries for topics such as “apartheid and post-apartheid,” “Central African literatures in English,” and “poetry and poetics” are included alongside biographical entries for authors such as John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, Meja Mwangi, and Richard Moore Rive. An index to persons and topics ends this single-volume work. Although not as comprehensive as the Encyclopedia of African Literature, Douglas Killam and Alicia L. Kerfoot’s Student Encyclopedia of African Literature remains a valuable source of background information. This resource comprises 598 entries about authors, literary works, and subjects related to African literature. An alphabetical list of entries and a guide to related topics precede the encyclopedia entries proper. The topic guide is particularly helpful in that it categorizes entries as follows: “Generic Categories,” “Historical Periods,” “Novelists,” “Novels,” “Plays,” “Playwrights,” “Poetry Collections,” “Poets,” “Short Story Collections,” “Short Story Writers,” and “Social and Theoretical Frameworks.” This finding aid, in addition to the index, should help scholars easily identify relevant entries. The entries vary in length from a brief paragraph to several pages and frequently have lists of further readings. A selected bibliography is also provided. Edited by Douglas Killam and Ruth Rowe, The Companion to African Literatures is a guide to African literature written in English or in English translation. Authors like Ama Ata Aidoo, Bessie Head, Lauretta Ngcobo, Stanlake Samkange, and Amos Tutuola are covered in this single-volume work, as are selected works such as Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God, J. M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron, Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Healers, and Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Prisoners of

Jebs. Other entries address languages, literary genres and subgenres, and relations between literature and extraliterary influences. A selected list of topics and themes precedes the alphabetically arranged entries, which cross-reference to one another but do not have bibliographies. A country-author guide and a guide to readers are included in both the front and back matter. This single-volume work also has a bibliography of suggested further reading as well as a complete list of topical and thematic entries. Scholars of postcolonial African literatures in English should be familiar with the four volumes of The Columbia Guide to Literature Since 1945 series: Adrian Roscoe’s The Columbia Guide to Central African Literature in English since 1945; Simon Gikandi and Evan Mwangi’s The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English since 1945; Gareth Cornwell, Dirk Klopper, and Craig MacKenzie’s The Columbia Guide to South African Literature in English since 1945; and Oyekan Owomoyela’s The Columbia Guide to West African Literature in English since 1945. As the titles suggest, each volume covers Anglophone literatures from particular African regions from 1945 onward. The Columbia Guide to South African Literature in English since 1945 focuses strictly on the literature of South Africa, whereas the other volumes encapsulate literatures of multiple countries: The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone in West Africa; Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia in Central Africa; and Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Somalia in East Africa. These guides are composed of a chronology, introductory essays, alphabetically arranged entries, a selected bibliography, and an index. Most entries include bibliographies of primary sources, references, or further readings, depending on the entry. World Literature and Its Times: Profiles of Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Them currently comprises eight volumes on African, British and Irish, classical, Italian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Spanish and Portuguese literature. Designed to be representative, each volume discusses roughly fifty literary works from all genres and centuries. Individual entries introduce each work, delineate historical events from its times, describe how it elucidates history, outline historical events from the time the work was written, and provide a brief bibliography of further sources. Although most of the volumes are not germane to postcolonial literatures in English, the volume World Literature and Its Times: African Literature and Its Times covers works in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese, and African languages. This volume begins with an introduction to the history of and common themes within African literature and a lengthy chronology of historical events and related literary works from AD 500 to 1999. The remainder of the book is devoted to African literary works, including Doris Lessing’s African Laughter: Four Visits to Zimbabwe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not, Child, and Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather. A thorough index concludes the volume. CARIBBEAN LITERATURES IN ENGLISH: ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND COMPANIONS Balderston, Daniel, and Mike Gonzalez, eds. Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900–2003. New York: Routledge, 2004. Bucknor, Michael, and Alison Donnell, eds. The Routledge Companion to Anglophone Caribbean Literature. New York: Routledge, 2011.

Figueredo, D. H., ed. Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006.

Like many sources for this region, D. H. Figueredo’s Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature surveys Dutch, English, French, and Spanish literature from the Caribbean nations and French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname. The alphabetically arranged entries emphasize authors and topics important to the literature of these countries. A list of entries and a guide to related topics precede the more than seven hundred entries. Topical entries fall into the following categories: drama, fiction, genres and types of literature, cultural or national identity, journals, literary generations, movements, national literatures, organizations and institutions, poetry, and themes and topics. Because of Caribbean literature’s linguistic diversity, not all entries will be germane to scholars of Anglophone Caribbean literature. Including authors such as Louise Bennett, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Frantz Fanon, Marcus Garvey, Jamaica Kincaid, Mervyn Morris, Mutabaruka, and Jean Rhys, the biographical entries give an overview of the individual’s life and have lists of books, articles, and websites for further reading. A bibliography and index wrap up this two-volume set. Even broader than the Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature, the Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900–2003 covers authors, texts, and topics from any of the Caribbean, Central American, or South American countries. Entries for topics such as “city and literature,” “magical realism,” “music and literature,” and “nation-language” are mixed with entries for authors such as Kamau Brathwaite, Michelle Cliff, H. G. de Lisser, Pauline Melville, V. S. Naipaul, Caryl Phillips, and Dennis Scott. Generally brief, the entries cross-reference to other entries and end with citations for further readings. This single-volume encyclopedia also has a bibliography and an index. Edited by Michael A. Bucknor and Alison Donnell, The Routledge Companion to Anglophone Caribbean Literature comprises sixty-nine essays arranged in six parts: “Caribbean Poetics,” “Critical Generations,” “Textual Turning Points,” “Literary Genres and Critical Approaches,” “Caribbean Literature and . . . ,” and “Dissemination and Material Textuality.” This companion surveys the development and current state of Anglophone Caribbean literature. Whereas some essays address topics such as “The Eclectic Generation,” “Early Colonial Narratives in the West Indies,” “Ecocriticism,” “Indigineity,” and “The Idea of the Literary in the Little Magazines of the 1940s,” others discuss individual authors, including Dionne Brand, C. L. R. James, Earl Lovelace, Marlene Nourbe Se Philip, Derek Walcott, and Sylvia Wynter. Each chapter is written by an expert in the field and contains a bibliography. In addition to the table of contents, this single-volume work has a thorough index. SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURES IN ENGLISH: ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND COMPANIONS Natarajan, Nalini, ed. Handbook of Twentieth-Century Literatures of India. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. Sanga, Jaina C. South Asian Literature in English: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.

In comparison to African and even Caribbean literatures in English, there are relatively few sources specific to English-language South Asian literature. The sources discussed here are not

entirely devoted to English-language literatures, as encyclopedias and companions for South Asian literatures often encompass multiple languages and literatures. These resources —Handbook of Twentieth-Century Literatures of India and South Asian Literature in English: An Encyclopedia—should be useful for introducing scholars to the major authors, texts, and genres of English-language South Asian literatures. Published in 2004, South Asian Literature in English: An Encyclopedia covers the literatures of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Jaina C. Sanga edited this singlevolume work, which comprises entries on authors, autobiographers, film adaptations of literary works, genres, literary movements, major historical events, texts, themes, theoreticians, and theoretical terms. Entries range from 200 to 3,500 words in length and end with brief bibliographies of further readings. This encyclopedia also has a chronology of major historical and political events from ca. 2500 BC to AD 2003; maps of South Asia; a topical entry list; a select bibliography of anthologies, secondary sources, and periodicals; and an index. The topical entry list divides the encyclopedia’s content into the following broad categories: “Drama,” “Literary and Historical Terms and Issues,” “Literary Theorists,” “Novel/Film Adaptations,” “Novelists,” “Novels,” “Poetry,” and “Short-Story Collections.” Among the authors and literary theorists discussed in this encyclopedia are Partha Chatterjee, Vikram Chandra, Amit Chaudhuri, Amitav Ghosh, V. S. Naipaul, Michael Ondaatje, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Vikram Seth. Unlike South Asian Literature in English: An Encyclopedia, the Handbook of TwentiethCentury Literatures of India introduces Indian literature in English and in English translation as well as regional literatures in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Panjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. This work also differs in its focus on the twentieth century. Each of the sixteen chapters emphasizes a different region’s literary history. The chapters “Twentieth-Century Indian Literature in English” and “Parsi Literature in English” are the most useful to scholars of English-language Indian literature. Each chapter covers a particular literature’s main concerns, history, and development and includes a list of works cited and bibliography of selected primary sources. The volume ends with a selected general critical bibliography and an index. BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES Brians, Paul. Modern South Asian Literature in English. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Cox, Brian C. African Writers. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1997. Dance, Daryl Cumber, ed. Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit, MI: Gale Cengage, 1978–. Also available online via www.gale.cengage.com. Herdeck, Donald E., ed. Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia. Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1979. Malan, Robin. A–Z of African Writers: A Guide to Modern African Writing in English. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Shuter, 2009. Matthew, H. C. G., and Brian Howard Harrison, eds. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Rev. ed. 61 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Also available online via www.oxforddnb.com. Nelson, Emmanuel S. Writers of the Indian Diaspora: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.

Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth. Literature of the Caribbean. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. Parekh, Pushpa Naidu, and Siga Fatima Jagne, eds. Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Parini, Jay, ed. World Writers in English. 2 vols. New York: Scribner, 2004.

Since its first volume was published in 1978, the Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB) has been a standard in literary reference. The series began with the intent to cover all major American authors from all genres and time periods; however, by volume 13 in 1982, the DLB had expanded to include British authors as well. Currently the series has volumes for African, American, Asian, Australasian, British, Canadian, European, Latin American, Hispanic, and world authors, although the majority of volumes remain dedicated to American and British literature. In mid-2012, more than 360 volumes comprised this substantial set. The Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series and the Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook Series supplement the DLB proper. Both of these series are further discussed below. Each DLB volume begins with a list of previous volumes and ends with a cumulative index to the entire series. Both of these features can help scholars identify other relevant biographical content. Entries are written in a standard format and begin with the literary author’s name, birth and death dates, and cross-references to earlier DLB biographies. A bibliography of the author’s books, play productions, motion pictures, television, radio, recordings, other works, translations, and selected uncollected periodical publications precedes the essay, and a second bibliography of letters, interviews, bibliographies, biographies, references, and papers concludes the entry. The essay is intended to be an objective and impartial assessment of an author’s life in the context of his or her literary output. Each DLB volume emphasizes a different period, genre, or national literature, including titles such as South African Writers, Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature, and Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers. In addition to the print series, the Dictionary of Literary Biography content is available in two online resources: the Literature Resource Center (LRC) and the Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online, both Gale Cengage products. The Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series (DLB Documentary Series) is intended both to make primary source documents more widely available and to supplement the DLB, which tends to have more on biographical and critical contexts than reproductions of primary works. The DLB Documentary Series volumes may present a variety of materials, including letters, notebooks, diary entries, interviews, book reviews, and literary documents. The individual volumes focus on specific authors, literary movements, or publishing houses. The DLB Documentary Series was published as a separate series from 1982 until it merged with the DLB in 1999. Unlike the DLB Documentary Series, which contains primary source materials, the Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook (DLB Yearbook) provided similar content to the DLB proper, but was intended to augment, update, and review existing DLB entries. The DLB Yearbook was published annually from 1980 to 2002. Although it has a British emphasis, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) is a valuable source for postcolonial studies as well. Its greatest limitation may be that it includes biographical material for deceased persons only. Because postcolonial literatures in English are so contemporary, many major authors are not covered in this resource, as they are

still living. Now in its second edition, the print ODNB comprises sixty-one volumes. The first sixty volumes of the dictionary contain 50,113 articles on individuals, families, and groups who lived in the British Isles and its overseas possessions from the earliest times to 2000. The final volume is an index to ODNB contributors. The entries are made up of a biographical essay on the person’s life and significance, a bibliography of sources, location of archives, likenesses, and wealth at death as available. The printed edition arranges the biographies alphabetically, and the entries cross-reference to one another. Because the ODNB covers individuals from all professions and walks of life, it is useful for biographies not only of literary persons but also of people from diverse backgrounds, such as athletes, critics, educators, politicians, and soldiers. Because the biographies are not only for British citizens but also for persons associated with and influential in Great Britain, scholars will find entries for individuals such as Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola, Indian writer Nirad Chandra Chaudhuri, and Trinidadian playwright and actor John Errol alongside those for Geoffrey Chaucer, William Gladstone, and Queen Victoria. The print ODNB remains a valuable source, but scholars who have the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online (ODNB Online) at their disposal may want to consult it for ease of searching and for updated content about persons who have died through 2008. In addition to the ODNB entries, the online version has the full text from the first edition, The Dictionary of National Biography (22 vols. London: Oxford University Press, 1967–1969). The ODNB Online’s search interface increases access to entries. Scholars may simply search for a person’s name to determine whether he or she is included or may use the more advanced search features to identify people who match particular criteria related to name, fields of interest, sex, life dates, places, dates, life events, religious affiliation, image, and text. The online database has added organizational features, referred to as “Themes,” which may be “Features,” “Reference Groups,” and “Reference Lists.” “Themes” may be used to identify relevant biographies within fields of interest such as the armed forces, arts and culture, law, British Isles politics, overseas politics, religion, royalty, science and technology, sport, and trade and finance. The “Features” are essays on particular topics, such as “The Active Life: The Explorer as Biographical Subject,” “Britain and South Africa,” and “Eighteenth-Century India.” “Reference Groups,” on the one hand, are essays on historical groups that draw connections among individual biographies from the dictionary. They address a variety of groups such as “Anti-Slavery Society (act. 1823–1833),” “Pro-Boers (act. 1899–1902),” and “Founders of the Royal Geographical Society of London (act. 1828–1830).” On the other hand, “Reference Lists” simply assemble lists of particular types of biographies, which cover topics such as “Secretaries of state for the colonies (1801–1966)” and “Colonial administrators and post-independence leaders in Antigua and Barbuda (1632–2000).” There are lists for colonial administrators and postindependence leaders for all former British colonies. Although the majority of entries are not specific to persons from postcolonial nations, there are enough pertinent entries to make this a valuable resource for scholars studying the literatures of Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Edited by Jay Parini, the two-volume World Writers in English is part of the Scribner

Writers Series and comprises biographical and critical essays about authors from Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, China, India, Japan, and New Zealand who originally wrote in English. Of the forty authors profiled, twenty-eight are from African, Caribbean, and South Asian nations. Each entry is roughly twenty pages in length and includes a biographical essay, a critical overview of major literary works, and a bibliography of works by and about the author. This set tends to focus on well-known authors and discusses individuals such as Chinua Achebe, J. M. Coetzee, Bessie Head, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, Jean Rhys, Bharati Mukherjee, Arundhati Roy, and Vikram Seth. In addition to the entries, World Writers in English has a list of subjects by nationality and an index. Besides biographical sources for multiple regions and countries, there are many books that emphasize authors from a particular world region. Scholars of African literatures in English have a variety of biographical sources at their disposal, such as African Writers, Postcolonial African Writers, and A–Z of African Writers. African Writers is a two-volume set that comprises sixty-five biographical essays on late nineteenth- and twentieth-century authors from seventeen African nations. Whereas some authors wrote originally in English, others wrote in French, Portuguese, Arabic, and various indigenous African languages. Typically authors from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa wrote in English. For inclusion, authors had to have either been born in Africa or spent a substantial portion of their lives in Africa and must have made significant literary contributions. This work covers a variety of authors, such as Efua Theodora Sutherland, Meja Mwangi, Ray Campbell, Ana Ata Aidoo, Wole Soyinka, and Nadine Gordimer. Prior to the entries, the set includes an overview of writers by country, an introduction, and a chronology. Each entry contains a biographical essay, a critical survey of literary works, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. African Writers concludes with an index to the set. Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook was edited by Pushpa Naidu Parekh and Siga Fatima Jagne. Comprising entries for sixty authors, this singlevolume work covers Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone writers of novels, poetry, prose, and drama. In an attempt to be representative, Parekh and Jagne discuss major, minor, and emerging authors from African nations as well as those of the Indian diaspora born in Africa. Postcolonial authors such as Ayi Kwei Armah, Bessie Head, Doris Lessing, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Olive Schreiner, and Amos Tutuola are included. Each entry is divided into four sections: biography, major themes and works, critical reception, and a bibliography of primary and secondary works. Postcolonial African Writers also has a selected bibliography and an index. A–Z of African Writers: A Guide to Modern African Writing in English, compiled by Robin Malan, focuses on 205 modern African writers and their literary production. Individual entries may contain a brief biography, a bibliography, photographs of the writer, a cover image of one of his or her books, opening lines or an extract from one of the author’s works, a critical comment, and a quote from the author. As Malan states in his introduction, this work is “not an academic treatise” but “a useful guide,” and as such entries may not have the depth many scholars require. Although authors from across the African continent are included, a

disproportionate number, more than one hundred, are South African. In addition to the alphabetically arranged entries, this volume has indexes to authors by country and by date of birth. Structured like Postcolonial African Writers, editor Daryl Cumber Dance’s Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook provides brief entries comprising a biography, major themes and works, the critical reception, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. This single-volume work includes authors such as Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Jean D’Costa, C. L. R. James, Claude McKay, V. S. Naipaul, Jean Rhys, Andrew Salkey, Derek Walcott, and Sylvia Wynter. Fifty Caribbean Writers ends with a general bibliography and an index. Although somewhat dated, Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia has broader coverage than Fifty Caribbean Writers and as such is worth consulting even though it does not include the most contemporary authors. For additional discussion of this resource, scholars should consult chapter 4. This encyclopedia, edited by Donald E. Herdeck, comprises biographies of two thousand writers and bibliographic information for roughly fifteen thousand literary works, representing Caribbean literature in Dutch, English, French, and Spanish. Individual entries provide birth and death dates and locations as available, a career summary, and a bibliography of literary works. These entries are organized in four sections: “Anglophone Literature from the Caribbean,” “Francophone Literature from the Caribbean,” “Literatures of the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname,” and “Spanish Language Literature from the Caribbean.” Each section has introductory essays, lists of writers, and topical bibliographies. For example, the section on Anglophone Caribbean literature begins with “Essay on West Indian Writing,” “List of Writers from the West Indies by Country,” and “List of Writers Born Outside of the West Indies.” Following the alphabetically arranged biographical entries, the section has “Supplementary List of Writers from Belize”; portraits of Frank Collymore, Louise Bennett, and Derek Walcott; and bibliographies of bibliographies, critical studies, general anthologies and collections, background readings on pre-1900 literature, background readings on pre-1900 historical writings, background studies on particular islands post-1900, and selected West Indian literature journals. There is no index to this single-volume work. Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert’s Literature of the Caribbean approaches the history of Caribbean literature through fifteen of its major authors. Given the expanse of nations and languages comprising the Caribbean region, this volume only provides a cursory introduction to its literatures. Rather than focusing specifically on Anglophone literature, Paravisini-Gebert discusses authors writing in Creole, French, Spanish, and English, including Alejo Carpentier, Maryse Condé, Jamaica Kincaid, Jean Rhys, and Derek Walcott. Similar to the entries in Brians’s Modern South Asian Literature in English (discussed in the next paragraph), each chapter contains a brief biography, an overview of major works, and historical and cultural background. The volume also has a works cited list and an index. Like Killam’s Literature of Africa and Paravisini-Gebert’s Literature of the Caribbean, Modern South Asian Literature in English is a volume from the Literature as Windows to

World Cultures series. Written by Paul Brians, this book covers South Asian literature from 1915 through 2001. Taking a rather different approach than either of the other two histories of Anglophone South Asian literature, this work tells the story of South Asian literature by highlighting an individual Indian, Pakistani, or Sri Lankan author in each of the fifteen chapters, including Rabindranath Tagore, Khushwant Singh, Bharati Mukherjee, Michael Ondaatje, and Manil Suri. Each chapter has a brief biography of the author, an overview of major works, a discussion of historical and cultural background, and a selected bibliography. The volume concludes with a glossary of non-English terms and an index. Writers of the Indian Diaspora: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook comprises biographical, bibliographical, and critical information on fifty-eight authors. Although the title indicates an Indian diaspora as its focus, several authors are from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Lesser-studied writers such as Shashi Tharoor, Rohinton Mistry, and Amitav Ghosh are included alongside established authors like Anita Desai, V. S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, and Vikram Seth. Each entry is composed of a biography, major works and themes, critical reception, and a bibliography of works by and studies about the author. Writers of the Indian Diaspora also contains an index of authors, subjects, and works. Though not comprehensive, this work is a valuable resource for scholars of Anglophone Indian literature. CHRONOLOGIES Kurian, George Thomas. Timetables of World Literature. New York: Facts on File, 2003. Mellersh, H. E. L. Chronology of World History. 4 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.

Chronologies are useful for understanding how an author’s life and writings fit into historical and cultural events. This section addresses major literary and historical chronologies that should be useful for situating an author within the time period in which he or she lived. Though not an exhaustive survey of chronologies, the sources discussed here—Timetables of World Literature and Chronology of World History—are a representative sampling of this resource type. Other reference works, such as encyclopedias and companions, may also contain chronologies even though their purposes are broader than delineating historical events. George Thomas Kurian’s Timetables of World Literature covers literary authors and works from the earliest times to the year 2000. Not specific to English-language literature, Timetables includes literatures from fifty-eight countries in forty-one languages and claims to be “comprehensive but not exhaustive,” emphasizing canonical literary works (v). This chronology is divided into seven periods: “The Classical Age (to A.D. 100),” “The Middle Ages (100–1500),” “The Sixteenth Century,” “The Seventeenth Century,” “The Eighteenth Century,” “The Nineteenth Century,” and “The Twentieth Century.” Each section begins with an introduction to the major issues and literary traditions of the time period, brief entries on major period writers, and a summary of key world events. Then each year in the time period is listed along with notable births, deaths, literary events, and publications by language. The section “The Twentieth Century” is the most relevant for scholars of postcolonial literatures in English from African, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Because of the book’s scope, scholars will find

references to postcolonial literature in English alongside references to world literatures. For instance, in 1952 Indian novelist Vikram Seth was born, Kashmiri Urdu poet Ghulam Ahmad Mahjur died, French novelist François-Charles Mauriac won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nigerian Dennis Chukude Osadebay’s verse collection Africa Sings was published. The volume has a bibliography and title, author, genre, and language indexes. Scholars will find H. E. L. Mellersh’s four-volume Chronology of World History more thorough than the other chronology discussed here. Although it addresses literary events, it has a much broader focus, examining all aspects of world cultures from ca. 2800 BC to AD 1998. The four volumes are broken down into the following time periods: the ancient and medieval world, prehistory to AD 1491; the expanding world, 1492 to 1775; the changing world, 1776 to 1900; and the modern world, 1901 to 1998. For scholars of postcolonial literatures in English, the fourth volume may prove to be the most relevant to their research, although earlier volumes may be useful for identifying events in these nations’ precolonial and colonial past. Entries are arranged chronologically by year, month, and day, and are categorized into four main groups: “Politics, Government, and Economics,” “Science, Technology, and Medicine,” “Arts and Ideas,” and “Society.” Each group is then further subdivided. For example, “Arts and Ideas” has “Architecture,” “Arts,” “Film,” “Literature and Language,” “Music,” “Theatre and Dance,” and “Thought and Scholarship” as its subcategories. In addition to the chronology proper, each volume contains special features, “mini-chronologies” about important events, people, and topics. Each of the four volumes has its own main index and title index, specific to the contents of that volume. GENRE-SPECIFIC SOURCES Fallon, Erin, R. C. Feddersen, James Kurtzleben, Maurice A. Lee, and Susan Rochette-Crawley, eds. A Reader’s Companion to the Short Story in English. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. Hamilton, Ian, ed. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Irele, F. Abiola, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the African Novel. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Ousby, Ian. Cambridge Guide to Fiction in English. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Roberts, Neil, ed. A Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. Williams, Emily Allen. Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT; Greenwood Press, 2002.

When researching particular genres, scholars will find more relevant sources for literatures in English in general than for postcolonial literatures in English specifically. Most of the resources discussed in this section are not focused on literary works from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia, but include them alongside literature from Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, among other English-speaking nations. These sources also address individual genres, such as fiction, short stories, and poetry. Though not exhaustive, this section examines representative genre-specific resources. Part of the Cambridge Companions to Literature series, F. Abiola Irele’s The Cambridge Companion to the African Novel comprises fifteen chapters that trace various aspects of the history and development of the African novel as a distinct literary form. Individual chapters

read as discrete essays and address diverse topics such as “Chinua Achebe and the African novel,” “the Francophone novel in North Africa,” “magical realism and the African novel,” “autobiography and Bildungsroman in African literature,” and “the postcolonial condition.” In addition to these essays, this volume includes a bibliography, an index, and a chronology to historical, political, literary, and cultural events from 2500 BC to AD 2007. Ian Ousby’s Cambridge Guide to Fiction in English is perhaps the broadest source discussed in this section. It contains several thousand brief entries on authors, literary works, literary movements, tendencies, types, and devices from all forms of fiction in English from the Renaissance through the present. This reference source covers the literatures of Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Great Britain, India, New Zealand, South Asia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, although the heaviest emphasis is on British and American fiction. The volume begins with a lengthy introduction by Ousby on the history and development of fiction in English, which would be a good starting place for beginning scholars of English-language fiction. The entries proper are arranged alphabetically and are followed by a bibliography of critical and theoretical works and of histories, surveys, and thematic studies. The volume ends with an appendix of selected literary prizes, such as the Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, the Nobel Prize, the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, the Orange Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Prize, and the Somerset Maugham Awards. Unfortunately there is no index to the work, so the alphabetical arrangement is the only organizational tool to assist in locating relevant entries. Unlike the broad focus of the Cambridge Guide to Fiction in English, A Reader’s Companion to the Short Story in English provides in-depth biographical essays on forty-six short fiction authors from 1960 to 2000. Just fewer than half the entries are on American writers, and the remaining entries cover authors from other areas, including Africa, the Caribbean, and India. An introduction to the history of the short story in English begins this single-volume work and is followed by the entries proper. Scholars of postcolonial literatures in English will be particularly interested in entries for authors such as Chinua Achebe, Ama Ata Aidoo, Anita Desai, Nadine Gordimer, Jamaica Kincaid, Doris Lessing, Bharati Mukherjee, R. K. Narayan, Michael Ondaatje, Jean Rhys, and Salman Rushdie. Each entry contains a brief biography, an overview of criticism, an analysis of literary works, and a bibliography of primary and secondary works cited and consulted. The volume also has a selected annotated bibliography and an index. Ian Hamilton’s The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English focuses largely on British and American poetry but also includes the poetries of Australia, Canada, Scotland, Guyana, India, Saint Lucia, and other English-speaking nations. A bibliography of selected anthologies precedes the main entries. This work has entries for fifteen hundred poets, fewer than 150 of whom are from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. In addition to poets, entries cover topics, movements, magazines, and genres. There is no index to this companion, so scholars must rely on the alphabetical arrangement to identify relevant entries. A Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry is part of the Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture series and covers world poetry in English from the last century. Edited

by Neil Roberts, this single-volume work comprises forty-eight essays arranged in five sections: “Topics and Debates,” “Poetic Movements,” “International and Postcolonial Poetry in English,” “Readings,” and “The Contemporary Scene.” The section on international and postcolonial literature addresses the poetry of the West Indies, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Although this part is most obviously relevant, other pertinent chapters are scattered throughout the book, covering topics such as Derek Walcott’s Omeros and contemporary postcolonial poetry. Each essay is a discrete entity, complete with a bibliography, but like most books, this one is best when taken as a whole. An index wraps up the volume and should help scholars find additional relevant content. Whereas many of the other sources discussed in this section provide background information, Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001: An Annotated Bibliography is designed to guide scholars to pertinent research materials. Written by Emily Allen Williams, this singlevolume work begins with a brief introduction to the genre and a selected timeline of Anglophone Caribbean poetry. The bibliography is arranged into the following broad categories: “Anthologies,” “References: Bibliographies, Dictionaries, and Indexes,” “Conference Proceedings,” “Poets’ (Individual) Collections,” “Criticism: Casebooks, Journal Essays, and Monographs,” “Interviews,” and “Recorded Works (Audio and Audio-Visual).” The section on criticism is further subdivided by “Author and Text,” “Aesthetics and Theory,” “Gender and Sexuality,” “History and Culture,” and “Politics and Race.” A guide to further readings and indexes to authors, titles, and subjects are also provided. This is an excellent resource for any serious scholar of late twentieth-century Caribbean poetry in English. See chapter 4 for further discussion of this bibliography. AUTHOR-SPECIFIC SOURCES Booker, M. Keith. The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Gurnah, Abdulrazak, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Salman Rushdie. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth. Jamaica Kincaid: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Because postcolonial literatures in English are quite contemporary, there is a paucity of authorspecific reference books. As time progresses and the literary canon changes, additional authorspecific works should emerge. However, encyclopedias and companions have been dedicated to the lives and literary output of some major writers. This section discusses three such representative works about authors from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia: Booker’s The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia, Gurnah’s The Cambridge Companion to Salman Rushdie, and Paravisini-Gebert’s Jamaica Kincaid: A Critical Companion. This is by no means a comprehensive survey of author-specific reference sources, but should provide a sense of the kinds of reference works available. To determine whether reference works are available for a given author, search the local library catalog or WorldCat for the author as a subject. Subject headings that include terms such as bibliography, biographical dictionary, chronology, dictionary, encyclopedia, and handbook, indicate that a resource provides reference or background information. For more on online searching techniques, see chapter 1 for searching

basics and chapter 3 for more advanced methods. Edited by M. Keith Booker, The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia comprises hundreds of entries on the life and literary works of the prominent Nigerian author. Although the volume focuses heavily on Achebe’s novels, it also covers his poetry, short stories, nonfiction, and media adaptations of his works. In addition to entries on his writings, this encyclopedia has biographical entries on Achebe’s critics, friends, family, associates, and Achebe himself, and cultural, geographical, and historical entries that contextualize his life and works. A foreword, “Chinua Achebe and the Institution of African Literature,” by literary scholar Simon Gikandi begins the book and situates Achebe within the idea of African culture and literary history. A chronology of Achebe’s life precedes the encyclopedia entries, and an index and a bibliography of works by and about Achebe complete the volume. Although most of them deal with American, British, and Classical literature, a handful of the Cambridge Companions to Literature volumes pertain to postcolonial literatures in English. One such work is The Cambridge Companion to Salman Rushdie. Edited by Abdulrazak Gurnah, this volume is composed of an introduction plus eleven essays that address themes and issues as well as studies of individual texts. Essays cover topics such as “Rushdie and Bollywood Cinema,” “The Fatwa and Its Aftermath,” “Tricksters and Structures in Midnight’s Children,” and “The Politics of the Palimpsest in The Moor’s Last Sigh.” The volume concludes with an index and a bibliography of primary and secondary works. Part of Greenwood Press’s Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers series, Jamaica Kincaid: A Critical Companion introduces the Antiguan author and her literary works. The first two chapters of the book provide biographical information about Kincaid, and the latter four analyze the following novels: At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, and The Autobiography of My Mother. The volume also has a bibliography of works by and about Kincaid and an index. Because this series’ intended audience is high school students, this companion may not have the depth necessary to support more advanced scholars’ work, but it offers a useful introduction to Kincaid’s life and novels. CONCLUSION Reference resources, such as those discussed in this chapter, are often good places to begin exploring a new research topic. They should not, however, be ending points for most scholarly endeavors. By using the research guides, encyclopedias and companions, literary histories, biographical sources, chronologies, and select individual author- and genre-specific reference resources addressed here, you should start to build a knowledge base about your research topic. These sources should also provide valuable suggestions for further reading, which will help you gain more in-depth knowledge about postcolonial literatures in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. NOTE 1. Sigla refers to letters or other characters used to denote words.

Chapter Three

Library Catalogs Chapter 1 compared the library catalog to that of a retailer. Think of a library’s holdings—its books, journals, DVDs, microforms, and so on—as its stock. It would be nearly impossible to find items in even a modest-sized library without a catalog. For the catalog to be useful, the library’s holdings must be classified not only according to bibliographic details such as author and title, but also by less concrete information. Catalogers, who are typically professional librarians or highly trained staff, determine what goes into a MARC record (see chapter 1), but they do not pull the data from the air. Nor do catalogers place information in an arbitrary order. Rather, they follow a prescribed set of rules and must consider several factors, among them the geographic region and era covered in the work, genre, and of course, the work’s subjects. This chapter discusses cataloging, finding items in a library catalog, and using the catalogs of libraries around the world. LIBRARY CATALOGING: AN OVERVIEW The standard classification guide used by catalogers in English-speaking countries is the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition (AACR2). A cataloger can examine a book, decide on its salient subject and nonsubject headings, and then, following AACR2 rules, assign the book a call number. Many other types of material are cataloged as well, including DVDs, periodicals, artifacts, and musical recordings. If libraries had to do original cataloging using AACR2 for every item they acquired, it might take months to get an item on the shelf. Fortunately, most libraries in the United States and Canada get the bulk of their MARC records from a cooperative known as OCLC (discussed further later in this chapter). Catalogers must still add what are known as local notes, such as in which branch an item is located or how many copies the library owns. There is an emerging set of cataloging rules called Resource Description and Access (RDA), but that will not change the way users locate a given object in the library: by its call number. Call numbers represent the way in which an item is classified and provide the user with a way to access it. The two most common classification systems in the United States and Canada are Library of Congress (LC), used mostly by academic libraries, and the Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC), used mostly by public libraries. A third cataloging system, known as the Superintendent of Documents Classification Scheme (SuDocs), is used for U.S. government publications. SuDocs is not discussed in detail here, but because political issues sometimes inform postcolonial studies, the need for a government document might arise during your research. Details about SuDocs can be found on the FDLP Desktop at

www.fdlp.gov/cataloging/856-sudoc-classification-scheme. Library of Congress call numbers begin with letters of the alphabet, whereas the Dewey Decimal system begins with three numbers, ranging from 000 to 999. We focus on LC classification here, because it is more commonly used in North American academic libraries. Librarians are occasionally asked what the letters in Library of Congress call numbers stand for. The answer is, they do not stand for anything, at least not in the sense that initials do. Rather, they are simply assigned letters representing classification divisions and subdivisions. Works with call numbers beginning with PR, for example, fall under the broad division “English literature.” There are many subdivisions within this immense subject area, of course, and further subdivisions within those. Library of Congress classification uses a numbering system following the letters to specify the subject areas of a work. In the case of postcolonial literary research, there is no one call number range within which all work on the subject will fall. For a sense of how much variation exists even among similar titles, see figure 3.1. The three examples were produced by a search of the Library of Congress’s online catalog for the subject postcolonialism in literature and the keyword English. Each title in figure 3.1 contains the subject phrase searched for, postcolonialism in literature. Apart from that, no other subject heading appears in all three records. Some are similar; for example, each record has a heading that includes the phrase English literature— History and criticism. The second title, however, has inserted a subdivision, Developing countries, and the third has added the subdivision Theory, etc. Other subject headings vary from each other very subtly. The Post-colonial Studies Reader has a subject heading for Postcolonialism—Commonwealth countries, while Neither East nor West has one for Postcolonialism—English-speaking countries. Indeed, an examination of the three works shows that they provide very different treatments of the subject postcolonialism in literature. Childs’s book contains essays on colonial themes in works by, among others, Shakespeare, Charlotte Brontë, Joseph Conrad, and James Joyce. Ashcroft and colleagues gathered readings focusing on postcolonial studies theory and on criticism of several works by writers from former Commonwealth countries. Shands’s anthology consists of essays discussing themes in literature by authors both within and outside of the former British colonies. This should give some sense of the complexity of cataloging: to determine the call number for an item, a cataloger has to decide just which subject headings to assign.

Figure 3.1. Examples of results of a Library of Congress catalog search for the subject postcolonialism in literature (highlighted) and the keyword English. Library of Congress Catalog

It has been suggested that libraries arrange their books by general subject area as bookstores do: religion, fiction, health, and so on. But those are very broad categories. Libraries have to be far more precise. Classification makes it possible for books of a similar nature to be grouped near each other, which is much more meaningful than a simple alphabetical arrangement within a broad genre category. Consider the category “Fiction.” Whereas a bookstore can place works by Chinua Achebe, Aesop, Isaac Asimov, and Jane Austen in the same area, libraries arrange books by factors such as genre, the author’s nationality, and the main subjects of the work. Table 3.1 illustrates how books by these four authors are described using Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) and classified according to the rules of both the Library of Congress (LC) and the Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC):

Table 3.1. Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal Classification Call Numbers. Title

LCSH

LC

DDC

Things Fall Apart (Achebe)

The Complete Fables (Aesop) I, Robot (Asimov)

Pride and Prejudice (Austen)

Descriptor: Igbo (African people)—Fiction. British—Nigeria—Fiction. Men—Nigeria—Fiction. Race relations—Fiction. Genre/Form: Historical fiction. Geographic: Nigeria—Fiction. Descriptor: Fables, Greek—Translations into English. Descriptor: Robots—Fiction. Science fiction, American. Short stories, American. Genre/Form: Science fiction. Descriptor: Social classes—Fiction. Young women—Fiction. Courtship—Fiction. Sisters—Fiction. Genre/Form: Domestic fiction. Love stories. Geographic: England—Fiction.

PR9387 .9 .A3

823

PA3855 .E5

398.24/52

PS3551 .S5

813/.54

PR4034

823/.7

WorldCat on OCLC FirstSearch platform

The PA in the example covers classical literature; the PR covers English literature, including that of former colonies; and topics in American literature are classified within PS. USING THE CATALOG It has never been easier to discover the holdings of public, state, and academic libraries than it is today. Contrary to the persistent image that libraries are old-fashioned repositories of dusty books, they tend to be early adopters of technology. By the mid-1970s, long before most people even conceived of owning a personal computer, libraries were transferring the subject, title, author, and descriptive information of their collections from card catalogs to electronic ones. These electronic catalogs are sometimes referred to as online public access catalogs (OPACs). The earliest OPACs could be used only within a particular library, had limited search capabilities, and contained only the holdings of that single library or library system. It was a great advancement when catalogs permitted users to connect to them via file transfer protocol at dial-up modem speeds of 2,400 bits per second! Today, the Internet makes it possible to search an OPAC and get near-instantaneous results from just about anywhere in the world. Some OPACs even contain enhanced information such as images of book jackets, tables of contents, links to reviews, and user tags. Electronic cataloging was facilitated by two innovations: the development of MARC standards by Henriette Avram at the Library of Congress and the creation of the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) in Dublin, Ohio. MARC was discussed in some detail in chapter 1. OCLC expanded far beyond its Ohio origins, and the initials came to stand for Online Computer Library Center. Now it is simply known as OCLC. OCLC is a nonprofit organization that allows its membership, consisting of over 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories, to share MARC records with other libraries worldwide. From a researcher’s standpoint, the most important service provided by OCLC is the WorldCat database, discussed in the section

on union catalogs. If you have mastered the online searching skills discussed in chapter 1, you are already able to find items in a library’s OPAC. The following sections provide more detail for searching catalogs by author, title, or subject. AUTHOR SEARCHES An author search in a library catalog is conducted, not surprisingly, to produce a list of works created or co-created by an individual. In many cases, it will also find records for works that an individual has edited, or that contain a chapter, essay, foreword, or introduction by that writer. Note, however, that older catalog records may only list the name of the editor or compiler for multiauthor collections of stories, essays, and the like. OPACs may contain records for formats other than print, for example, e-books, DVDs, CDs, and websites. Author searches might also turn up institutes, societies, and corporations, because they search MARC field codes 110 and 710 (corporate name) in addition to field code 100 (personal name). When searching, it may not matter whether an author’s name is entered first name first (Nadine Gordimer) or last name first (Gordimer, Nadine), but it does matter when a catalog is being browsed. For that reason, the safest name ordering is almost always last name first. Online catalogs do behave differently from one another, and it never hurts to read an OPAC’s search tips or help menu. When multiple authors share a name, you may be able to tell which one you want from the author’s dates. The year of an author’s birth and, if applicable, death typically will appear next to the author’s name in the MARC record; for example, Desai, Kiran, 1971– or Desai, Anita, 1937–. Some online catalogs have a function that allows the user to browse an index as an alphabetical list. This can be useful when there are multiple spellings or variations of a name or when you are unsure of a spelling. Figure 3.2 shows the results of browsing an OPAC for the Nigerian playwright Tess Onwueme. There are probably not many authors called Onwueme, so we entered just the last name in our search box. Figure 3.2 shows that this library has nineteen records for Osonye Tess Onwueme, but it also cross-references two related headings: T. O. Akaeke Onwueme and Tess Akaeke Onwueme. Clicking on either of these variations refers the user back to the authorized name; that is, the name that has been deemed to be the official version by whatever entity dictates the rules for a given catalog—in this case, the Library of Congress. The practice of asserting authority control over names makes it possible to find all works by an author even when that person has written under a pseudonym or changed his or her name for any reason. This also applies when searching an author as a subject, as you would if you were looking for biographies or criticism of that person’s work (see the section on subject searches). Entering an author’s name in a keyword search will yield results both by and about an author and her work.

Figure 3.2. Modified Results List for OPAC Browse by Author Search. University of Oklahoma Libraries

Poetry, plays, and short stories are frequently anthologized. As noted previously, these works might turn up in an author search, if the individual authors are listed as such in the MARC record. You can also check for anthologized work by searching the author’s name as a keyword and, using the Boolean and operator, adding words such as anthology, collection, selection, treasury, or compilation. TITLE SEARCHES Title searches, like author searches, are performed when the researcher knows what he or she is seeking. Also like author searches, they can reliably be entered into a catalog’s basic search box, because there is seldom a need to use Boolean operators or limiters. The catalog’s basic search box should not be confused with the “one box” or “single-search box” found on many library home pages. These boxes sometimes sport labels such as “find” or “search the library” and aim to make searching so simple that even the option to select a specific index (author, title, subject, etc.) has been eliminated. Though simplifying searching is well meant, you will find that it is best to go straight to the library’s OPAC. Search boxes that do not allow the user to select an index frequently produce results completely unrelated to your title. For example, one library’s single-box book search for the title Things Fall Apart produced results not only for the Achebe novel, but also for titles on U.S. Supreme Court justices, Mexican tourism, a forgotten actress, Pakistan, the Teamsters union, and Hitler. In contrast, the search performed in the title index of the same library’s OPAC title-field search produced only one irrelevant result. Figure 3.3 illustrates the fields available to be

searched in a typical OPAC.

Figure 3.3. Section of catalog basic search with title index highlighted. University of Oklahoma Libraries

Though title searching is fairly straightforward, there are a couple of points to note. First, titles are cataloged alphabetically by the first word after any initial definite or indefinite article. Therefore, when entering your search you must omit the words the, a, or an when they appear at the beginning of a title. Similarly, if searching for a title in a language other than English, you may need to omit the equivalent articles. Because OPAC behavior is unpredictable with regard to searching foreign language titles, try your search both with and without the initial article. Second, be aware when conducting a title search that a library may own more than one edition of a work. Related criticism often surfaces in a title search, too. Returning to the example of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, dozens of editions or reprints of this novel have appeared since its original publication. It has been translated into Korean, Norwegian, Assamese, Basque, and numerous other languages. It has been published alone, as part of a trilogy, in an adaptation for children, as an e-book, as an audiobook, and in Braille. There are study guides and casebooks for it. Though Things Fall Apart is an extreme example, it does serve to illustrate the point that a researcher must take more than a cursory glance at a list of catalog records. For example, if the earliest edition owned by a library was published in 1991, that year will be displayed in the catalog. That is not necessarily when the book first came out, however; in fact, Things Fall Apart was published in 1958, shortly before Nigerian independence. SUBJECT SEARCHES While doing your research you will discover that certain Library of Congress subject headings

appear repeatedly in the resulting records. Unlike keywords, subject headings are drawn from sets of controlled vocabulary, terms that have been selected for a given index. A writer’s name is part of the controlled vocabulary for the author index. As figure 3.2 illustrates, when there are variations of a name, only one is the authorized, “official” version. Similarly, authorized subject headings are the controlled vocabulary for subject indexes. The file containing this controlled vocabulary may grow and change over the years, but those additions and alterations are not made frivolously. Catalogers draw upon authorized subject headings when creating a MARC record for an item, and those headings would become meaningless if they were not virtually set in stone. Still, there must be room for the authority file to adapt to changing times. It is easy to imagine a time before the term “postcolonialism” existed as a Library of Congress subject heading, but the need for it now is obvious. Subject searches using subject headings are more precise than keyword searching, and using them effectively will help you get relevant results. Sometimes the subject is an author or his work. When searching a work as a subject, the title will be attached to the author’s name in the MARC record. A geographic region might also have a subject heading. Figure 3.4 is a MARC record for Postcolonial Literatures: Achebe, Ngugi, Desai, Walcott, edited by Michael Parker and Roger Starkey. There are eleven subject headings for this record. Figure 3.5 is a partial view of the same record showing the MARC codes for the eleven subject headings.

Figure 3.4. MARC Record for Postcolonial Literatures: Achebe, Ngugi, Desai, Walcott. Library of Congress catalog

We are familiar with the 650 field, used for Subject Added Entry—Topical Term, from chapter 1. In this record Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Anita Desai, and Derek Walcott —the authors with whom the book is concerned—are also subjects. The MARC code for these author-subjects is 600, used for Subject Added Entry—Personal Name. What’s more, there are 651 field codes for Nigeria, Kenya, India, and the West Indies, because the places as they are treated in literature are also the subjects of this book. The 651 code is used for Subject Added Entry—Geographic Name. The example in figure 3.5 is a good place to begin when thinking of some useful subject headings. The 650 field headed Commonwealth literature (English) contains the subheading History and criticism, so we will use that phrase when searching for scholarly works. The 600 fields, used for the authors who are the subject of Parker and Starkey’s book, bear the subheading Criticism and interpretation. The phrase In literature appears next to geographic subjects in the 651 fields, so this phrase will help us find material discussing the treatment of regions or concepts in a creative work.

Figure 3.5. Section of MARC record for Postcolonial Literatures: Achebe, Ngugi, Desai, Walcott showing the 600, 650, and 651 subject fields. Library of Congress catalog

Some of the adjectives used in the subject headings for postcolonial literatures or criticism may be unfamiliar, such as “Indic” or “Anglo-Indian.” The Library of Congress may have different ways of describing activities, people, or concepts than you do. When was the last time you called a movie a “motion picture”? Yet that is the phrase to use when researching themes in film. One way to discover authorized subject headings is through the WorldCat database via the FirstSearch platform. WorldCat is discussed extensively in the section on union catalogs in this chapter, but we can look at this particular function here. WorldCat’s advanced search mode contains Library of Congress subject headings, the icon for which is circled in figure 3.6.

Figure 3.6. View of Library of Congress subject headings accessed through FirstSearch WorldCat. University of Oklahoma Libraries

Upon clicking the subjects icon, the user is asked to enter a word or concept in a search box. In the preceding example, the phrase searched was Caribbean literature. Caribbean literature is the authorized LCSH and is used for the unauthorized heading Caribbean Area—Literatures. A link next to the subject heading provided the expanded list displayed in figure 3.6, and from that we get other important information, such as a list of narrower subject headings. Thus, if we wanted to do a more precise subject search for Caribbean literature written in English, we now know to use the term Caribbean literature (English). Notice that there is a link to expand each of the narrower subject headings, which indicates that even more precise subject headings are available. Finally, the list includes a topical subheading, Colonial influence. Clicking on any of these headings in WorldCat produces a list of works containing that LCSH. Another method for discovering Library of Congress authorized subject headings is to go to the source itself. The Library of Congress makes its subject, name, title, name/title, and keyword authorities available to the public at authorities.loc.gov. A chart on the search page explains what is being searched in each authority file and provides examples. Though available to anyone, this site is not user-friendly and may frustrate nonlibrarians (and indeed, many librarians as well). For that reason, we will go through an example step by step. Let’s

suppose we want to find at least one official LCSH for Anglo-Indian literature. We begin by searching the subject authority headings for India literature. Figure 3.7 is a partial view of the product of this search. Because the authorities database produces an alphabetical list of results, we are shown India Literatures (plural); apparently the singular does not exist in the database.

Figure 3.7. Partial view of Library of Congress subject authority search for India literature. Library of Congress

Note that there are zero records in the “Bib Records” column, which would seem to indicate that the Library of Congress has no work cataloged on the subject of literature from India. Preposterous! We do see, however, a button labeled “References.” Clicking that button, we are instructed to “See: Indic literature.” Now we know that Indic literature is the authorized subject term. In figure 3.8 Indic literature is hotlinked. Following that link, we arrive at a list of subject headings, a very small portion of which are displayed in figure 3.9. Now we have a collection of subject phrases we can use in conducting our research. A few of the subject headings have an icon in the first column, one labeled “Authorized Refs. & Notes” and the others labeled “Authorized Heading.” The absence of such an icon does not mean that the LCSH is illegitimate. An authorized heading is one created by the Library of Congress as the official heading for a topic, and often the records for these headings contain scope notes that provide additional information. But then those headings may be subdivided, as are the second through

twelfth entries in figure 3.9. The Library of Congress does not create a record for each subdivided subject heading, but they are authorized nonetheless.

Figure 3.8. Information for subject heading search for India literature. Library of Congress

Figure 3.9. Portion of subject heading list linked from LCSH Indic literature. Library of Congress

It is not necessary to memorize controlled vocabulary to be successful in your research; many catalogs cross-reference the “wrong” term with the authorized one. But using controlled vocabulary rather than keywords in a subject search can save time and increase precision. Following are some Library of Congress subject headings useful in researching postcolonial literatures: Postcolonialism in literature Decolonization in literature Commonwealth literature (English)—History and criticism African literature (English)—History and criticism South Asian literature (English)—History and criticism Caribbean literature (English)—History and criticism Caribbean literature—Colonial influence West Indian literature (English)—History and criticism [Adjectival country name] literature—History and criticism (e.g., Jamaican literature— History and criticism) [Author name]—Criticism and interpretation (e.g., Naipaul, V. S.—Criticism and interpretation) [Author name]—Literary style (e.g., Walcott, Derek—Literary style) If you are researching the history and criticism of a particular genre, you can narrow your subject heading by substituting drama, fiction, or poetry for the word literature in the preceding examples (e.g., Nigerian drama (English)—History and criticism). Another way to make your search more precise is to add a century, for example, Nigerian literature (English) —20th century—History and criticism. This might seem overwhelming, but most catalogs today are flexible enough to refer you to the right LCSH even when you invert the order of terms. You can safely omit the parentheses and dashes, particularly in catalogs that permit subject keyword searches. And if you browse the subject index, a broad subject term will appear in an alphabetical list that you can scroll through to select a narrower one. Look for “see also” and “see related” links in results lists, too. Figure 3.10 shows a few entries resulting from a subject browse for South African literature. These results refer to headings related to South African literature, and they also show subdivisions of the heading (e.g., South African literature (English)—20th century). Finally, when you find one book that meets your needs, check the subject fields for relevant hotlinked terms. Clicking on one will pull up other items bearing the same subject fields.

Figure 3.10. Section of results list from Catalog Browse by Subject for South African literature. University of Oklahoma Libraries

OTHER WORLDS, OTHER OPACS As you pursue your research topic, you may find that your institution’s collection seems less than comprehensive. No library in the world owns everything, not even the Library of Congress or the British Library. This may be particularly true in the area of postcolonial literatures. The discipline itself is comparatively new and unusually diverse. The countries that we now label “postcolonial” might have little in common with one another, apart from having once been under British rule. Fortunately, it is possible to search the OPACs of libraries around the world. In many cases, your library can borrow material for you. This section discusses union and national library catalogs, including how to access and use them over the Internet. UNION CATALOGS Online Catalog (Center for Research Libraries), at catalog.crl.edu (accessed 14 February 2012). Copac National, Academic, and Specialist Library Catalogue, at www.copac.ac.uk (accessed 14 February 2012). Jamaican Union Catalogue, at 198.170.76.2/juc (accessed 14 February 2012).

OAIster, at www.oclc.org/oaister (accessed 14 February 2012). South Asia Union Catalogue, at sauc.uchicago.edu (accessed 14 February 2012). WorldCat. Dublin, OH: OCLC, at www.oclc.org/firstsearch. WorldCat.org, at www.worldcat.org (accessed 14 February 2012).

Union catalogs make it possible to search the holdings of multiple libraries simultaneously. The largest electronic union catalog is WorldCat, which consists of records contributed by its worldwide membership. WorldCat is constantly expanding; in the time it took to type this sentence, twenty-five records were added. Most of the member libraries participate in a lending and borrowing program called interlibrary loan (ILL), making it possible for users at any participating library to use material from another participating library. ILL greatly expands the material available to a researcher. As long as your library participates in ILL, a title being listed in WorldCat is almost as good as having the item in your own library’s catalog. The few libraries that do not participate in interlibrary lending through WorldCat may belong to regional consortiums with whom they share holdings. There are three versions of WorldCat: WorldCat, a subscription product using OCLC’s FirstSearch platform; WorldCat.org, available for free on the open Web (“open WorldCat”); and WorldCat Local, which provides faceted searching of a particular library’s catalog and, if the library chooses, selected article databases. WorldCat.org is excellent for quick and simple searches, but there may be advantages to using your library’s subscription version of WorldCat, if available. First, OCLC’s FirstSearch has better indexing and more search options than open WorldCat. Second, the subscription database boasts records from many more participating libraries than does the free one. Finally, WorldCat via FirstSearch will show you if your library owns a title. If it doesn’t, you may be able to request an interlibrary loan directly from the WorldCat record. Figure 3.11 compares the advanced search features of WorldCat on FirstSearch and WorldCat.org. 1

Figure 3.11. Comparison of advanced search features in FirstSearch WorldCat and Worldcat.org.

Unquestionably, open WorldCat is a more user-friendly product than WorldCat on FirstSearch, and often it will be sufficient for your needs. Just be aware that WorldCat.org is a much smaller database than FirstSearch’s version and has limited search options. If you use open WorldCat you should go straight into the advanced search mode so that you can search by particular indexes; the front page features only a single search box with tabs for searching all formats, books, DVDs, CDs, or articles. In contrast to the single search box featured on open WorldCat’s front page, the basic search on WorldCat through FirstSearch is more flexible, allowing for the selection of some of the more commonly used indexes. Although it does not offer Boolean operators in the basic search mode, the FirstSearch platform effectively allows for and searching by permitting the researcher to enter queries in multiple boxes. The advanced search mode should be used for complex research topics. Say we are looking for works taking a critical approach to West Indian poetry. There is more than one way to go about this search, but since we identified some Library of Congress subject headings in the discussion of subject searching, we will refer to that list in selecting our terms.

Our goal is to find records containing at least one of the phrases, Caribbean poetry or West Indian poetry, in the same record as the subheading history and criticism. In constructing our query, we want to find a balance that will be narrow enough to eliminate irrelevant records yet broad enough to retrieve all of the records appropriate to our research. We will use the advanced search mode of FirstSearch WorldCat, because the basic mode does not permit searching by subject, and we will be entering authorized LCSHs. To ensure that our Boolean logic is properly understood, we will use nesting in our search queries. (Nesting is explained in chapter 1.) There are two good candidates in the list of subject headings: Caribbean literature (English)—History and criticism and West Indian literature (English)—History and criticism—and we know we can substitute poetry for literature to keep our results focused. There are at least three ways to express our query, listed below with the number of hits retrieved on the day the search was performed. We used the subscriptionbased WorldCat, and in each case the search was of the subject index, the language was limited to English, and the document type was set to books: 1. (“Caribbean poetry English” AND “History and criticism”) OR (“West Indian poetry English” AND “History and criticism”): 80 2. (“Caribbean poetry” AND “History and criticism”) OR (“West Indian poetry” AND “History and criticism”): 111 3. (Caribbean OR “West Indian”) AND poetry AND “history and criticism”: 127 The reason for the difference in the first and second searches is obvious: in the second we removed the word English from the query. Whereas including that term ensures that Englishlanguage poetry will be a subject of any book our search turns up, it also disqualifies books that may discuss both Anglophone and non-Anglophone poets. It is also possible that a work entirely about English-language poetry simply was not assigned the subject heading that specified English. The third search produced the most results because it was the most flexible. Figure 3.12 is from the record for Cultural Crossings: Migration, Generation, and Gender in Writings by Claude McKay and Paule Marshall, a result that was unique to the third search. The highlighted subject terms tell the story: although both Caribbean and poetry appear as subjects, they are separated by American. The quotation marks around these two terms held them together as a phrase in the first and second search strings we created. The way the third search was crafted allowed for records to be retrieved in which both words appeared, regardless of whether they were adjacent to one another.

Figure 3.12. Partial record resulting from WorldCat search for subject (Caribbean OR “West Indian”) AND poetry AND “history and criticism.” WorldCat via Firstsearch

Figure 3.11 showed that open WorldCat automatically searches OAIster. OAIster is another union catalog hosted by OCLC, which contains more than 25 million records of open-access digital resources contributed by about 1,100 institutions. OAIster can be searched independently of WorldCat. It is also available to subscribing libraries via FirstSearch and can be cross-searched on that platform with WorldCat. The types of material that you will find in OAIster include electronic versions of theses and dissertations, articles and book reviews from online open-access journals, digitized papers from conferences and forums, audio and video files, blogs, and websites. Many of the records in OAIster link to free full text via the Internet. Others provide bibliographic information and an abstract. OAIster is not a substitute for indexes such as the MLA International Bibliography, however, because it does not index print-only sources at all. It is also multidisciplinary, so only a portion of the records is relevant to literary research. Before a search is conducted, the subscription and open Web versions of OAIster are very similar to one another. Both have more limited search options than either version of WorldCat, even in advanced mode. For example, the only language options are no limit, English, and nonEnglish. From the advanced screen, searchable indexes include keyword, author, title, and subject, among others. The one difference is that in FirstSearch’s version of OAIster, there is an option to sort by either relevance or date. The greatest variation in how the two OAIster platforms behave is evident after a search is conducted. A search done on OAIster via the Web produces faceted results, making narrowing results a simple matter. A presearch sorting option is unnecessary in Web-based OAIster; facets separate the results into years, with the number of records found for each year shown in parentheses. Other facets let the user select records by format, author, and language. That last category is, however, imperfect: all but one of the “undetermined” language results for this search were in fact in English. There are several document types or formats in OAIster, but they are not consistently applied. For example, a recent keyword search in Web-based OAIster for postcolonial English

literature produced sixty-eight records labeled as “computer files.” In spot-checking the results we find that “computer file” includes conference papers, journal articles, abstracts to printed volumes, and a number of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations; in fact, the majority of the citations fell into the last group. But there were also fifty-four additional dissertations and theses categorized as such. Still more electronic theses and dissertations were discovered when results were limited to the “downloadable archival material” format. Furthermore, one of the two records listed under the “e-book” document type was actually a journal article, and the other accessed an abstract, not the book itself. Some libraries in the United Kingdom contribute records to WorldCat and OAIster, but the main UK online union catalog is Copac National, Academic, and Specialist Library Catalogue. Copac contains over thirty-two million MARC records from university, special, and museum libraries throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. It displays records from the British Library as well as the national libraries of Scotland and Wales. There are three options for searching Copac: Quick, Main, and Map. “Quick Search” allows the user to enter terms in any or all of three fields: “Author, Editor (etc.)”; “Title words”; and “Keyword.” “Keyword” searching includes all parts of the record. “Main Search” adds fields for “Publisher,” “ISBN/ISSN (etc.),” and “Subject.” It also permits limiting the search to a date or range of publication dates, a place of publication, type of material, language, and participating Copac library. Clicking on the “More” link next to each searchable or limitable field provides help and tips for the field. The Copac “Map Search” catalogs atlases, topographical surveys, maps, and the like. Map searching will be of limited usefulness to most researchers, because it is unlikely that the material can be circulated. Nowadays one would be hard-pressed to find a book or periodical in Copac that is not also discoverable through a search of WorldCat, but researchers of Anglophone postcolonial literary studies will want to make sure they have covered all the ground. This is especially important when researching concepts as opposed to a specific work or author. Searching both WorldCat and Copac for the subject African fiction (English) and the keyword narrative produced a number of unique, appropriate results in each catalog. When checking WorldCat for books only found in Copac and vice versa, it turned out that almost all of the titles were represented in both databases. The vagaries of subject and keyword assignment, however, affected the outcomes of the queries. Sixty-four public, school, and university libraries contribute records to the Jamaican Union Catalogue (JUC). Published creative writing, literary criticism, and some journal articles are indexed in the JUC. Though Boolean operators and a limited number of fields are available, it is better to keep your search terms broad. The catalog is quirky and inconsistent; there is no guidance in how to form queries, beyond when to use the and, or, and not operators. A search for Salkey, Andrew as an author produced no results. However, an author search for Salkey Andrew (i.e., omitting the comma) got eighty-two hits, and searching Andrew Salkey in the author index retrieved seventy-three records. (This is the exception that proves the rule discussed in the section on author searches.) Conversely, subject index searches of both Andrew Salkey and Salkey Andrew produced nothing, but Salkey, Andrew turned up one title.

The researcher is therefore advised to take multiple approaches when using the JUC. To see subject headings and abstracts, set the format for displaying records to “detailed.” On its website, the South Asia Union Catalogue (SAUC) describes itself as “an historical bibliography describing books and periodicals published in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, colonial Burma, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka from 1556 through the present and a union catalogue of holdings.” The lead institution maintaining SAUC is the University of Chicago, but it partners with several libraries and organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Asia. Advanced searching is available, and results can be limited by language. Records are in MARC format, and the same Library of Congress subject search strategies we have previously discussed can be used to search SAUC. Even if SAUC returns results that can also be found through WorldCat, it is of interest to researchers because it isolates works published in the subject countries. Many college and university libraries in the United States and Canada belong to the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). Located on the campus of the University of Chicago, the CRL’s mission is to collect, preserve, and make available unique and rare documents in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The Center’s free, searchable Online Catalog is a good resource for background material on postcolonial issues because of the CRL’s emphasis on collecting foreign journals, dissertations, microfilm, and print resources supporting area studies research. Help from a librarian is available; see the Center’s website at www.crl.edu for information. You may find it beneficial to take advantage of this service, as the catalog exhibits some strange behavior. For example, a Boolean keyword search for India and theater and review found nothing, so the search engine changed the operators to or. This produced a huge list of irrelevant records. The simplified search for India and theatre, on the other hand, found forty-eight results, including such promising items as issues of the Seagull Theatre Quarterly, a periodical published in Calcutta; microform for a New Delhi serial titled Stagedoor; and a volume called A Handful of Dreams: Essays and Reviews in Search of Indian Theatre. The CRL Online Catalog is not actually a union catalog; the material and records all reside at the Center. However, if your library is a member of the CRL network, you will be able to borrow material through ILL. Nonmember libraries can also borrow from the CRL, but there are certain restrictions. You can see whether your institution belongs to the CRL by checking its membership list at crl.edu/membership/member-list. We were unable to find other online union catalogs useful to postcolonial literary research. As WorldCat grows, it seems to obviate the need for each country or region to form its own database of united OPACs. NATIONAL LIBRARIES British Library, at www.bl.uk (accessed 14 February 2012). Index Translationum, at portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=7810&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=-465.html (accessed 14 February 2012). Janson, Marlies, and Helmut Opitz. World Guide to Libraries. 2 vols. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 2011.

Library of Congress Online Catalog, at catalog.loc.gov (accessed 14 February 2012). National Library of India, at www.nationallibrary.gov.in (accessed 14 February 2012). National Library of Jamaica, at www.nlj.gov.jm (accessed 14 February 2012). National Library of South Africa, at www.nlsa.ac.za (accessed 14 February 2012).

Neither the CRL nor Copac has member libraries in Caribbean, African, or South Asian countries. Representation from these regions in WorldCat is spotty. Therefore, you may wish to consult national or university library catalogs of individual decolonized countries. An excellent print resource for finding these libraries is the World Guide to Libraries, published annually by DeGruyter Saur. Arranged by country and then by type of library, this directory provides contact information, including websites when available, for over two hundred countries. The size of each library’s collection is also listed, and in some cases, collection strengths. The World Guide to Libraries is available in many academic and state libraries. UNESCO has links to national libraries through its Index Translationum. The list is in simple alphabetical order by country. Be prepared for some disappointment; some national library sites are very basic, and not all have searchable catalogs. Many do, however, so it is worth exploring this site. Remember that the collection scope of a national library may not focus on creative works, so these catalogs may prove more useful for gathering background information than for finding literary criticism. You will have to explore individual libraries to get a sense of their holdings. The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States. Over thirty-three million books and other print materials are cataloged, and the library’s collections of manuscripts, maps, recordings, prints and photographs, and films are immense. The Library of Congress Online Catalog has quick, basic, and guided search modes (guided search being the equivalent of what is often termed advanced search). Unless you are looking for a particular title or author, choose the guided search. There you will be able to use Boolean operators, select from a number of indexes, and limit your search by factors such as language, date range, and type of material. Occasionally, items from before 1980 might not appear in the Library of Congress’s OPAC. If you are in the Washington, D.C., area, are over age sixteen, and possess a passport or driver’s license, you can register to use library materials onsite. The library’s stacks are closed, and books cannot be checked out. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Although the British Library’s main catalog is included in Copac, you may want to visit the site. In addition to the main catalog, which contains records for fifty-six million items, some interesting finding aids are available. In particular, scholars researching the postcolonial literatures of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh can find colonial-era private papers, prints and drawings, and photographs from the India Office Select Materials catalog . Unfortunately, the material is not digitized and can only be used in the St. Pancras (London) branch of the British Library. Not every country has a national library offering OPAC access. Among the few that do are the National Library of Jamaica, the National Library of India, and the National Library of South Africa.

The National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) features OPAC searching in both basic and advanced modes. From the landing page of the NLJ’s website the user must select from a pulldown menu which catalog to search. The options are NATCAT, which contains the holdings of the NLJ; the Jamaica Union Catalog (JUC), which adds records from a national computerized library network; Manuscripts, which catalogs unpublished material, much of it having to do with the history of Jamaica; and Maps, which searches estate maps. There is no information on the Maps collection, several very broad search attempts got no hits, and browsing is not available. The NLJ’s OPAC is a subset of the JUC, discussed in the preceding section on union catalogs, so we need not repeat that information here. There are reasons for visiting the NLJ’s website apart from its catalog. Some digitized exhibits on Jamaican history and culture, including content from historic newspapers and books, finding aids for rare material held by the library, and photographs, are available through the “Collections” menu. The “Quick References” menu contains a few biographies of notable Jamaicans, links to cultural agencies, a brief version of the Jamaican Constitution, and a couple of pages that may help in understanding Jamaican culture: the origins of some unusual place-names and Jamaican proverbs, translated into standard English and explained; for example, “Quatti buy chubble, hunjed poun’ cyaan pay farri” translates to “a penny-halfpenny (1 1/2d) buys trouble, one hundred pounds (£100) cannot pay for it” is explained as “little blunders can cause us to find ourselves in situations so complex that we cannot extricate ourselves.” The National Library of India allows users to search its catalog by author, subject, title, or any word, as well as by ISBN or call number. The library uses Universal Decimal Classification, which will be unfamiliar to most North American researchers. “Any word” searches author, title, or subject keywords. The Boolean and and or operators are available. Only published books are cataloged. There is a separate catalog of digitized books, but registration is required to read them. Although there is a form for online registration, it seems to need to be completed in person, and there is no place on the website for user login. As is the case for the National Library of Jamaica, there are virtually no titles in the National Library of India’s OPAC that cannot be discovered in a WorldCat search. The OPAC of the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) is called NLSA webPAC. The advanced search mode allows for the creation of search strings (see chapter 1) and provides tips regarding Boolean and proximity operators, wildcard symbols, limiting by field, etc. The OPAC uses Library of Congress subject headings and so can be searched the same way one would search WorldCat, for example; by the same token, the NLSA supplies records to WorldCat, so there may not be any reason for using webPAC. The “Databases and Catalogues” section of NLSA’s website provides links to other resources that might be of interest to literary scholars: a directory of small and independent publishers, a catalog of South African literature, and the Index to South African Periodicals (ISAPOnline). ISAPOnline is discussed fully in chapter 7. CONCLUSION

As a researcher in the digital age, the world’s library holdings are at your fingertips—with a few caveats. The existence of MARC records and the ever-increasing addition of them to the WorldCat and Copac databases have made many regional union catalogs all but obsolete. An understanding of Library of Congress subject headings will facilitate finding material in those online catalogs that use LCSH, but not all do. You may need to spend a few moments familiarizing yourself with the subject indexing of any given catalog. National libraries, with their focus on the history and culture of a particular country, might own rare or unique items, but not all have online catalogs. Of those union and national catalogs that are accessible online, some are relatively rudimentary. To use them, keep your searches broad and simple, and be prepared to try multiple strategies. Be patient; servers may be slow. Finally, you may turn up material that cannot be borrowed using your home institution’s ILL service. On the other hand, having online access to union and national library catalogs will broaden your access to resources far beyond your library’s stacks. NOTE 1. “Watch WorldCat Grow (Live).” www.oclc.org/worldcat/newgrow.htm. Accessed June 9, 2011.

Chapter Four

Print and Electronic Bibliographies, Indexes, and Annual Reviews A bibliography is more than just a list of works cited in a research paper. When compiled for a specific subject area, a good bibliography is an invaluable tool. The individuals who compile bibliographies are knowledgeable in a field, know the key journals in a subject area, and are experienced at finding new publications on a topic. In short, bibliographers do the “legwork” of gathering sources on a particular subject, evaluating them, and organizing the information in a way that makes it easy for the researcher to locate. This chapter identifies bibliographies and related tools used by researchers to find works by postcolonial authors and literary criticism. Print and electronic resources are included. The scope of a bibliography varies depending on its purpose. It may be limited: to work from a particular time period, genre, or geographic region; to criticism published in recent years; or it may strive to list all work created by an author or on a particular subject. A bibliographic entry—the record of each item in a list of sources—should contain, at the very least, enough information to enable a user to locate the item. This would generally be the same sort of information you would use to cite an item: title, author, source, publisher, and year published. Because some bibliographies are so thorough that they contain rare or even unpublished material, the library holding an item might also be noted in its record. Many bibliographies begin with an explanation of their scope and the best way to use them. It is worth taking a few moments to read a bibliography’s scope notes or introduction to learn what the author chose to include or exclude, and why. For example, some may list plays that were produced but never published, or translations that fit a particular set of criteria, or interviews from newspapers. Others may not. Some may attempt to comprehensively cover primary material but include secondary material only selectively. We try to accurately describe the scope of each bibliography, annual review, or index discussed in this chapter, but remember that as a general rule, reviewing scope notes can save time and energy. A bibliography may be comprehensive, meaning that it strives to include all resources that have been published (and in some cases, unpublished) on a topic. The resources may be organized in simple alphabetical order, usually by author. Or they may be grouped into categories. Often sources will be cross-referenced with one another; for example, individual chapters might be cross-referenced with the book in which they appear. The compiler of a comprehensive bibliography might just list resources without making any sort of evaluation or comment on them, or might examine the sources and provide further information, such as a brief summary of each cited work.

Though a comprehensive bibliography might contain abstracts or summaries, it seldom does, because doing so would require a thorough examination of each listed source. Annotated bibliographies, on the other hand, provide some information about each source. This might be anything from a few descriptive words to a paragraph evaluating the source. Annotated bibliographies usually do not strive to be comprehensive, but rather to present new, representative, seminal, or interesting sources. This chapter also discusses three other source-finding tools. Bio-bibliographies, as the name indicates, combine essays about the life and work of a subject with a selective bibliography. Though brief, these bibliographies can be an excellent starting point for research about a particular author, especially for lesser-known ones. Annual reviews report on scholarship that has been done during a year. Their format can range from brief citations to evaluative essays. Indexes are generally broader than bibliographies, covering an entire discipline as opposed to one area of study. You may be surprised by the unprofessional appearance of several of the resources discussed in this chapter. Some appear to have been created on a typewriter, and perhaps they were. Bibliographic compilation is often a labor of love conducted by devoted individuals, some of whom work outside an academic setting. This does not make them any less valuable to the researcher. Their value continues even in an age when some might suppose they have been made obsolete by Google and other search engines. No search engine can duplicate the discernment and dedication of a good bibliographer. As a general research practice, remember that the references or works cited lists in recent books of literary criticism or theory often act as bibliographies. To give but one example, the bibliography in Pramod K. Nayar’s Postcolonialism for the Perplexed (Continuum, 2010) is twenty-three pages long. It is organized alphabetically by author, whereas a designated bibliography might be divided by country, genre, format, subject, or date; still, it is an excellent way to find newer resources. We have tried to identify those bibliographies, annual reviews, and indexes that would be the most useful to today’s researcher. To that end, certain selection criteria were applied. Ideally, resources highlighted in this chapter are recent and thorough; in reality, the most current bibliographies available for a region might be rather dated. Older works that possess other qualities such as a unique scope and that have not been superseded by similar, newer resources are included. GENERAL LITERARY BIBLIOGRAPHIES, INDEXES, AND ANNUAL REVIEWS Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL). Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1924–. Annual. ISSN: 0066-3786. www.chadwyck.com. MLA Directory of Periodicals. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2000–. Continually updated resource. Available online by institutional subscription through various vendors. MLA International Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1922–2009. Annual. Print. After 2009, available online only by institutional subscription through various vendors. The Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory. Oxford: Published for the English Association by Blackwell Publishers, 1991–. Annual. Also available by subscription online at ywcct.oxfordjournals.org. The Year’s Work in English Studies. London: Published for the English Association by Blackwell Publishers, 1920–. Annual.

Also available by subscription online at http://ywes.oxfordjournals.org.

The MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) indexes book chapters, books, journal articles, and select websites. Book reviews are excluded. Now available only online, it is updated ten times per year, though there might be a backlog for a particular title. MLAIB is undoubtedly the single most important bibliography for the study of literatures in English and has the advantage of being widely available in North American colleges and universities. Still, it should not be the sole tool used in advanced postcolonial literary research, because some journals, particularly those with limited circulation published in Africa, South Asia, or the Caribbean, are not indexed. This is not a deliberate slight; it reflects the reality of the economics of scholarly publishing and distribution. The Modern Language Association, producer of MLAIB, does not subscribe to any journals itself. Rather, it relies on publishers and authors to send their journals, articles, and books for indexing, and on bibliographers’ access to titles through their home institutions. Although the MLA sends the same data to every vendor that hosts MLAIB, the vendors determine how to place the information in searchable fields. There may be indexes specific to literary studies; for example, ProQuest has fields for “Subject Author,” “National Literature,” and “Literary Theme,” among others. Two unique MLAIB categories available through EBSCO’s interface are “Literary Technique” and “Primary Subject Author.” To find criticism on Salman Rushdie’s use of allegory, allegory would be searched in the “Literary Technique” field, and Rushdie in the “Primary Subject Author” field. Figure 4.1 is one of eight records that resulted from this search, with our terms highlighted.

Figure 4.1. Record produced by MLAIB search for Literary Technique: allegory and Primary Subject Author: Rushdie. MLAIB, via EBSCO

When you are searching fields such as “Literary Technique,” “Scholarly Theory or

Discipline,” “Genre/Classification,” and so on, you are accessing an index’s controlled vocabulary, or established list of terms. This might limit you more than you would like. When allegory was searched simply as a subject, three items came up that were omitted from our literary technique search: one with the subject national allegory and two with the term political allegory. Further, when searching our terms as keywords, still more articles, books, and dissertations were found, because they contained the word allegory or allegories in the title, abstract, or table of contents. Researchers must find for themselves the proper balance between quantity and precision. When searching MLAIB, a few examples of productive broad subject terms to use alone or combined with other descriptors or keywords are English language literature (used for Anglophone literature), postcolonial literary theory and criticism, postcolonial literature, postcolonial approach, British imperialism (particularly in combination with keyword phrases such as African literature or Indian literature), women writers, etc. Most regions and countries are represented in the subject index as well and can be combined, using the Boolean and operator, with keywords, for example, Sri Lanka and poetry, South Africa and drama, Jamaica and travel literature. As an alternate strategy to memorizing or brainstorming subject terms, you can take advantage of MLAIB’s 45,000-term online thesaurus. The thesaurus lets the user browse a word or phrase; points to the controlled vocabulary equivalent when appropriate; and often offers broader, narrower, and related terms. For example, you might browse for gender relations. You would then be advised to use female-male relations, an official descriptor in this database. That phrase, in turn, can be “exploded” to reveal the broader term human relations and narrower terms brother-sister relations, father-daughter relations, husband-wife relations, mother-son relations, and older man-younger woman relations. It may be that one of these descriptors will better suit your search. The terms can be added to a search directly from the thesaurus, or they can be copied into an advanced search. Using the latter technique, we searched husband-wife relations as a subject and Africa* as a keyword and found four journal articles and three book chapters, including this intriguing title: “‘Men These Days, They Are a Problem’: Husband-Taming Herbs and Gender Wars in Rural Zimbabwe” by Allison Goebel, published in the Canadian Journal of African Studies in 2002. Further insight into effective use of the MLAIB can be found in chapters 1 and 5. To identify journals relevant to your research, use the online MLA Directory of Periodicals. This may be available through your library’s subscription to MLAIB online or may be listed as a separate entity. Keep searches simple, as the Directory indexes only details about a journal, not its contents. An example of a successful search is postcolonial or commonwealth. Be sure to select the button for “Relevancy Ranked.” From the list of results you will have the option to make selections, which you can then add to an MLAIB search to retrieve all of the articles from that journal that are indexed in MLAIB. If you wish, search terms can be added at this stage. The Directory is a particularly important tool in light of the dearth of printed bibliographies of postcolonial periodical titles in the past thirty years; however, few titles not accessible in North America are included. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 provide guidance for identifying less readily

available periodicals. The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL), published under the auspices of the Modern Humanities Research Association, is available in print and electronically. With a goal of being comprehensive rather than descriptive, the bibliography is a list of scholarly articles, books, and reviews about Anglophone literature and related topics. The references are gathered by an international team of scholars, and the cited works can be in any language, although most are in English. The print version of ABELL has been published annually (as the name suggests) since 1921 and covers the previous year only. In print, ABELL is organized into major areas, including bibliography, scholarly method, the English language, folklore, English literature (by which is meant Anglophone literature, not just that of England and the United Kingdom), and cinema and other nontextual media. The English literature section is subdivided mostly by century, plus a section on general literary studies. Within the sections for the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are further subcategories for general sources, theater, cinema, fiction, poetry, related studies, literary theory, and individual authors. There are indexes of authors and of scholars, but not of subjects. Each entry is numbered, so individual chapters of an edited volume, for example, can easily be crossreferenced to the book that contains them. The electronic version of ABELL is available through ProQuest/Chadwyck-Healey. It is searchable by keyword and also has indexes for title keywords, subject, author/reviewer, publication details, journal, and ISBN or ISSN that can be searched or browsed. The user can limit by year, latest update, or type of publication (articles, books, or reviews). There are no Boolean operators on the search page, but they can be used, as can the asterisk (*) truncation symbol; for example, a search can be done for poet* and sri lanka*. Thus, ABELL online can be made to search for literature of a particular country. It also has the advantage of being cumulative, whereas ABELL in print only covers scholarship done in the year prior to each volume’s publication. Note that in ABELL online, results pages will give the number of entries and the number of hits. The search example yielded twelve entries but forty-seven hits. The difference is that entries are individual records, whereas hits count the number of times the search terms appear in these records. ABELL’s search engine is not sophisticated enough to allow for multiple subject searching, so a query such as the one that produced figure 4.1 is not possible. By way of comparison, a keyword search in ABELL for allegory and Rushdie produced a list of seven results. Upon examination, however, there are only five, because in the case of book chapters, ABELL produces a record for both the chapter and the book in which it appears. One article found by ABELL did not turn up in the MLAIB search. ABELL provides lists of terms for each of its indexes. The lists are alphabetical and not hierarchical, so they do not act as thesauruses. They may be helpful in finding controlled vocabulary, though. Entering postcolonial in the subject list’s search box led to Postcolonial Criticism, which could then be selected and added to the search query. See figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2. Partial view of a subject search browse in ABELL for postcolonial. Annual Bib liography of English Language and Literature online

The Year’s Work in English Studies (YWES) is an annual, narrative bibliography published on behalf of the English Association that surveys recent work in all areas of English literature. It is available by subscription in print and online. As a review, it does not aim to be comprehensive, nor is it formatted like a bibliography. Rather, it contains bibliographic essays about selected research published in the preceding year. Postcolonial literary research is discussed in the somewhat anachronistically titled chapter “New Literatures,” which contains sections for Africa, the Caribbean, the Indian Subcontinent, and Sri Lanka, among others. Scholarly writing in books and journal articles are considered for inclusion, as well as some reference works and new periodicals. As is the case with ABELL, those who have access to the online versions of YWES and YWCCT (discussed below) will be able to search multiple years at once. The English Association also produces annually The Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory (YWCCT). Like its sister publication, it is available online and in print. Its format and scope are also similar to YWES; it comprises bibliographic essays on selected scholarship produced in the previous year. The chapter on postcolonial theory is divided into two sections.

The first contains book reviews and discusses scholarly literature in postcolonial studies, including how it relates to literature. The second section covers articles from important journals in the field. POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE, MULTIPLE AREAS Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature. Published as the fourth issue of The Journal of Commonwealth Literature. Oxford: Hans Zell Publishers, 1965–. Nasta, Susheila. African, Caribbean and South Asian Fiction in English: A Select Bibliography. London: British Council, 1992. Nordquist, Joan. Postcolonial Theory (II) Literature and the Arts: A Bibliography. Santa Cruz, CA: Reference and Research Services, 1999.

The Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature is published as the fourth issue of each volume of The Journal of Commonwealth Literature and covers material that came out in the previous year. Division is by country or region, and an essay giving an overview of the state of literature in that year precedes each section. The categories of material listed vary, but may include bibliographies, poetry, fiction, drama, anthologies, nonfiction, criticism, journals, research aids, letters, biographies, and studies on individual authors. Citations are gathered from books, journals, newspapers, and websites from all over the world. For both its currency and the variety of items examined, the Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature is an invaluable resource. African, Caribbean and South Asian Fiction in English: A Select Bibliography, published by the British Council in 1992, is a select, nonannotated compilation of references for fiction and short stories. It is arranged by region, then alphabetically by country, and finally, alphabetically by author. Each of the three sections is preceded by a brief introduction. As the author, Susheila Nasta, explains in the general introduction to the book, her purpose in assembling this bibliography was to raise reader interest in postcolonial literatures. Rather than attempt to be comprehensive, Nasta chose to include representative writers and major works from the three regions. Postcolonial Theory (II) Literature and the Arts: A Bibliography is part of a series called Social Theory: A Bibliographic Series and is useful in that the compiler examined sources beyond those in the mainstream and therefore turned up citations not found in MLAIB or ABELL. A few of the less-common sources examined were the Alternative Press Index, The Left Index, the Small Press Record of Books in Print, and several women’s studies resources. The standard indexes were also used: the National Union Catalog, Dissertation Abstracts, MLAIB, Philosopher’s Index, and many more. The drawbacks of this bibliography are that it does not include resources published after 1999, academic and nonacademic sources are not distinguished from one another, and the citations are not annotated. Yet the article and book titles are often sufficiently descriptive to provide the researcher with a good idea of their contents. Postcolonial Theory (II) is organized into chapters, each one on postcolonial theory and various disciplines. For example, chapter 1 is “Postcolonial Theory and Literature—General,” chapter 2 is “Postcolonial Theory and Literature—Specific Countries and Nationalities,” and

chapter 3 is “Postcolonial Theory and Women’s Literature.” Other chapters relevant to literary study are on drama and film. Each chapter is divided into books and articles. In addition, the chapter on specific countries contains an index of countries, regions, and nationalities, and that on women’s literature has an index of countries, regions, and individual authors. There are two resources that index the contents of literary periodicals: the Comprehensive Index to English-Language Little Magazines, 1890–1970, Series One and the Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines. These are discussed fully in chapter 7, on magazines and newspapers, so we only mention them here to alert you to their existence and refer you to that chapter. POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE, AREA-SPECIFIC Series World Bibliographical Series. Santa Barbara, CA: Clio Press, 1977–.

World Bibliographical Series is a multivolume set of area-specific annotated bibliographies published by Clio Press. They are cataloged by the subject country, and most of the postcolonial countries have been covered. Each volume is divided into topics treating all aspects of a society, including its literature. The dates of publication range from the late 1970s to 2000. Revised editions have been issued for some countries, though they retain the same volume numbers as the originals. Where revised editions exist, the researcher should check both editions if possible; the revised version supplements and does not supersede the original. For example, Nigeria is number 100 in the series. It was originally published in 1989 and written by Robert A. Myers. Entries go back to 1965. The revised edition came out in 1999 and was written by Ruby A. Bel-Gam and David Uru Iyam. Most of the entries are for work published in the 1990s, though a few are earlier. Each volume in the World Bibliographical Series contains a section on literature, though the chapter titles vary and some have subsections, while others do not. Entries are alphabetical by author and each includes a brief summary of the work. Most entries are for books, though the occasional article or dissertation is present. Among the items found in each volume are general literary criticism, works about individual authors, and reference. To find these books in a library catalog or in WorldCat, do a keyword search for the phrase “world bibliographical series” and a title search for the country. Almost all former British colonies are represented in the series. Africa Africa Bibliography. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984–. Available electronically via Project Muse and in print as an issue of Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. Edinburgh: University Press, 1928–. Berrian, Brenda F. Bibliography of African Women Writers and Journalists: Ancient Egypt–1984. Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1985. Limb, Peter, and Jean-Marie Volet. Bibliography of African Literatures. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996. Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1979. Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English: 1977–1981 Supplement. New York: Africana Pub. Co., 1986. Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English, 1982–1986. London: Hans Zell Publishers, 1989.

Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English, 1987–1991. London: Hans Zell Publishers, 1995. Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English, 1992–1996. Oxford: Hans Zell, 2000. Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English, 1997–1999. Oxford: Hans Zell, 2003. Quarterly Index of African Periodical Literature. Nairobi, Kenya: Library of Congress, Overseas Office, 2002. lcweb2.loc.gov/misc/qsihtml.

The International African Institute has produced Africa Bibliography annually since 1984. In 2005 the bibliography became available digitally through Project Muse, for institutions that subscribe to it. A cumulative electronic version is also available by subscription. Since 2006 both the print and the Project Muse formats of Africa Bibliography have been published as unnumbered issues of the journal Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute. Over six hundred sources published worldwide are consulted in the creation of Africa Bibliography. It covers periodical articles, books, pamphlets, and book chapters published during the year on various topics, including humanities and the arts. The African Diaspora is treated only very selectively. Items missed in previous years are added. The arrangement is by region, then alphabetically by country, then alphabetically by topic, and finally, alphabetically by author. Each entry is numbered to allow cross-referencing. In addition to the literature section for each country, the researcher should be sure to consult the general Africa section at the beginning of each year’s bibliography, as it has a number of entries about literature not confined to a single country. Author and subject indexes contribute to the usefulness of this annual, and the introductory essay of each volume may interest some readers. Though not current, the researcher should consult the very thorough Black African Literature in English (BALE) bibliographies compiled by Bernth Lindfors. The earliest of these was published in 1979 as volume 23 of Gale’s American Literature, English Literature, and World Literatures in English Information Guide Series. It covers African literature written in English up to the end of 1976. Subsequent volumes include BALE 1977–1981 Supplement, BALE 1982–1986, BALE 1987–1991, BALE 1992–1996, and BALE 1997–1999. The bibliographies are divided into two sections. Part I, “Genre and Topical Studies and Reference Sources,” has twenty-six categories, among them interviews, criticism, language and style, popular literature, censorship, and festivals. The second part provides citations by and about individual authors. For example, in the final volume of the series, the entry on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o contains four cross-references to bibliographies, thirteen citations to biographies and autobiographies, nine to interviews, and ninety-nine to criticism. In addition, there are cross-references within each category and within many of the citations themselves. Of course, major authors such as Chinua Achebe, Zakes Mda, and Wole Soyinka fill up many pages in BALE, but a great number of poets, playwrights, and novelists are also present, even if the only entry is a cross-reference to an article in which the writer is but one of several subjects. Sources are drawn from international newspapers, scholarly journals, dissertations and master’s theses, reference works, monographs, and anthologies. Creative work not prefaced by a substantial critical introduction is omitted, as are brief reviews, newspaper reports not related to literary activities, and political biographies. A few entries are descriptively annotated, for example, to note that a work is a reprint or translation, but for the most part this is a simple enumerative bibliography (i.e., an organized list). Entries are

numbered consecutively across the volumes for cross-referencing. Author, title, subject, and geographical indexes provide access points for each volume, though there is no cumulative index. Another older but still viable work is the Bibliography of African Literatures by Peter Limb and Jean-Marie Volet. The compilers were concerned with listing works by and about newer authors, so this is a good source when researching writers outside of the established canon. Arrangement is by language and then country, so some countries appear more than once. The English-language section, being large, is divided into regions and then subdivided by country. The resources included are general studies, bibliographies, literary works, and anthologies, and the references come from monographs and edited volumes, not from journal articles. The numbered entries are not annotated except to identify a work as being a novel, poetry, drama, etc. Several indexes provide multiple access points to the entries: of authors, of female literary authors (who also appear in the main author index), and of countries. Kenyans Rebeka Njau and Grace Ogot, Jennifer Davis from Namibia, South Africa’s Sindiwe Magona, and Ama Ata Aidoo from Ghana are a few of the women writers treated in this volume. The literature covered is not limited to the postcolonial years, but most of the references are for work written after most former African colonies became independent. Those whose research is centered on women writers might find some unique citations in the Bibliography of African Women Writers and Journalists: Ancient Egypt–1984 by Brenda F. Berrian. It is divided into twelve sections, including fiction, drama, and poetry, and has nine appendixes. Some of these are odd (“Non-African Journalists Married to Kenyan Men”), but the appendixes grouping authors by country or by genre, for example, will be useful to some researchers. There is an index of author names as well. Works by the authors are included in the entries whether published individually, in an anthology, or in a periodical, and criticism and interviews are also listed where appropriate. The bibliography is not limited to Anglophone writers. The Nairobi office of the Library of Congress produces the Quarterly Index of African Periodical Literature online. Over three hundred periodicals from twenty-nine African countries are indexed. Unfortunately, updating ceased in September 2011 due to lack of funding. The index is still well worth consulting for sources up to that date. The database is cumulative and cites most articles going back to the first issue available to the indexers, which is not necessarily the first issue published. The Quarterly Index can be searched by article title, author, subject, date, country, or journal, or within the full text. Boolean operators are not explicitly available, but options to search all words or any word effectively act as the Boolean and and or operators. An option to match an exact phrase also exists. Alternatively, the index can be browsed by index term, article title, author, journal, broad subject, or geographic area. Literature is included in the list of broad subjects, but the database limits the number of returns to five hundred. Instead, use the search full-text feature for the term literature to display all results. The value of the Quarterly Index of African Periodical Literature is that the journals are published in Africa and therefore might not be indexed elsewhere. There are several

drawbacks, however. Although most articles are in English, some are not, and there is no way to limit to a language. There is no way to specify a range of publication dates. The absence of an advanced search tool means that only one index can be searched; however, keywords can be added after the initial results are returned using a feature to search within results. The results appear by title and can only be displayed alphabetically in ascending or descending order, not by date or author. It is necessary to click on an article title to see full citation information and subject headings. On the plus side, subject headings within records are hotlinked, so clicking on an index term will cause a search of that term to be performed. The records also provide address information for sources, which may prove helpful if a researcher wants to appeal to a publisher for a copy of an article. The Caribbean Allis, Jeannette B. West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930–1975. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1981. Berrian, Brenda F. Bibliography of Women Writers from the Caribbean, 1831–1986. Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1989. Dance, Daryl C. Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986. Fenwick, M.J. Writers of the Caribbean and Central America: A Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1992. Goslinga, Marian. Caribbean Literature: A Bibliography. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998. Jordan, Alma, and Barbara Comissiong. The English-Speaking Caribbean: A Bibliography of Bibliographies. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984. Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth, and Olga Torres-Seda. Caribbean Women Novelists: An Annotated Critical Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993. Williams, Emily A. Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Writers of the Caribbean and Central America: A Bibliography by M. J. Fenwick is a basic but extensive list of works by Caribbean and Central American writers from the nineteenth century to 1992. Both famous writers (Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Louis Simpson) and lesser-known writers with only one or two credits to their names are included. The twovolume bibliography is arranged alphabetically by country and then by author, with crossreferencing for pseudonyms. The first volume contains entries for countries beginning with A– J. The second volume continues the alphabet and also has a general section for writers whose Caribbean connection is unidentified. An index of authors appears at the end of volume II. Within each section, the author’s books are listed by title and year only, followed by other sources in which the author’s work appears. The citations are bare-bones, to the point that Fenwick does not even identify the sources as being journals, anthologies, literary magazines, etc. Though this is disappointing, it will not impede the user’s ability to locate most of the sources in WorldCat. Caribbean Literature: A Bibliography contains references to monographs and edited volumes of essays published up to 1996. Entries are annotated only rarely to indicate factors such as reprints or alternate titles. Organization is by language and then geography, and sections include reference books; history and criticism; anthologies of poetry, fiction, and drama; and works by individual authors. The twentieth century is separated in this last section, making it easier to distinguish the postcolonial authors from earlier ones. There are author and

title indexes. Annotated citations to bibliographies of creative work and literary criticism produced before mid-1981 can be found in the literature chapter of The English-Speaking Caribbean: A Bibliography of Bibliographies by Alma Jordan and Barbara Comissiong. Entries are numbered and arranged alphabetically by author or corporate author. Name and subject indexes aid in finding entries. The authors gathered their sources from journals, books, and unpublished or privately issued bibliographies. Unfortunately, in addition to being out of date, the very thoroughness of this bibliography might cause the researcher a degree of frustration, as some of the cited resources will be unattainable. Still, the paucity of recent bibliographies on Caribbean literature makes it worthwhile to include Jordan and Comissiong’s book in this chapter. Book reviews and literary criticism for the early postcolonial years in the region are cited in West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930–1975, also discussed in chapter 6. Sources were collected mainly from newspapers and literary journals published both within and outside of the Caribbean. The compiler, Jeannette B. Allis, attempted to produce a comprehensive bibliography and made no distinction based on article length or the type of periodical in which the criticism appeared. The bibliography is divided into three indexes: authors, critics and reviewers, and general articles. An appendix provides a brief list of references to books on West Indian literature. The index of authors lists general criticism followed by reviews of specific works. The index of critics and reviewers is a simple alphabetical-by-author arrangement. The index of general articles is nicely organized by year of publication, allowing the researcher to get an overview of the criticism that was done in any given year. For resources on individual authors, Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, covered in chapter 2 as well, may provide information difficult to obtain elsewhere. Though not specifically limited to Anglophones writing after their nations’ independence, the majority of the authors are from the former British West Indies, working around or after the time period when these nations began separating from colonial rule, from the early 1960s onward. Novelist Earl Lovelace and poet Anthony McNeill are among the subjects treated in this volume. The arrangement is alphabetical by author. Each essay comprises a biography, an exploration of the author’s major works and themes, a discussion of critical reception, a list of honors and awards (if any), a bibliography of works by the author, and another of studies about the author’s work. The studies include journal and magazine articles, dissertations, book chapters, monographs, and reviews. The last section of the book is a general bibliography of work cited repeatedly. A combined subject/author/title index is provided. The limitations of Fifty Caribbean Writers are that first, it is twenty-five years out of date, and second, there are no appendixes. A listing of authors by country would have been helpful. If your interests happen to lie in poetry, you will appreciate Emily Allen Williams’s Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001: An Annotated Bibliography, also discussed in chapter 2. The bibliography is arranged by type of resource and includes anthologies; various

reference works; conference proceedings; poets’ collections; interviews; audio and visual recorded works; and criticism from casebooks, journals, and monographs. The criticism section is divided topically: author and text (see figure 4.3), aesthetics and theory, gender and sexuality, history and culture, and politics and race. Each of the 874 entries is thoughtfully annotated with information that goes beyond the merely factual. By way of example, the description for entry 648, a conversation between Daryl Cumber Dance and poet Mervyn Morris, reads, “This interview took place at Morris’s home on November 17, 1978. Morris discusses his family, education, writing styles, and favorite writers. Readers will find certain responses to questions about poems revealing.” In addition to the bibliography, Anglophone Caribbean Poetry contains a timeline running from 1759 to 2001 and author, title, and subject indexes.

Figure 4.3. Examples of entries from Criticism—Author and Text section of Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001.

As for other postcolonial regions, women receive individual attention from bibliographers. Bibliography of Women Writers from the Caribbean: 1831–1986 lists the creative works and related literary criticism of 558 Anglophone women poets, playwrights, novelists, and folklorists. Of these, about 37 percent are from Jamaica, 16 percent from Guyana, 16 percent from Trinidad and Tobago, 7 percent from Barbados, and the remainder from the smaller Caribbean islands. Among the better known writers covered are Jean Rhys, Louise Bennett, Jamaica Kincaid, Phyllis Allfrey, and Audre Lorde. For the scholar looking to break new

ground, there are hundreds of authors published by small presses or in little magazines such as Bim and Savacou. Entries are listed by genre: autobiography/biography, novels, short stories, performed and published plays, etc. Television and radio broadcasts are also included. Within genres, arrangement is alphabetical by author, with the author’s nation in parentheses, but there is a useful grouping of authors by country, including those living abroad, at the beginning of the section. An author who has worked in a variety of media might appear several times under various categories; the index of author names will help find all the work of and about a specific writer. Unfortunately it is not possible to separate colonial from postcolonial subjects. For the study of West Indian and Guyanese women novelists, the researcher can consult Caribbean Women Novelists: An Annotated Critical Bibliography. In scope, the bibliography contains works by or about Caribbean women who have published at least one novel since 1950; so, though some colonial authors are included, many of the entries will be relevant to postcolonial literary research. Citations were collected for monographs, book chapters, periodicals, translations, interviews, recorded materials, broadcast literature, and reviews, with a primary goal of comprehensiveness, though a fair number of entries are annotated. Following a list of general works of criticism, bibliographies, and biobibliographies, organization is alphabetical by author. The entire Caribbean region is covered, so Dutch-, Spanish-, and French-language authors are mixed in with those writing in English. However, the Anglophones can be identified via the list of authors by country. There are also three indexes: novels, critics, and themes and keywords. As with so many bibliographies discussed in this chapter, the chief failing of Caribbean Women Novelists is its age. The compilers do not reveal their cutoff date, but with a copyright of 1993, researchers are unlikely to find sources more recent than 1991. South Asia Alam, Fakrul. South Asian Writers in English. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2006. Bibliography of Asian Studies. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies, 1956. Also available online at http://bmc.lib.umich.edu/bas. Kuortti, Joel. Indian Women’s Writing in English: A Bibliography. Jaipur: Rawat, 2002. McDowell, Robert E., and Judith H. McDowell. Asian/Pacific Literatures in English: Bibliographies. Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1978. Rahman, Tariq. A History of Pakistani Literature in English. Lahore: Vanguard, 1991. Singh, Amritjit, Rajiva Verma, and Irene M. Joshi. Indian Literature in English, 1827–1979: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1981.

The Bibliography of Asian Studies was published annually by the Association for Asian Studies in print from 1956 to 1991 and is currently a subscription-based online resource. Updated quarterly, it contains approximately 800,000 citations to journal articles, edited volumes, and conference proceedings from 1971 to the present in all subject areas. It can be searched by author, title, year of publication, subject, country, journal title, or keyword. The entire record can also be searched; however, there is no keyword indexing of the text. Boolean searching is possible in advanced search mode. The bibliography can be browsed by journal title or by country and then subject. The “Literature” section for each country is divided into general literature, drama, fiction, and poetry. With the exception of general literature, each of

these categories is further subdivided into general, studies and criticism, and translations. Because the Bibliography of Asian Studies is cumulative, browsing can return an unwieldy number of results. Of course this is largely dictated by the country being searched. Browsing the studies and criticism citations for Indian fiction produced more than 1,400 records; for Brunei Darussalam, only one. Asian/Pacific Literatures in English: Bibliographies is an older work, but worth consulting for its entries on Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Sri Lanka section contains references to bibliographies, various forms of creative writing, translations, and history and criticism. The section for the Malaysia/Singapore region has similar categories, plus one for journals. Going back even further than Britain’s formal takeover of the country, Indian Literature in English, 1827–1979:A Guide to Information Sources (volume 36 of Gale’s American Literature, English Literature, and World Literatures in English Information Guide Series) is useful for researching literature written during the independence movement through the first few postcolonial decades. The compilers strove to be comprehensive in their lists of poetry, drama, and fiction by the subject authors, such as Syed Amanuddin, Asif Currimbhoy, and Kamala Markandaya. Secondary material coverage is extensive. One quality that makes this work different is the incorporation of authors whose work might be judged inferior, or who had a brief flash of success and are now forgotten. The first part of Indian Literature in English contains citations to general works, including background material from various disciplines; reference works; criticism and literary history; general anthologies; and anthologies of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction prose. Part 2, “Individual Authors,” is divided into poetry, drama, fiction, and selected prose. Within each of these categories, arrangement is alphabetical by author. Secondary sources follow the listing of primary ones. An author who has worked in multiple forms will appear multiple times, and the index of primary authors is unhelpful in finding all works by a given writer, because it also is divided by form. However, the author index does make this possible, and it lists secondary material authors as well. A title index provides an additional access point. Someone researching a particular author will not mind the inclusion of precolonial and colonial subjects, but others may find it frustrating to browse through this bibliography in search of postcolonial authors generally. Indian Women’s Writing in English: A Bibliography is a comprehensive list of 444 women prose and poetry writers and their works, whether published in books, small literary magazines, or journals. Bharati Mukherjee, Nayantara Sahgal, and Arundhati Roy are a few of the women covered. Though the bibliography traces women’s writing back to the nineteenth century, the majority of the subjects were active from the 1960s onward. Entries are arranged alphabetically and consist of the author’s name, very brief biographical information, citations for the author’s work, and a list of sources and criticism, where applicable. Writers of Indian descent are included even when they were not born or do not reside in the country. Jhumpa Lahiri is one such example. Scholars of Ikram Azam, Zulfikar Ghose, and other Anglophone Pakistani writers can refer to the bibliography chapters in A History of Pakistani Literature in English. Citations are

given for published plays; anthologies; research aids such as accessions lists, catalogs, and bibliographies; relevant Pakistani serials; and criticism, including reviews, interviews, and articles from books, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, and literary periodicals. Unfortunately arrangement of the criticism section is by the critic’s name rather than that of the subject, and the subject author is not always easily identifiable. There is also a section of selected background material that contributes to the understanding of Pakistani literature. Resources listed were published both in Pakistan and abroad. Volume 323 of the Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB) is South Asian Writers in English. As a biographical dictionary, the DLB does not claim to be comprehensive, but this volume merits inclusion in this chapter for being relatively current. The DLB is discussed more fully in chapter 2. Forty-eight writers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are featured, all but one active in the twentieth century. Because it is fairly new, there are essays on younger authors such as Monica Ali and Sunetra Gupta. The articles are preceded by a bibliography of the author’s works and conclude with a very selective bibliography of interviews, books, articles, and published conference papers. The DLB is also available online to institutions that subscribe to the Gale database Literature Resource Center. CONCLUSION There are undeniable potential frustrations involved in locating literature by and about postcolonial authors. The existing bibliographies are seldom current, and many of the cited references will be difficult for North American researchers to acquire. Annual reviews and frequently updated online indexes are the best places to start when looking for recent scholarly work, but print bibliographies, even older ones, may offer the researcher sources not listed elsewhere. Bibliographers are experts in a field and have scoured library collections, the Internet, WorldCat, scholarly journals, broadcast transcripts, and other sources to compile and categorize lists designed to refer researchers to resources they might never have found otherwise. Much time and energy can be saved by consulting bibliographies, annual reviews, and indexes early in the research process.

Chapter Five

Scholarly Journals Although monographs tend to be the preferred method for disseminating humanities research, the academic journal still plays an essential role in the development of literary scholarship. The length of an article allows scholars to examine a particular topic in considerable detail. Because the process for publishing a journal issue takes less time than publishing a monograph, information in journals is distributed more quickly, facilitating new research for scholars to explore. This chapter outlines some of the major journals devoted to the study of African, Caribbean, South Asian, and postcolonial literatures in English. Basic descriptions accompany each title, including the type of resources typically featured (creative writing, review essays, book reviews, etc.) and examples of recently published scholarship. Where each journal is indexed and available full text online is also noted. Resources to assist in identifying additional journals in the area of literature are the MLA Directory of Periodicals and Ulrichsweb: Global Directory of Periodicals . Because the scope of Ulrichsweb is not limited to any one discipline, it is recommended for the discovery of journals outside the area of literary studies. Often specialized tools such as directories, bibliographies, and union lists can help identify journals pertaining to a specific discipline or published in a particular country. Consult chapter 7 for more information on these specialized tools for African, Caribbean, and South Asian periodicals. A final option is to search your local library’s online catalog or OCLC’s WorldCat to determine what journals are available on your topic. The following Library of Congress subject headings are useful for locating scholarly journals devoted to African, Caribbean, Commonwealth, and South Asian literature in English: African literature (English)—History and criticism—Periodicals Caribbean literature (English)—History and criticism—Periodicals Commonwealth literature (English)—History and criticism—Periodicals Commonwealth literature (English)—Periodicals Indic literature—History and criticism—Periodicals Indic poetry—20th century—History and criticism—Periodicals Postcolonialism—Study and teaching—Periodicals South African literature (English)—History and criticism—Periodicals West Indian literature (English)—History and criticism—Periodicals Many of the journals described in the following sections are indexed in the two most important literary databases: MLAIB and ABELL. However, there are often gaps in recent coverage of these titles, particularly those pertaining to Caribbean and South Asian literature.

It is also important to note that few journals devoted to postcolonial literary studies are included in Project MUSE and JSTOR. Selected titles are accessible full text through other subscription databases and freely available digital repositories. This chapter attempts to document these resources for each journal, but keep in mind that coverage will vary and database vendors are constantly dropping and adding titles in their products. More and more frequently, publishers are implementing embargos on current publications, which means that databases such as EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete will carry the full text of older volumes, but will not have the right to display the most recent year’s content. JSTOR is designed to have “moving walls” of content for its journals, allowing publishers to retain revenue opportunities from current issue subscriptions, while making sure that the back file is preserved and made accessible to scholars. The majority of journals in the JSTOR archive have moving walls of between three and five years, but publishers may have walls of anywhere from zero to ten years. If your library does not have a subscription to a journal that may be important to your research, check to see if the publisher offers free access to tables of contents online. If so, this will be enough information for you to request specific articles through your library’s ILL service. AFRICAN LITERATURES IN ENGLISH Callaloo. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976–. Quarterly. ISSN: 0161-2492. www.press.jhu.edu/journals/callaloo. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa. University of KwaZulu-Natal Department of English, 1989–. Semiannual. ISSN: 1013-929X. Online via Routledge. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/RCWR. English Academy Review. Johannesburg: English Academy of Southern Africa, 1983–. Semiannual. ISSN: 1013-1752. Online via Routledge. ISSN: 1753-5360. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/RACR. English in Africa. Rhodes University, Institute for the Study of English in Africa, 1974–. Semiannual. ISSN:0376-8902. www.ajol.info/index.php/eia. English Studies in Africa. Witwatersrand University Press, 1958–. Semiannual. ISSN: 0013-8398. Online via Routledge. ISSN: 1943-8117. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/REIA. Journal of the African Literature Association. Philadelphia: African Literature Association, 2007–. Semiannual. www.africanlit.org/publications.htm. Research in African Literatures. Indiana University Press, 1970–. Quarterly. ISSN: 0034-5210. inscribe.iupress.org/loi/ral. Scrutiny2: Issues in English Studies in Southern Africa. University of South Africa Department of English, 1996–. Semiannual. ISSN: 1812-5441. Online via Routledge. ISSN: 1753-5409. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/18125441.asp. South African Theatre Journal. University of Stellenbosch Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies, 1987–. Annual. ISSN: 1013-7548. www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_theatre.html. Wasafiri. London: Association for the Teaching of Caribbean, African, Asian and Associated Literatures, 1984–. Semiannual. ISSN: 0269-0055. Online via Routledge. ISSN: 1747-1508. www.wasafiri.org.

Callaloo is widely considered the premier journal devoted to the study of the arts, literature, and cultures of the African diaspora. Issues publish original works by black writers worldwide, offering a mixture of fiction, poetry, visual art, critical essays, and interviews with authors. Annotated bibliographies are frequently part of special issues devoted to major writers from Africa and the Caribbean. Recent issues contain fiction by Nigerian author Chris Abani, an interview with Rastafarian Junior Dan, and an examination of the role of international politics in the works of Derek Walcott. Each Callaloo issue features a section that reviews books published on African and Caribbean literature, history, and culture. Due to the importance of this title in the field, full-text content is available through several resources,

including JSTOR (1976–five years ago), Project Muse (1995–), ProQuest’s Literature Online (2002–one year ago), Black Studies Center (2002–), and Research Library Complete (2002– one year ago). In addition, Callaloo is indexed in many databases, including Academic Search Complete (1993–), Humanities International Index (1978–), International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text (1982–), Expanded Academic ASAP (1986–), and ABELL (1976–). Only secondary materials published in Callaloo from volume 1 (1976) forward are indexed in MLAIB. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa is the official journal of the Southern African Association for Commonwealth Literature and Languages. The goal of the journal is to focus on the literary and cultural debates surrounding both contemporary and established texts from southern Africa. Current Writing presents the opportunity for scholars to discover the connections between South Africa and writing from other parts of the country and the British Commonwealth. Approximately twelve scholarly articles of six thousand words and a section devoted to book reviews comprise a typical issue of Current Writing. Recent volumes highlight South African author Zoë Wicomb and a critical survey of Afrikaans poetry published between 2000 and 2009. Full text is available through Routledge (1997–), African Journals Online (2003–), and Gale’s Literature Resource Center (2006–). Current Writing is indexed in ASA Online from volume 1 (1989) to the present, International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text (1992–), ABELL (1989–2002), and MLAIB from 1989 to the present. Tables of contents for volumes 16 (2004) forward are freely available on the journal’s website, along with a downloadable keyword and author index for the first ten years of the journal’s publication. English Academy Review is the journal of the English Academy of Southern Africa. According to the Academy’s website, the journal supports “the Academy’s vision of promoting effective English as a vital resource and of respecting Africa’s diverse linguistic ecology” (www.englishacademy.co.za/ear.html). Submissions on language, educational, philosophical, and literary topics from South Africa are encouraged. In addition to refereed articles, the English Academy Review publishes creative writing and book reviews of significant new publications from or about South Africa. Each issue contains approximately six essays of up to five thousand words in length, eight to ten book reviews, and a selection of creative writing. Recent volumes feature scholarly articles on Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun and South African author Zoë Wicomb’s political fiction. Full text of English Academy Review is available through Routledge from 2007 forward. The journal is indexed in ASA Online from volume 1 (1983) to the present, ABELL (1981–2001), and MLAIB from 1983 to the present. Rhodes University’s Institute for the Study of English in Africa was founded in 1964 to “study the problems of English in Africa, and in the Republic in particular, as mother tongue, as an official language, and as a second language; how it is spoken and written by the main linguistic groups; how it is taught; to find out the weaknesses of the present system; and devise means to meet them” (www.ru.ac.za/isea). The Institute’s journal, English in Africa, was established in 1974 to provide a forum for the study of African literature and the English language in Africa.

The editorial board invites contributions on all aspects of English writing and the English language in Africa, including oral traditions. The May 2011 special issue of English in Africa focuses on the South African Literary History Project (SALHP), containing information about the project itself and the publication of an early English novel written by Samuel Eusebius Hudson during the late 1700s. Full text of the journal is available through JSTOR (1974–three years ago), EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete (2002–), ProQuest’s Black Studies Center (2007–), and Gale’s Literature Research Center (2002–) and Expanded Academic ASAP (2002–). English in Africa is indexed in International Index to Black Periodicals (2007–), Academic Search Complete (1995–), International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text (1993–), Humanities International Index (1995–), ABELL (1974–), and MLAIB from 1981 to the present. The goal of English Studies in Africa is to emphasize the study of world literature in English within African contexts and promote the study of African literature worldwide. The journal was founded in the Department of English at the University of the Witwatersrand. Editors welcome the submission of scholarly articles regarding English-language education and the use of the English language in Africa, but the study of literature is the primary concern of the journal. Some book reviews, review essays, creative nonfiction, and interviews are also included. Recent issues contain an article examining the impact of a conference held in London in 2008 commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and an examination of two novels by Sarah Gertrude Millin: Middle-Class and The Jordans. English Studies in Africa is available in full text through Routledge from 1997 forward and in ProQuest’s Literature Online from 1998 to three years ago. The journal is indexed in Humanities International Index (2009–), ABELL (1958–), and MLAIB from 1958 to the present. The editors of Journal of the African Literature Association seek essays, book reviews, and review essays that apply a range of critical methodologies to African and African diaspora literatures and cultures. Articles accepted for publication may be up to thirty pages in length. Recent essays include a comparative analysis of Nigerian authors Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo and an interview with Cameroonian author Patrice Nganang. Unfortunately Journal of the African Literature Association is not available in full text online in any of the major databases. However, issues are indexed in ABELL from 2007 to the present, and tables of contents for all volumes are freely available on the journal’s website. Research in African Literatures is “recognized internationally as the world’s premier scholarly journal devoted to the publication of peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of the literatures of Africa, both oral and written” (aaas.osu.edu/resources/ral/default). Established at the University of Texas by Bernth Lindfors in 1970, the editorial office of Research in African Literatures relocated to Ohio State University’s Department of African American & African Studies in 1989. Manuscripts up to thirty-five pages in length, submitted in all languages, are sought by the editorial board. Eight to ten peer-reviewed essays are published in each issue, along with ten to twelve reviews of current scholarly books. Recent articles examine rape and violence in J. M. Coetzee’s novel Disgrace and food and drink in East

African Indian writing. Full-text content is available through many resources, including JSTOR (1970–three years ago), Project Muse (1991–), ProQuest’s Literature Online (1994–) and Black Studies Center (1994–), Gale’s Literature Research Center (1992–) and Expanded Academic ASAP (1992–), and EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete (1993–). The journal is indexed in ASA Online from volume 1 (1970) to the present, Humanities International Index (1983–), International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text (1983–), and both ABELL and MLAIB from 1970 forward. Scrutiny2: Issues in English Studies in Southern Africa is a peer-reviewed journal that focuses on theoretical and practical concerns pertaining to English studies in southern Africa. The editors encourage the submission of essays written with a South African perspective that seek to address South African problems. The journal also publishes poetry, review essays, and conference reports. Approximately five scholarly articles and seven book reviews are featured in each issue. Recent articles explore ideology and language in Alan Paton’s Too Late the Phalarope and the critical reception of Antjie Krog’s poetry translated into English. Full text is available through Routledge from 2007 forward, and tables of contents of all issues are posted on the journal’s website. Scrutiny2 is indexed in the International Index to Black Periodicals (1996–), Humanities International Index (2007–), ABELL (1996–2003), and MLAIB from 1996 to the present. South African Theatre Journal is published by the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Stellenbosch. The journal provides a forum for the academic discussion of theater and performance studies and the performing arts, especially as they pertain to South Africa. Submission of articles on the history, theory, and practice of the performing arts is encouraged by the editors. Theater reports, book reviews, and general announcements of interest to those researching South African performing arts are also published. Recent articles include an analysis of gender and race in playwright Nadia Davids’s one-act play At Her Feet and an essay on puppets and adult entertainment in South Africa. Volume 24 (2010) is a special issue devoted to the topic of movement and physical theater in South Africa. Full text is available through Routledge from 1987 forward and the International Bibliography of Theater and Dance from 2005 to 2009. The journal is indexed in ABELL (1987–2003), International Bibliography of Theater and Dance (1987—), and in MLAIB from 1988 to the present. According to the journal’s website, Wasafiri is a magazine at the forefront of mapping new landscapes in contemporary international literature. For the past twenty-five years it has covered Britain’s diverse cultural heritage, publishing a range of diasporic and migrant writing from around the world. The journal is derived from the activities of the Association for the Teaching of Caribbean, African, Asian and Associated Literatures, a group formed in 1978 to introduce minority authors into university and school classrooms. The association wanted to promote the works of important authors like Derek Walcott, Jean Rhys, and V. S. Naipaul— those who were not recognized by mainstream publishers and scholars at the time. Issues feature creative writing, interviews with authors, critical essays, and book reviews. Recent content includes samples of oral poetry from the Swahili coast, an interview with Indian author

M. G. Vassanji, and an essay on the role of author Lindsey Collen in bringing literature from Mauritius into public focus. Tables of contents for all issues are posted on the journal’s website. Full text is available only through Routledge from 2007 forward. Issues are indexed in Humanities International Index (2006–) and MLAIB from 1984 to the present. CARIBBEAN LITERATURES IN ENGLISH Anthurium. University of Miami, 2003–. Semiannual. ISSN: 1547-7150. scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/anthurium (accessed 13 February 2012). The Caribbean Writer. Caribbean Research Institute, 1987–. Annual. ISSN: 0893-1550. www.thecaribbeanwriter.org. Journal of Caribbean Literatures. Cedar Falls, IA: M.A. Lee, 1997–. 3/yr. ISSN: 1086-010X. www.jcls.net. Journal of West Indian Literature. University of the West Indies Department of English, 1986–. Semiannual. ISSN: 02588501. www.cavehill.uwi.edu/fhe/hum/publications/JournalsJWIL.htm. MaComère. Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars, 1998–. Annual. ISSN: 1521-9968. www.macomerejournal.com. Small Axe: A Journal of Criticism. University of West Indies, 1997–. 3/yr. ISSN: 0799-0537. www.smallaxe.net. Available online via Duke University Press, 2006–. ISSN: 1534-6714. www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php? productid=45636. Wasafiri. London: Association for the Teaching of Caribbean, African, Asian and Associated Literatures, 1984–. Semiannual. ISSN: 0269-0055. Available online via Routledge. ISSN: 1747-1508. www.wasafiri.org.

Anthurium is a nonprofit publication and a project of the Caribbean Literary Studies Program in the Department of English at the University of Miami. As an international journal of Caribbean arts and letters, it publishes original works by Caribbean writers, offering a mix of fiction, poetry, and plays, as well as visual art and photography. As a peer-reviewed journal, it also promotes the exchange of conversation among scholars in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Critical essays, interviews, bibliographies, and book reviews are featured in Anthurium, and all issues are freely accessible on the journal’s website. Recent issues highlight Bahamian literature and the Asian experience in the Caribbean. Because the journal is free, indexing in databases is not as important to the discovery of information published in the journal. However, content is covered in MLAIB and ABELL from 2003 forward. The Caribbean Writer is a refereed literary journal with a Caribbean focus, published annually by the University of the Virgin Islands. The goal of the journal is to publish writing by established and emerging authors that reflects the culture of the Caribbean. The journal emphasizes creative writing, but also publishes book reviews, interviews with authors, and a special section on current topics, which recently included a “Tribute to Aimé Césaire” (2009) and “Poetry and Prose from Bermuda” (2005). The 25th Anniversary issue (2011) was dedicated to Haiti/Ayiti. Selections from volume 1 through the most recent issue are available in full text on the journal’s website, along with tables of contents for all issues. In addition, users can browse content through an index to the following types of resources: genres (poems, stories, drama, essays), interviews, and book reviews. The Caribbean Writer is indexed in International Index to Black Periodicals (1998–) and the Humanities International Index (2003–). Journal of Caribbean Literatures is devoted to literature by and about the writers and scholarly critics of the Caribbean. Most of the material is written in English, but some non-

English works are presented in bilingual versions. Issues are often special editions that focus on a particular theme, such as Spanish Caribbean literature, or feature a particular author, such as Wilson Harris, Jean Rhys, and V. S. Naipaul. Critical and scholarly articles of up to thirty pages are accepted for publication. Creative works, including poetry, drama, and fiction, are also part of the journal’s scope. Tables of contents for all issues are available on the website. In addition, articles are indexed in ABELL (1997–), Black Studies Center (1997–), Humanities International Index (2005–), and Hispanic American Periodicals Index Online (2005–). Full text is available through Gale’s Literature Resource Center (2007–), ProQuest’s Black Studies Center (2005–) and Literature Online (2005–), and PRISMA (Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanisticas) from 2005 forward. Journal of West Indian Literature is a publication of the Department of Literatures in English at The University of the West Indies. Articles must be scholarly in nature and devoted to English-language Caribbean literature. The journal also publishes articles on non-English literature from the region, provided they are written in English and relevant to the themes and concerns of Caribbean literature in English. Typical issues contain approximately six scholarly articles and five book reviews. No creative writing is accepted. A recent issue is devoted to author Louise Bennett and includes an examination of postcolonial discourse in her works and an essay on the relationship between public transportation and mobility in her poetry. Full text is available in ProQuest’s Black Studies Center (2004–), Literature Online (2004–), and PRISMA (Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas) from 2004 to the present. Content is indexed in Black Studies Center (1998–), International Index to Black Periodicals (2004–), Hispanic American Periodicals Index Online (2004–), and MLAIB from 1986 forward. MaComère is devoted to creative works by and scholarly studies about Caribbean women authors. The peer-reviewed journal was created by the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars, an international organization charged with disseminating and promoting the literature of Caribbean women (www.acwws.org). By publishing critical articles, creative writing, interviews with authors, and book reviews in English, Spanish, and French, MaComère provides a forum for the critical study and teaching of the works of Caribbean women writers and scholars. Issues focus on a particular theme, such as “Caribbean Women and Theatre,” “Women & National Political Struggles in the Caribbean,” and “Migrant Writing.” Approximately five critical articles up to seven thousand words long and three reviews of fifteen hundred words are featured in each issue, along with a selection of poetry and short fiction. Tables of contents for all issues are available on the journal’s website. Unfortunately there is no full text of the journal online. Scholarly articles are indexed in MLAIB from 1998 forward. Small Axe: A Journal of Criticism is a peer-reviewed journal of criticism, primarily concerned with Caribbean literature and literature from the Caribbean diaspora. Its goal is to continue the tradition of two independent literary magazines of the 1960s and 1970s that gave form to, and spoke from within, a Caribbean cultural-political tradition: New World Quarterly (journal of the New World Movement) and Savacou (journal of the Caribbean Artist’s

Movement). Small Axe seeks to fashion a method of criticism that works through the AngloCreole Caribbean intellectual tradition. Editors welcome original scholarly essays, interviews, fiction, and poetry of up to 7,000 words. The journal also publishes artwork and mixed-media pieces. Issues often focus on special themes, such as “The Caribbean Popular,” “Debating the Contemporary in Caribbean Art,” and “Aspects of Caribbean Intellectual Tradition.” Full text is available through many resources, including ProQuest’s Black Studies Center (2001–), Literature Online (2001–2009), and Academic Search Complete (1998– 2010). Content is also accessible through Project Muse (2001–) and PRISMA (Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanisticas) from 2001 to the present. The journal is indexed in International Index to Black Periodicals (1998–), Humanities International Index (1998–), Expanded Academic ASAP (2001–), Hispanic American Periodicals Index Online (2001–), ABELL (1997–), and MLAIB from 2001 forward. Because Wasafiri was created with the goal of raising the profile of works by African, Caribbean, South Asian, and black British authors beyond the confines of the traditional canon, some of the scholarship and creative writing in the journal will be of interest to those studying black Caribbean literature. For more information on Wasafiri, see the entry in the “African Literatures in English” section. SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURES IN ENGLISH Indian Literature. New Delhi: SahityaAkademi, 1957–. Bimonthly. ISSN: 0019-5804. Indian P.E.N. Bombay: P.E.N. All-India Centre, 1934–. Bimonthly. ISSN: 0019-6053. The Journal of Indian Writing in English. Gulbarga: G.S. Balarama Gupta, 1973–. Semiannual. ISSN: 0302-1319. Journal of South Asian Literature. Michigan State University Asian Studies Center, 1973–2000. Semiannual. ISSN: 00915637. Former title: Mahfil: A Quarterly of South Asian Literature. 1963–1972. Quarterly. ISSN: 0025-0503. Literary Criterion. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1952–. Quarterly. ISSN: 0024-452X. www.dcismysore.org/The-LiteraryCriterion. South Asian Review. Department of English, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, 1977–. Quarterly. ISSN: 0275-9527.

Indian Literature publishes English poetry, fiction, drama, and criticism originally written in English, as well as translations of approximately twenty-three Indian languages into English. Typical issues contain approximately five articles of scholarly criticism, one author interview, and a selection of creative writing. In addition, a separate section of book reviews is included in the back of each issue. Finally, each issue has a section called “What Are You Doing in the Attic?” which features short, personal essays by writers, designed to keep readers updated on current projects or life events. Recent issues have an interview with G. N. Panikkar, an examination of houses in Shashi Deshpande’s novels, and a selection of poems by Sankha Ghosh. Unfortunately, there is no full text online. Indexing is scarce as well, but some content is covered in Bibliography of Asian Studies (1971–1991), Guide to Indian Periodical Literature (1964–), ABELL (1965–), and MLAIB for the years 1958–1984. Indian P.E.N. is the publication of the P.E.N. All-India Centre, an association of poets, playwrights, editors, essayists, and novelists. The goal of the association is to offer a platform for writers to publish their works, and to provide scholars and others interested in the literary arts and culture a means of accessing these works (indiapen.wordpress.com/about). Because

no issues are available after 1998, it seems likely the journal is no longer being published. However, given its longevity and focus, it is still an important resource for those researching Indian literature in English. Typical issues contain a mixture of poetry, short fiction, and scholarly essays. One or two book reviews are also included. Both scholarly and creative writing content is indexed in Bibliography of Asian Studies (1975–1996) and ABELL (1948– 1978), and scholarly articles only are indexed in MLAIB from 1956 to 1998. The Journal of Indian Writing in English is associated with the National Institute for Research in Indian English Literature (NIRIEL), and is devoted to the publication of essays, book reviews, and poems that represent the quality and variety of Indian literature in English. Each issue contains a selection of poetry, approximately ten critical essays, and fifteen book reviews of varying lengths. Critical essays must have an Indian or postcolonial theme, as reflected by recent articles on the Krishna element in Shakespeare and migration in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club. Unfortunately, there is no electronic version of the journal. Surprisingly, content is not indexed in Bibliography of Asian Studies, but earlier years are in Index India (1977–1993), and more recent content in Guide to Indian Periodical Literature (1979–). Scholarly essays are indexed in MLAIB from 1980 to 2008. For seventeen years the Journal of South Asian Literature was devoted to the promotion of South Asian literature, publishing creative works and literary criticism on all periods, including classical, medieval, modern, and contemporary. Unfortunately the journal ceased publication in 2000, but it is still an important resource for the study of Indian literature. Creative writing in all genres (poetry, short stories, excerpts from novels, plays, and essays), book reviews, and specialized bibliographies was part of the journal’s content. Issues often focused on individual writers, languages, or other topics significant to the study of South Asian literature. Sample special issues featured content such as “Modern Nepali Literature” and “Perspectives on Socialist Realism in Asian Literature.” Journal of South Asian Literature continued the journal Mahfil, which was published from 1963 to 1972. Full text of volumes 9 through 35 (1973–2000) of Journal of South Asian Literature is available in JSTOR, along with volumes 3 through 8 (1966–1972) of Mahfil. In addition, Digital South Asia Library contains the full text of Mahfil from volumes 1 through 8 (1963–1972). Bibliography of Asian Studies indexes Journal of South Asian Literature from 1973 to 1991, and MLAIB covers 1973 through 2000. MLAIB also indexes Mahfil from 1965 to 1972. For almost sixty years Literary Criterion has promoted Commonwealth literature and Indian writing in English. The journal’s objective is to increase recognition of literary texts and to analyze them through an Indian approach. Each issue publishes approximately eight scholarly essays and two book reviews. Special issues have highlighted author R. K. Narayan and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Literary Criterion is indexed in Bibliography of Asian Studies(1976–1991), Index India (1967–1993), Guide to Indian Periodical Literature (1964–), ABELL (1955–1979), and MLAIB from 1963 through 2008. South Asian Review is a fully refereed journal, focusing on all aspects of South Asian literatures, arts, and culture. The journal is published by the South Asian Literary Association,

which is an allied organization of the Modern Language Association of America. Established in 1976, the association was created to foster the study of literatures, cultures, and languages of people from the South Asian continent. Issues of South Asian Review typically have a special theme, such as “Pakistani Creative Writing in English” and “Postcolonial Considerations.” Articles are approximately twenty pages in length, with book reviews ranging between two and three pages. Unfortunately the journal is not available in full text online. However, its content is indexed in MLAIB from 1978 forward. POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURES IN ENGLISH Ariel: Review of English Literature. University of Calgary, 1970–. Quarterly. ISSN: 0004-1327. ariel.synergiesprairies.ca/ariel/index.php/ariel. Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies. Department of English and Philosophy, Georgia Southern University, 1993–. Semiannual. ISSN: 1073-1687. class.georgiasouthern.edu/litphi/jcps/jcps.htm. Journal of Commonwealth Literature. Sage, 1965–. Quarterly. ISSN: 0021-9894. www.sagepub.co.uk/journal.aspx? pid=105831. Journal of Postcolonial Writing. Routledge, 2005–. Semiannual. ISSN: 1744-9855. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17449855.asp. Former title: World Literature Written in English (WLWE). University of Texas at Arlington, 1971–2004. Semiannual. ISSN: 0093-1705. Postcolonial Studies. Routledge, 1998–. Quarterly. ISSN: 1368-8790. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=13688790&linktype=145. Postcolonial Text. Surrey, BC: Department of English, Kwantlen University College, 2004–. ISSN 1705-9100. Available online via Open Humanities Press. journals.sfu.ca/pocol/index.php/pct (accessed 13 February 2012).

Ariel: Review of English Literature is devoted to the critical study of both new and established literatures in English. Approximately ten peer-reviewed articles appear in each issue, along with two or three book reviews. Because the archive is managed through Open Journal Systems , an open-access platform, anyone can browse content by author, title, or issue, or search for topics by keyword within the full text. Recent articles of interest to researchers of Indian literature include an analysis of cosmopolitanism in Salman Rushdie’s novel Fury and science and the body in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome: A Novel of Fevers, Delirium & Discovery. There is a one-year embargo on access to recent issues (a subscription is required to see the latest year). However, full-text articles from older issues are free to download through the Open Journal Systems site. If your library subscribes, recent articles are available in full text through Gale’s Expanded Academic ASAP (2002–) and Literature Resource Center (2002–). The journal is indexed in EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete (1993–), and from 1970 forward in both ABELL and MLAIB. Perhaps the oldest journal devoted to the discipline, the Journal of Commonwealth Literature is internationally recognized as one of the leading critical and bibliographic sources in the field of Commonwealth studies. The primary focus of the journal is to bring together the latest scholarship on Commonwealth and postcolonial literatures, including those pertaining to Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. There are approximately seven articles in each issue, with recent essays analyzing language and space in Salman Rushdie’s fiction and gender and politics in the works of Shama Futehally. The fourth issue each year is dedicated to a comprehensive bibliography of recent publications—both primary and secondary—

pertaining to each geographic area. More in-depth information about this essential bibliography may be found in chapter 4. Reviews of scholarly books are also published in the journal, along with author interviews. Full text of Journal of Commonwealth Literature is available with a subscription through Sage Journals Online. Content of the journal is indexed in ProQuest’s Research Library Complete (1989–), Gale’s Literature Resource Center (1989–), EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete (1993–), and ABELL and MLAIB from 1965 forward. Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies is devoted to the promotion and study of the literature, history, and politics of all nations that were part of the British Commonwealth. In addition, the journal covers the literature of countries colonized by other European powers in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Caribbean. Scholarly essays, author interviews, and creative writing are all featured in the journal. Approximately seven scholarly essays of 4,000 to 5,000 words and five book review essays of 1,200 to 1,500 words are published in each issue. Tables of contents for volumes 1–15 (1993–2008) are available on the journal’s website. Issues focus on a designated topic or theme, such as “Religion and Postcolonialism” or “Postcolonial Studies and Ecocriticism.” Content is indexed in ABELL and MLAIB from 1993 forward. The goal of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing is to explore modern writing in the English language and publish articles that address issues pertinent to postcolonial studies. The journal encourages the submission of essays that analyze the works of individual writers and examine classical texts of literature from a range of postcolonial and global perspectives. Interviews with postcolonial writers and theorists are a regular feature of the journal, as well as reviews of both creative works and scholarship analyzing of postcolonial texts. Approximately eight essays of from eight to fourteen pages are published in each issue. Recent volumes have been devoted to topics such as literature, politics, and violence in Pakistan, and postcolonial writing and law. Journal of Postcolonial Writing is indexed in ABELL and MLAIB from 2005 forward. Tables of contents for issues from 1973 to the present may be viewed through the journal’s website. Full-text articles online are only accessible through a subscription with Routledge. Postcolonial Text is a refereed, open-access journal that publishes critical articles, book reviews, and creative writing on postcolonial, transnational, and indigenous themes. The journal strives to be a global forum for the critical discussion of postcolonial literatures, culture, history, and theory. Researchers may browse the content by author, title, or issue, or search the full text by keyword. Access to the critical articles, interviews with authors, creative works, and book reviews (of approximately one thousand to twelve hundred words each) is free through Open Journal Systems. Recent topics discussed in Postcolonial Text include subjectivity in Bharati Mukherjee’s fiction and transnational urbanism in the texts of South Asian diasporic writer Jhumpa Lahiri. Postcolonial Studies is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the Institute of Postcolonial Studies in Melbourne, Australia. As described on its website, it is “the first journal specifically aimed at publishing work which explores the various facets—

textual, figural, spatial, historical, political and economic—of the colonial encounter, and the ways in which this encounter shaped the West and non-West alike.” Approximately seven critical articles of five thousand words are presented in each issue. Recent publications include an examination of national identity in the works of Indian author Jawaharlal Nehru and the ongoing debate surrounding Fredric Jameson’s controversial essay “Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism” (Social Text 15 [1986]: 65–88). Tables of contents of all issues are available to browse for free on the journal’s webpage. Postcolonial Studies is available in full text through Routledge and from 1998 through a year ago in EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete. The journal is indexed in Humanities International Index (1998–) and MLAIB from 1998 forward. CONCLUSION The journals outlined in this chapter are a sample of those devoted to African, Caribbean, and Indian literatures in English. Though not an exhaustive listing, they constitute some of the most established journals publishing scholarship in Commonwealth and postcolonial literary studies. Browsing issues will familiarize you with major scholars in the field, leading to fresh insight into new and emerging authors from each area. When conducting research in postcolonial literatures, be prepared to encounter obstacles. For example, it can be difficult to access journals, particularly those from India and the Caribbean. Few titles are available online, and many are not covered by any databases or indexing tools. Library holdings for some of these journals are scant, so be prepared to use ILL, which may be your only option for viewing content. Although all the titles described here focus on scholarship specific to postcolonial literatures, remember that periodicals outside the discipline may include research of interest to your project. The best strategy for discovering the most relevant information on a topic is to search the appropriate databases. Bibliographies and indexes with comprehensive coverage in literary studies (such as the MLAIB and ABELL, both discussed in chapter 4) will help you identify scholarship on a particular author or work. As literary research becomes increasingly interdisciplinary in nature, it is essential to be aware of journals publishing in related areas. Historical and cultural themes provide context for the creative works of a particular author or literary movement. If your research interests overlap with disciplines outside of literature, it is essential that you consult additional resources that will expand the scope of information available to you. If you are not certain which indexes or databases may be the most relevant, review the tools outlined in the appendix or consult your librarian.

Chapter Six

Literary Reviews The goal of this chapter is to provide guidance and information on locating reviews of African, Caribbean, and South Asian literatures in English published from the mid-twentieth to the twenty-first centuries. Most of the resources outlined are only accessible through a subscription service, so check your local library to determine availability. In general, using a multipurpose database such as EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete, Gale’s Expanded Academic ASAP, and ProQuest’s Research Library is a good option for locating current book reviews. The advantage to using these resources is that they are not limited to any one discipline. Thus you can discover reviews of fiction and poetry, along with scholarly works on literature, history, cultural studies, and any other topic that might be of value to your research. However, there are limitations to multipurpose databases, so be prepared to consult more specialized tools as well. Following are tips to keep in mind when searching resources like Academic Search Complete, Expanded Academic ASAP, and Research Library: Every database covers different publications, and though all will overlap to some degree, each will contain unique content. Journals are often indexed further back than they are available in full text. For example, English in Africa is indexed from 1995 to the present, but is only in full text from 2002 to the present, in EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete. Publishers of magazines and journals are increasingly adding embargos to content, so the most recent year of a particular title may not be available in full text, although previous years are present. Most content only goes back to the early to mid-1980s. If you are looking for reviews of books published prior to 1980, you will need to consult other tools. Finally, although databases produced by EBSCO, Gale, and ProQuest cover periodicals in all disciplines, most of the publications are well-established, widely circulated titles. Small, independently published magazines that are not from the United States or Western Europe are likely to be absent. Unfortunately, this will impact your ability to locate reviews pertaining to literatures from Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. In addition to the resources outlined in this chapter, many of the scholarly journals discussed in chapter 5 feature reviews of current publications in African, Caribbean, and South Asian studies. It is possible to browse issues of these journals to identify reviews, but it is much more efficient to consult indexes and annual reviews, because they allow you to search a large range of years and a variety of publications all at once. For more information about tools for

researching postcolonial literatures and tips on using them, refer to chapter 4. Finally, specialized bibliographies on authors, genres, and national literatures will often furnish citations to reviews of older and current works, all in one convenient list. The index to criticism published by Jeannette Allis, discussed elsewhere in this section, is an example of a resource that compiles reviews of works written by West Indian authors. In addition, Berrian and Broek’s Bibliography of Women Writers from the Caribbean:1831–1986 contains a section on book reviews. You can determine if a book-length bibliography exists for your author by searching OCLC’s WorldCat. The final section of this chapter outlines three monograph-length bibliographies on important Caribbean, African, and South Asian authors. Each covers book reviews. Note that every bibliography covers different types of resources— primary only, secondary only, or both. Be sure to read the introduction to determine the scope of material compiled. Perhaps a better strategy for locating a bibliography on your author is to search an index to periodical literature, as bibliographies are often available in the form of an article in scholarly journals. MLAIB and ABELL are the appropriate tools for this endeavor, as they provide the most comprehensive coverage of materials devoted to literary studies. Consult chapter 4 for more information and resources on identifying bibliographies on postcolonial literatures. 1

FINDING REVIEWS Academic Search Complete. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. www.ebscohost.com. Africa Review of Books. Ethiopia: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. 2/yr. ISSN 0851-7592. www.codesria.org/spip.php?rubrique59&lang=en. African Book Publishing Record (ABPR). Berlin: De Gruyter Saur. Quarterly. ISSN: 0306-0322; E-ISSN: 1865-8717. www.degruyter.com/view/j/abpr. AllAfrica.com. AllAfrica Global Media. allafrica.com (accessed 14 February 2012). Allis, Jeannette B. West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930–1975. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981. Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL). Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1924–. Annual. ISSN: 0066-3786. www.proquest.com. The Book Review. New Delhi: The Book Review Literary Trust, 1976–. Monthly. www.thebookreviewindia.org. Book Review Index. Detroit: Gale, 1965–. 3/yr. with annual cumulations. ISSN: 0524-0581. www.gale.cengage.com/BRIOnline. Caribbean Review of Books. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Media and Editorial Projects Ltd., 2004–. Bimonthly. ISSN: 1811-4873. caribbeanreviewofbooks.com (accessed 14 February 2012). Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802–1974. Woodbridge, CT: Carrollton Press/Research Publications, 1982–1984. Easterbrook, David L. Africana Book Reviews, 1885–1945: An Index to Books Reviewed in Selected English-Language Publications. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1979. Factiva. New York: Dow Jones & Reuters. factiva.com. Guía a lasReseñas de Libros de y sobreHispanoamérica = A Guide to Reviews of Books from and about Hispanic America. Río Piedras, PR: Ediciones Puerto, 1960/1964–1990. Annual. H-Africa Review. H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. www.h-net.org/~africa (accessed 14 February 2012). Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI). UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 1974–. Annual. ISSN: 0270-8558. hapi.ucla.edu. Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities. Williamston, MI: Phillip Thomson, 1960–1990. Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines. Troy, NY: Whitston, 1965–1992. 2/yr. ISSN: 0362-8183. LexisNexis Academic. Dayton, OH: Reed-Elsevier. www.lexisnexis.com. New York Times Book Review (NYTBR). New York: New York Times, 1923–. Weekly. ISSN: 0028-7806. New York Times Book Review Index 1896–1970. 5 vols. New York: Arno Press, 1973.

Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas (PRISMA). Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. www.proquest.com. Times Literary Supplement (TLS). London: Times, 1902–. Weekly. ISSN: 0040-7895. Times Literary Supplement Index 1902–1939. Reading, England: Newspaper Archive Developments Ltd., 1978. Times Literary Supplement Index 1940–1980. Reading, England: Research Publications, 1982.

EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete is a multidisciplinary database that provides access to more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals and indexing and abstracts for an additional 12,500 titles. Of particular interest to the study of postcolonial literatures are the following publications: Research in African Literatures, Callaloo, Postcolonial Studies, and Small Axe. In addition to these full-text journals, the Journal of Commonwealth Literature and Ariel are also indexed in Academic Search Complete. EBSCO offers several comparable databases to college and research libraries (Academic Search Elite, Academic Search Premier, etc.). If you have questions about the EBSCO database at your local library and the content it covers, please consult a librarian. The best option for locating book reviews in Academic Search Complete is to use the advanced search. Here you can limit results by the document type “book review.” For example, searching for the keywords Coetzee and Disgrace produces thirty-two items. This set may be further refined by limiting to reviews published in scholarly journals only. Another strategy is to limit by the length of the article, in order to view substantial reviews. Though Academic Search Complete boasts that titles in the database go back in coverage as far as 1887, most are only available from 1980 forward. Thus, when you are looking for reviews of novels published prior to the 1980s, your search may not produce any hits at all. In the case of South African author Bessie Head’s A Question of Power (London: Heinemann, 1974), Academic Search Complete only locates one citation, from the New Republic. This was a successful novel, so it is likely more reviews were published. To be thorough, check additional tools. The Africa Review of Books presents reviews of publications that focus on Africa in the disciplines of social sciences, humanities, and creative arts. It is also intended to serve as a forum for critical analyses, reflections, and debates about Africa. Reviews are in English or French and typically consist of two thousand words. Volumes 1 through 7 (2004–2011) are freely available on the journal’s website. There is no cumulative index to Africa Review of Books, so users must browse through individual issues to identify reviews. African Book Publishing Record (ABPR) strives to provide systematic and comprehensive coverage of new and forthcoming African publications in a single source. Each quarterly issue of ABPR lists recent book award winners, reference tools, and news pertaining to the book trade industry in Africa. ABPR also publishes an extensive book review section. Each issue includes twenty to thirty reviews of new publications in all subjects. In the area of literature, scholarly texts, creative writing, and children’s books are regularly featured. Items are arranged by broad subject categories, such as “Biography & Autobiography” and “Literature.” Titles under “Literature” can be creative works or literary criticism. The final issue of each volume presents a list of the entire year’s reviews, making it easy to scan for a particular work. Because ABPR focuses on books published in Africa, it is possible to identify reviews that are not available elsewhere. Surveying over forty years of books by or about African authors, ABPR is a valuable resource for those interested in learning more about African 2

literature or the African book trade. Jeannette Allis’s West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930–1975 lists reviews of novels, poetry, and collections of short stories from periodicals across the globe. The author attempted to cover as many review sources as possible, especially West Indian journals and newspapers. Reviews of drama and plays were excluded from the scope of the index. It is divided into four sections, with the largest arranged alphabetically by author. Within each entry, citations follow the title of each work by the reviewer’s name. For instance, under “Naipaul, Vidia Surajprasad,” there are nine reviews of The Mystic Masseur (1957)—four by anonymous authors, and four by named critics. If you are interested in identifying book reviews by a particular scholar or critic, the second section of the book provides an index for that purpose. A directory of periodicals and newspapers indexed is available at the beginning of the volume. An appendix of books about West Indian literature completes the work, making it a valuable resource for those interested in early West Indian literature in English. For information on using this index to locate more in-depth scholarship on your author, consult chapter 4. The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL), discussed at more length in chapter 4, indexes reviews of books pertaining to literary criticism and theory. It does not supply citations to reviews of fiction, poetry, or other creative writing. When using the electronic version of ABELL to locate a book review, you have the option of limiting your search to a particular publication type, including “Reviews.” If you know the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) of the book, you can search by it. You can also search for the title of the book, or by “Author/Reviewer.” The online version of ABELL covers the years 1920 to the present and offers the advantage of linking to the full text of a review, if your library subscribes to the journal in electronic format. When using the print version of ABELL, look for book review citations under the name of the principal author entry. For example, reviews of The Shadowed Country: Claude McKay and the Romance of the Victorians by Josh Gosciak (Rutgers University Press, 2006) would be listed under “McKay, Claude,” located in the “English Literature: Twentieth Century: Authors” section. If you know the author of the work of criticism, you can also identify reviews by looking for him or her in the “Scholars” index. The Book Review is a monthly publication that features critical, in-depth reviews of books published in India and abroad. Books may focus on a variety of subjects pertaining to South Asia studies, including the social sciences, humanities, arts, and culture. Creative works such as fiction and poetry are also reviewed. According to its website, The Book Review “has carved out a special niche for itself by focusing on the important work being done in the Indian languages through reviews in English.” Books originally published in English are also covered as part of the journal’s scope. Special issues devoted to children’s books are regularly published in November. Recent entries in The Book Review examine a collection of short fiction by Brinda Charry, First Love (New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers India, 2009), and a novel by Kavery Nambisan, The Story That Must Not Be Told (New Delhi: Penguin, Viking, 2010). Tables of contents for issues from 2003 through 2010 are available to view for free on

the journal’s website. Book Review Index (BRI) strives to be the most comprehensive discovery tool available for book reviews published in a wide variety of periodical resources. Approximately seven hundred popular magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers are currently indexed. If you are using the print version of BRI, an alphabetical list of periodicals covered by the resource is located at the beginning of each issue. If your library subscribes to the online version, this list may be viewed through Gale’s website. Sample journals that review African, Caribbean, and South Asian literature include Callaloo (1986–), World Literature Today (1965–), and The Caribbean Writer (1997–). If using the print version of BRI, you will need to know the year a book was published to locate reviews. Keep in mind that most reviews appear in periodical literature within twelve to eighteen months after the book’s publication date. Once you have the appropriate annual or quarterly volume, check under the author’s name to identify reviews. A resource similar to BRI that is widely available in both academic and public libraries is Book Review Digest (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1906–). Because of the restrictions placed on content included in this tool (books of creative writing have to be published or distributed in the United States, and scholarly works must have at least three reviews), it is not recommended for those researching postcolonial literatures. However, Book Review Digest began publication in 1906, so it may be useful for locating early twentieth-century reviews of books produced by established Commonwealth authors such as R. K. Narayan or V. S. Naipaul. The Caribbean Review of Books publishes reviews of recent books about the West Indies and the Caribbean. Because the primary focus of the magazine is fiction, poetry, arts, and culture, it also reviews new works by West Indian and Caribbean authors. Other topics of interest include biography, history, current affairs, and politics. The magazine publishes creative writing, interviews with authors, and scholarly or academic titles if they are of interest to nonspecialist readers. The Caribbean Review of Books was published quarterly from 1991 to 1994 by the University of the West Indies Publishers’ Association in Jamaica. In 2004 it was revived by a team of writers and editors based at Media and Editorial Projects in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In 2010 it was relaunched as a bimonthly online magazine. The archive features freely accessible content of every issue published since 2009, along with selections from older editions. A browsable subject index is also provided, allowing users to identify information by topic, such as fiction reviews, poetry reviews, and literary criticism. For those interested in learning more about recent publications from the Caribbean and West Indies, this resource will be of great value. Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802–1974 is a set of ten volumes that provides author and title access to approximately 500,000 reviews appearing in more than 150 scholarly humanities journals. A list of the periodicals indexed is located at the beginning of each volume. As indicated by the title, dates of the sources consulted are from both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Thus, this tool may be used to identify reviews of African, Caribbean, and South Asian literature prior to those regions’ break from the rule of England. Reviews can be located either by the author’s name (arranged alphabetically and covering the first nine volumes) or by consulting the final volume in the set

by the title of a particular work. The number of reviews will vary from title to title, and it is entirely possible you may not find a review for your work. For example, there are no entries for Nadine Gordimer’s second novel, A World of Strangers (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1958). However, there are four listed for her third novel, Occasion for Loving (New York: Viking, 1963). Note that the Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886–1974 (Woodbridge, CT: Carrollton Press/Research Publications, 1979–1982) is a companion set that supplies author and title access to more than one million book reviews appearing in 459 scholarly journals in history, political science, and sociology. Africana Book Reviews, 1885–1945: An Index to Books Reviewed in Selected EnglishLanguage Publications identifies reviews published in forty-four journals from the late nineteenth century through 1945. Main entries are arranged alphabetically by author, but a separate index provides access by title. Unfortunately there is no subject index, so this tool will only be useful if you are seeking reviews of a known item. Most of the content indexed falls outside the realm of literature, but selected creative works are covered, as indicated by the inclusion of three novels by South African author Sarah Gertrude Millin: General Smuts (1936), Rhodes (1933), and The South Africans (1926). Factiva allows convenient access to global news and business information. Sources derive from 118 countries and are published in twenty-two languages. Although Factiva is promoted as a business resource, its full-text coverage of major global newspapers makes it a viable tool for locating book reviews. If you are looking for scholarly reviews, newspapers should not be your first choice. However, for works by lesser-known authors, newspapers may be your only option for finding a review. Some of the major African, South Asian, and Caribbean newspapers in English covered in Factiva are Cape Argus (Cape Town), Pretoria News, The Hindu, The Times of India, the Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka), Jamaica Observer, and the Trinidad Guardian. Because Factiva contains so much full text, it is recommended that you limit your search from the very beginning; otherwise, a basic keyword search can produce far too many false hits. Using the “search builder” option, you can limit your search by region, including five areas of Africa: Central, East, North, Southern, and West. Within each of these regions, there is an option for narrowing the search further. For instance, for Southern Africa you can limit the search to twelve individual countries. Limiting your search by “subject,” “political/general news,” “arts/entertainment,” then by “books” is preferable, because it targets sections of newspapers that feature book reviews. Be aware that the default date range is often the most recent three months. If your book was published before the previous year, remember to change this default. Factiva can be a tricky resource to use, so if you experience any problems, ask your local reference librarian for assistance. If your library does not subscribe to Factiva, an alternate tool for locating book reviews in newspapers is LexisNexis Academic, discussed elsewhere in this section. Although Guía a las Reseñas de Libros de y sobreHispanoamérica = A Guide to Reviews of Books from and about Hispanic America ceased publication in 1990, it remains an extremely valuable resource for identifying book reviews on Caribbean literature published between1960 and 1990. Approximately seven hundred English- and Spanish-language

periodicals are indexed. Users can identify reviews by searching three indexes: author, title, and subject. Sample subject headings of interest to those researching Caribbean literature are “Jamaican drama,” “Jamaican fiction,” “Trinidadian fiction,” “Caribbean community—fiction (English),” and “Antigua and Barbuda—History.” Each entry contains a lengthy annotation of the review cited and may be in either English or Spanish, depending on the language of the original review. There are freely available resources on the Web that index reviews of publications on Africa. H-Africa Review features scholarly reviews of books devoted to the humanities and social sciences disciplines. A separate archive also reviews CDs, films, and websites of interest to those studying Africa. Editors ensure the quality of reviews in both the archive (1995–2007) and current reviews sections (2007–). Reviews in the archive can be searched by author, title, year of publication, publisher, ISBN, and name of reviewer. Similar to but less useful than HAfrica Review is AllAfrica.com, which includes reviews from 2003 forward. This site pulls together information from a variety of African newspapers, allowing users to limit by country only. Unfortunately, searching for reviews by an author or title of a work is not an option on AllAfrica.com. Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) compiles book reviews, articles, documents, bibliographies, original literary works, and other items appearing in five hundred social science and humanities journals. These journals, published internationally, must focus on Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, or Hispanics in the United States. Reviews of creative works as well as scholarly criticism pertaining to Caribbean literature are indexed from 1970 to 2001. Those who have access to the online version of HAPI may retrieve citations by searching for the author’s name and the title of a literary work in the subject field. Unfortunately, although you have the option of eliminating book reviews from your search, you cannot limit results to this format. Thus you will have to look through all the results and identify those with the publication type “book review” located in the full record. A search for author Earl Lovelace and his novel Schoolmaster produces two items, both from the Caribbean Quarterly. If you are using the print edition of HAPI, reviews are indexed in the subject section of each volume under the author of the book. From 1981 to 2001, separate book review sections are present in the print edition, making it convenient to identify reviews of a particular author’s work. From 1960 to 1970, Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities attempted to be a comprehensive index to book reviews in all areas of the humanities. From 1971 onward, it reduced the number of periodicals covered and excluded books devoted to children’s literature. Journals examined for the index are international in scope and include titles such as Africa South, African Affairs, Contemporary Review, English-Speaking World, and Journal of Asian Studies. When you are looking for reviews of Chinua Achebe’s novel No Longer at Ease (London: Heinemann, 1960), there are four listed under the author’s name in the 1960 cumulative volume. All four sources are British publications: New Statesman, the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Times Weekly Review. You will notice that the index uses code numbers in place of journal names, so you will have to consult the front of each

volume to identify the source in which your review is located. Then check your library’s catalog to see if that resource is available in the collection. Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines is now defunct, but given its focus, it is worth a look, especially for those interested in African literature. This highly selective tool indexed criticism, creative works, and substantial book reviews published in a range of Englishlanguage little magazines. The scope of the resource demanded that periodicals be from Commonwealth or former-Commonwealth countries. Most of these magazines are from the United Kingdom, but there are several titles from various African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. Periodicals from the Caribbean and South Asia are not featured. A full list of publications indexed appears at the beginning of each volume. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author and subject. To identify book reviews, use the author entry. Because the time period covered varies with each volume (two or three years per volume), you must know the date your book was published, select the appropriate volume of the index, then identify review sources. LexisNexis Academic is an alternative resource to Factiva for locating reviews in major national and international papers. Like Factiva, content in LexisNexis Academic is full text, so articles are available immediately. Because its strength is legal and business information, it is advisable to focus your search on resources that frequently publish book reviews in the humanities. To do this, click on the “News” category on the bottom left corner of the search screen. Next, select “All News,” which opens a search box allowing the option to limit by “book reviews.” From here, you can select from eight source options, including “newspapers,” “magazines,” and “U.S. newspapers and wires.” If you prefer to focus your search on African or Indian newspapers, simply check the drop-down arrow under “Sources.” Finally, you can limit your search to a particular date or date range. Results will be organized in several categories on the left-hand portion of the screen. Select the “newspapers” option to see a list of all the papers with articles or reviews on your book. When you select a specific title, all the articles will appear in full text on the right-hand side of the screen. Keep in mind that content in LexisNexis Academic is mostly from the early 1980s to the present. If you are seeking reviews of a book prior to 1980, you must consult an alternative resource, such as Book Review Index or Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities. When searching for reviews of literary works in the English language, one source you will likely encounter is the New York Times Book Review (NYTBR). If your library subscribes to ProQuest’s Historical Newspapers, you have access to the full text of the New York Times from 1851 to 2007 online, including reviews that were published from 1896 forward. One advantage of using the online database is the ability to limit your search to the document type “review” in the advanced search screen. However, this does not always ensure the best results. A search for V. S. Naipaul’s The Mystic Masseur (New York: Vanguard, 1959) returns one review from April 12, 1959, and nine additional articles published from 1960 to 2003. Though one of the nine items reviews a reprint edition of the novel, the others only mention The Mystic Masseur in reference to other works published by Naipaul. For the best results, limit your search to keywords in “Citation and Abstract.” If you do not have access to the online version

of the New York Times, an alternative resource for identifying book reviews published throughout the paper’s history is the New York Times Book Review Index 1896–1970. Each volume is an index to reviews through different access points, including author, title, byline (reviewers of works), subject, and category (anthologies, children’s fiction, poetry, etc.). Using the print index will eliminate the false hits that inevitably occur when using the online version of the Times, but you will have to locate a copy of the actual text in a separate step. Because the New York Times Book Review is such an important source for book reviews, most all-purpose databases (EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete, Gale’s Expanded Academic ASAP, and ProQuest’s Research Library) will either index content or present the full text for a certain period of time. Check the individual databases to determine the exact dates, but most coverage will begin in the mid- to late 1980s. ProQuest’s Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas (PRISMA) offers full text of approximately 165 scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities, all dedicated to the study of Latin America, the Caribbean Basin, and Hispanic America. Most of the full-text content is from 1991 forward, but PRISMA also indexes an additional four-hundred journals, some of which pertain to Caribbean studies. If your library subscribes to both PRISMA and HAPI, you receive the benefit of in-depth indexing from HAPI, which directly complements the full-text content in PRISMA. Some full-text journals that feature book reviews are Caribbean Quarterly, Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies, Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, and Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. For a complete list of titles available in full text, as well as those that are indexed only, see the ProQuest website . The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) is an important source for reviews of African, Caribbean, and South Asian literature. If your library subscribes, Gale’s TLS Historical Archive is a full-text online version of TLS from 1902 to 2006 . Be aware that the Gale digital archive of the Times (1785–1985) does not contain content from the Literary Supplement. Similar to the New York Times Book Review, TLS is often indexed in major all-purpose databases, but only from the 1980s forward. If you wish to check for reviews prior to the 1980s and do not have access to the Historical Archive, there are separate print indexes that will save you considerable time and effort. The first is a two-volume set to 350,000 reviews published between 1902 and 1939. Volume I of the Times Literary Supplement Index 1902–1939 covers A–K and volume II covers L–Z. Information in the two volumes is divided into the following three alphabetically arranged categories: personal names, titles, and subject. Subject categories that may be of use include “Africa: Culture,” “Caribbean: Literature,” “Drama: Indian,” and “India: Great Britain, relations with.” The second, three-volume set (Times Literary Supplement Index 1940–1980) indexes reviews from 1940 to 1980 and is arranged the same way as the title covering earlier content. A check for Jamaican author Louise Bennett under “Bennett, Louise,” reveals one review of her collection of poems, Jamaica Labrish (Jamaica: Sangster’s, 1966). AUTHOR-SPECIFIC REVIEWS

Gibbs, James, Ketu Katrak, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. Wole Soyinka: A Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Sources. London: Greenwood, 1986. Jarvis, Kelvin. V. S. Naipaul: A Selective Bibliography with Annotations, 1957–1987. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1989. Pontes, Hilda. R. K. Narayan. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities/New Delhi: Concept, 1983.

Wole Soyinka: A Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Sources is part of Greenwood’s Bibliographies and Indexes in Afro-American and African Studies Series. The bibliography is divided into two major sections, the first covering works by Soyinka, the second works published about the author. In both sections contents are arranged chronologically. Primary works include all of Soyinka’s published literary works, essays, interviews, and critical articles. Secondary sources include book-length studies, critical essays, articles in newspapers, and reviews. Authors of reviews are listed, if available. If reviews are anonymous, they appear at the beginning of the list of secondary resources. A separate index to titles and subjects provides additional access to content within the book. Given the comprehensive scope of this bibliography, it should be an essential tool for anyone studying Soyinka. Unlike the bibliography on Soyinka, V. S. Naipaul: A Selective Bibliography with Annotations, 1957–1987does not attempt to be comprehensive. However, annotations are provided for each entry, allowing researchers to glean information about the nature of the sources listed. In the introduction, Jarvis mentions that non-English reviews were excluded, and those published in newspapers were added on a limited basis. Section “D” of the bibliography is devoted to reviews and is approximately sixty-five pages in length. Entries are arranged chronologically and cover Naipaul’s works from 1957 to 1987. The author has attempted to list reviews of Naipaul’s work that appeared in small-press Caribbean magazines such as Bim and the Trinidad and Tobago Review. In addition to these resources, more mainstream publications like the New Yorker and TLS are also featured. Hilda Pontes’s R. K. Narayan attempts to comprehensively list both primary and secondary resources published by and about this important Indian author. Book reviews are covered under the secondary sources section and are arranged chronologically, beginning with the novel Swami and Friends (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1935) and ending with The Mahabharata (London: Heinemann, 1978). Pontes inserts quotes from each source, allowing researchers to determine the nature of the review. There is no list of periodicals to determine where the author gathered her information. However, in scanning the reviews, it appears that many British newspapers were used, such as The Observer and The Guardian, as well as a variety of local and international periodicals, such as Indian Affairs and World Literature Today. CONCLUSION Interdisciplinary periodical databases such as ProQuest’s Research Library, Gale’s Expanded Academic ASAP, and EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete allow researchers to locate book reviews from hundreds of publications quickly and easily. The fact that many of the periodicals in these resources are available online in full text further enhances research in many areas.

However, for postcolonial literatures in English, whose authors are less likely to be reviewed in the more established, widely circulated journals and magazines, additional research strategies need to be employed. Particularly in the case of African, Caribbean, and South Asian literature, you may need to consult a number of resources to locate reviews of a literary work. The tools listed in this chapter are good places to begin your search, but they are not the only options available. Be sure to check with your librarian if you encounter any difficulties or have any questions about which resources are most appropriate for your research. NOTES 1. Brenda F. Berrian and Aart Broek, Bibliography of Women Writers from the Caribbean: 1831–1986 (Washington, DC: Three Continents, 1989), 153–164. 2. Roberta Rubenstein, New Republic April 27, 1974, 30–31.

Chapter Seven

Magazines and Newspapers This chapter highlights resources that identify and categorize periodicals from postcolonial Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. The primary emphasis is on magazines and newspapers that have published literary works, book reviews, and interviews with authors. However, because it is often important to understand the particular context in which an author wrote, you may need to research firsthand accounts of political or cultural events that are typically covered in newspapers or general interest periodicals. The first section of this chapter discusses resources that collate or describe periodicals written in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Keep in mind that no single tool will provide a list of all the past or current sources in your area of interest. You may need to consult multiple resources, such as periodical directories, union lists of serials, and specialized bibliographies. The advantage of using union lists to identify older periodicals is that they collect information and make it available in one convenient source, allowing you to scan through titles, discover where copies are located, and view publication details about each item. Because union lists have mostly been abandoned as a means of accumulating current information, they are no longer useful for identifying new periodicals. Also, union lists simply document the existence of a particular periodical—they do not index content, nor do they categorize titles by subject or discipline. Specialized bibliographies often group magazines and journals by topic, along with annotations that indicate where a periodical is indexed. If the resources outlined in this chapter do not provide the information you are seeking, it may be necessary to seek additional tools by searching OCLC’s WorldCat. For union lists of serials from a particular country, use the subject headings union lists and serials along with the name of the country. A useful bibliography that lists and describes many of the union catalogs to periodicals from the Caribbean is Jordan and Comissiong’s The English-Speaking Caribbean: A Bibliography of Bibliographies. The following Library of Congress subject headings may prove useful in your search for bibliographies that focus on periodicals: 1

Africa—Periodicals—Bibliography South Asian periodicals—Bibliography—Periodicals Caribbean, English-speaking—Bibliography—Periodicals West Indies—Bibliography—Periodicals If you are specifically interested in Africa, Bernth Lindfors’s series of bibliographies on African literature in English all contain a chapter devoted to African periodicals. These important bibliographies are discussed in more detail in chapter 4. Also, Hans Zell’s

Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Bibliography features a chapter on periodicals pertaining to the African book trade, as well as a bibliography of resources on the publishing history of important African literary periodicals. Although the periodical literature from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia is immense, only a small portion of the content has been indexed. Even when a title has been indexed, often the indexing sources are no longer being published. Having knowledge of specific titles is the first step to conducting research. Because you will also need to identify articles within these periodicals, the next step is to locate indexes to magazine and newspaper content. The second part of this chapter examines these types of tools for African, Caribbean, and South Asian magazines and newspapers. In addition to the resources discussed in this chapter, it is possible to discover other indexes by searching OCLC’s WorldCat using the following Library of Congress subject headings: 2

Africa—Periodicals—Indexes African periodicals—Indexes—Periodicals South African periodicals—Indexes—Periodicals South Asia—Indexes—Periodicals You should consult the resources outlined in chapter 4 if you are looking for indexes to scholarly journals. Unfortunately, indexes to newspapers are rare, so a strategy for discovering articles within them is to locate a specialized bibliography on your author or subject. A final option is to check for digitized papers and magazines. Because libraries are making significant advances in digitizing early newspapers and periodicals, the third section of this chapter provides information on digital archive projects that feature periodicals written in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. IDENTIFYING NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES Africa African E-Journals Directory. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University. africa.isp.msu.edu/AEJP/directory.htm (accessed 12 February 2012). “African Newspapers.” Africa: South of the Sahara: Selected Internet Resources. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University. www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/current2.html (accessed 12 February 2012). African Newspapers Union List. Chicago: Center for Research Libraries. www.crl.edu/grn/afrinul/search (accessed 12 February 2012). Birkos, Alexander S., and Lewis A. Tambs. African and Black American Studies: Academic Writer’s Guide to Periodicals. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1975. Blake, David M., and Carole Travis. Periodicals from Africa: A Bibliography and Union List of Periodicals Published in Africa. First Supplement. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1984. Lever, Rachelle. The Little Magazine in South Africa Since 1945: A Bibliography. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand, 1973. A List of South African Newspapers, 1800–1982: With Library Holdings. Pretoria: State Library of South Africa, 1993. Serials for African Studies. Washington, DC: Library of Congress African Section, General Reference and Bibliography Division, 1961. Switzer, Les, and Donna Switzer. The Black Press in South Africa and Lesotho: A Descriptive Bibliographic Guide to African, Coloured, and Indian Newspapers, Newsletters, and Magazines, 1836–1976. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1979. Travis, Carole, and Miriam Alman. Periodicals from Africa: A Bibliography and Union List of Periodicals Published in

Africa. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1977.

Part of Michigan State University’s African E-Journals Project, the African E-Journals Directory contains information on more than 1,900 journals in all disciplines published in or about Africa during the twentieth century. Entries contain links to each journal’s website, along with links to tables of contents, abstracts of articles, and full text of articles online, if available. The directory may be searched by journal title, country of publication, or language of publication. Users can also browse journals by broad subject categories, such as “Arts & Humanities,” “Ethnic Studies,” “Linguistics & Languages,” and “Literature.” A search on “Literature” limited to the English language produces forty-two results, including important titles such as Research in African Literatures and Okike. African E-Journals Directory was archived in October 2010, and content has not been added since that time. Africa: South of the Sahara: Selected Internet Resources is a free website that collects, organizes, and describes current electronic newspapers, directories, and other resources devoted to the African media. Because it is maintained by Stanford University, links in “African Newspapers” are reliable, and informative descriptions of the resources featured are an added bonus to researchers. Newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting services are all included within the scope of “African Newspapers.” Although most of the resources are freely accessible over the Internet, occasionally a title may require a subscription to view its content. In these cases, subscription services are noted after the item description. A separate section provides information on African newspapers held in print and microform in major U.S. libraries. Although other sites identify current African newspapers on the Web (e.g., News Link and World Newspapers ), Stanford’s edited site is preferable, because it eliminates dead links and does not contain annoying advertisements. The African Newspapers Union List (AFRINUL) is a centralized electronic database of holdings information for newspapers in all formats and all languages published in sub-Saharan Africa. This union list consolidates holdings information for sixteen major research library collections in North America and will later expand to include holdings in Africa and Europe. Access to the union list is free. Users can search for papers by title or city of publication and browse titles by country, language, and frequency of publication. The African Newspapers Union List is part of the Cooperative African Newspapers Project, an initiative of the Africana Librarians Council of the African Studies Association and the Cooperative Africana Microform Project of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). The project’s goal is to enhance the utilization of newspapers as a source of information about Africa. For more details on the CRL and its collections, see chapter 8. The introduction to Rachelle Lever’s The Little Magazine in South Africa Since 1945: A Bibliography emphasizes the value of studying little magazines published in South Africa during the mid- to late twentieth century, whose content reflects both the multicultural voice and cultural concerns of writers speaking out during an important period of South African history. The author argues that little magazines played a vital role in establishing the region’s literary heritage. For those interested in researching creative writing published in South

African little magazines of the twentieth century, Lever’s bibliography is essential, presenting a comprehensive list of titles in existence since 1945. Basic bibliographic information and a brief description of content accompany each title. Publications are divided into two sections, general literary magazines and university magazines. Geographic areas covered are South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, and Rhodesia. Many of the magazines documented in Lever’s work featured poetry and short fiction in English. Some published strictly in Afrikaans, while others published in both languages. The bibliography contains a separate index of titles and issuing bodies. An additional index of universities/colleges allows readers to determine which magazines were published by a specific institution of higher learning. For more information on the importance of the little magazine in African literature, see Bernth Lindfors’s chapter in Mapping Intersections: African Literature & Africa’s Development. A List of South African Newspapers, 1800–1982: With Library Holdings contains information on approximately 2,280 newspapers published in South Africa over the course of two centuries. Holdings in South African libraries, as well as core libraries overseas (the British Library, Library of Congress, and New York Public Library) are included. Papers are listed alphabetically, but a separate index allows users to identify titles by city of publication. Papers are not limited to the English language. Dates and frequency of publication and alternative titles are provided, along with holdings information for eighty libraries. The purpose of Les Switzer and Donna Switzer’s The Black Press in South Africa and Lesotho: A Descriptive Bibliographic Guide to African, Coloured, and Indian Newspapers, Newsletters, and Magazines, 1836–1976 is to highlight nonmainstream publications, better exposing the true black experience in South Africa and Lesotho. Only periodicals published for a specific readership—African, Indian, or mixed-race heritage living in South Africa—were selected for the bibliography. Entries are arranged mostly by topic (“Women” or “Education”), but users can also identify titles by publishing group or agency (political parties, trade unions, government publications). Basic information—title changes, dates of publication, and language(s) of publication—accompanies each item. Content notes mention major editors/writers who contributed content, along with a description of the society, party, or institution the publication represents. Though most of the periodicals in this resource do not pertain specifically to creative writing, one section, “Literary, Scientific and Cultural,” annotates twenty-eight periodicals that were published for a literary audience (149–157). Portions of the bibliography are devoted to politics, health, education, and other areas that shed light on issues facing black South Africans during the early to mid-twentieth century. For those interested in learning more about the history of the black press in South Africa, the introduction covers from 1830 to the present, with statistics on topics such as white versus black newspapers, language of readership, and circulation (1–22). Complementing this volume is the Library of Congress publication Serials for African Studies. This list offers subject access to over two thousand of the more mainstream African magazines published from 1825 to 1960. Entries are arranged alphabetically, with brief annotations. A general index in the back offers access by subject, with categories such as “British Commonwealth,” “Literary reviews,” and “Weekly journals (or newspapers).” 3

Periodicals from Africa: A Bibliography and Union List of Periodicals Published in Africa was first published in 1977 by the Standing Conference on Library Materials on Africa . The goal of this publication was to create a comprehensive union list of all African periodicals with holdings information for sixty UK libraries. Over seventeen thousand magazines, journals, official bulletins, noncommercial newspapers, yearbooks, and conference proceedings are featured in this resource. Daily and Sunday commercial newspapers were deliberately excluded. All African countries except Egypt are part of the bibliography’s scope, as are publications in all languages. Every attempt was made to list periodicals from the earliest times to the present, including titles that are no longer actively published. Periodicals from Africa: A Bibliography and Union List of Periodicals Published in Africa. First Supplement gathers titles that were omitted from the previous volume and includes some seven thousand additional ones published during 1974–1979. Both the original volume and the supplement arrange periodicals by geographic location, so researchers can browse publications by country. If the location is not known, a separate title index provides an alternative means of finding information about a specific periodical. Because there is no subject index, this tool will not be useful for identifying periodicals that focus on a specific area, such as literature or culture. However, the comprehensive scope of the bibliography makes it an important resource for those conducting research on Africa. If looking for core lists of periodicals about Africa arranged by subject, consult Birkos and Tambs’s African and Black American Studies: Academic Writer’s Guide to Periodicals. Journals featured are published around the world, and informative notes on content are provided. Lists of interest to humanists are “Literature (history and criticism),” “Art,” “Cultural Affairs,” “Folklore,” “Music (history),” and “Theatre and Drama.” Though most of the titles in this resource are scholarly journals, a few creative writing magazines are also included. Caribbean Caribbean Newspapers.com. www.caribbeannewspapers.com (accessed 12 February 2012). Current Caribbean Periodicals and Newspapers: A Guide for the English-Speaking Region. St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: Association of Caribbean University, Research, and Institutional Libraries, 1988–. News Link. newslink.org/nonuscar.html (accessed 12 February 2012).

Caribbean Newspapers.com provides links to fourteen daily Caribbean newspapers from Antigua, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad. It also links to Internet-only news sources from St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Although dates of coverage vary by individual paper, most online news sources are only useful for current information. The Trinidad Guardian contains archived information back to 2003, whereas the Barbados Advocate only retains the past seven days. To determine if older information is available online, look for links to “archives.” Because most online papers allow users to search for content, this is often the easiest way to identify specific articles or reviews about a particular author and work. Another freely available site that collects links to newspapers by country is News Link. For the Caribbean, approximately thirty-five papers are listed, although some of the countries are outside the scope of this book (such as Haiti and Cuba). Note that although there are several papers in

News Link that are not included in Caribbean Newspapers (Belize, Dominica, Grenada), some of the links provided are dead. Though a bit outdated, Current Caribbean Periodicals and Newspapers: A Guide for the English-Speaking Region is still a valuable resource, especially if you are looking for papers from the early twentieth century. Entries are arranged by broad subject categories, such as philosophy, religion, social sciences, and history. Of particular interest are the sections on language, the arts, and literature. For example, nineteen titles are listed under the “literature” category on page 46. There are also an alphabetically arranged title index and a subject index that lists periodicals by more defined topics (such as theater, women, and folklore). Finally, a country index enables the identification of periodicals by place of publication. Twenty-two countries are indexed, with most entries falling under Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Jamaica. Because newspapers are a separate subject category, researchers can browse through an alphabetical list of some fifty-eight titles, located on pages 6–8. Basic publication information is listed for each item. For older papers that have undergone name changes over the years, entries contain all titles, with dates when each title was being used (e.g., Dominica Chronicle, 1909, continued by New Chronicle, 1975). Approximately 1,050 periodicals are featured in this resource. For those interested in researching newspapers from the early British settlement of the Caribbean, a useful source to consult is Howard S. Pactor’s Colonial British Caribbean Newspapers: A Bibliography and Directory (New York: Greenwood, 1990). Though beyond the scope of this guide, Pactor’s bibliography documents 650 English-language newspapers published in seventeen countries from 1718 through the early twentieth century. South Asia Directory of Periodicals Published in India. New Delhi: Sapra & Sapra, 1987–. Biennial. ISSN: 0970-9266. Gidwani, N. N., and K. Navlani. Indian Periodicals: An Annotated Guide. Jaipur: Rajasthan University Press, 1969. Guide to the Indexing of South Asian Studies Periodicals. Madison: University of Wisconsin Libraries. uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/SouthAsiaIndex (accessed 12 February 2012). Indian Newspaper Society Press Handbook 2009–2010. New Delhi: Indian Newspaper Society, 1980–. Annual. Joshi, Irene. International Union List of South Asian Newspapers and Gazettes. Chicago: University of Chicago. dsal.uchicago.edu/bibliographic/unionlist/unionlist.php (accessed 12 February 2012).

Directory of Periodicals Published in India attempts to document information on approximately twelve thousand serials published in India. Most of the content is arranged by subject, then by language of publication. Researchers can quickly locate the section on “literature” and browse through the 112 alphabetically arranged journals published in English. Other categories of possible interest for literary research include “Humanities,” “Film Periodicals,” and “Theatre & Drama.” Basic bibliographic information is provided for each title, along with name changes and contact information. Some entries include notes on indexing and whether or not the journal publishes book reviews. Newspapers are arranged alphabetically in a separate section, as are ceased/discontinued periodicals. A final section lists titles whose status is unknown. For quick identification of currently published Indian journals by subject, this resource is a must. Indian Periodicals: An Annotated Guide gathers in one directory all Indian journals

currently being published in the English language. Approximately five thousand titles arranged by subject category are described in the guide. However, because Indian Periodicals: An Annotated Guide was published in 1969, it is likely that some periodicals featured are no longer active. A separate title/subject index allows users to identify publications that focus on “literary and cultural reviews” or “literature.” Within each section, basic publication information is provided for each title, along with a brief annotation describing the scope of the journal. For example, the annotation for Contemporary Indian Literature notes that it “[s]urveys the Indian literary scene [and] evaluates literary productions in various Indian languages,” and Bengali Literature is described as introducing “Bengali literature and culture to non-Bengali speaking people of India and abroad” (93b). The authors list indexing information for each title using two important sources: Guide to Indian Periodical Literature and Index India. More details on these two indexes are provided in the section “Indexes to Periodical Content,” elsewhere in this chapter. University of Wisconsin’s Guide to the Indexing of South Asian Studies Periodicals was created to identify South Asian periodicals published in all languages and note information on where each title is indexed. Originally based on the collections at the University of Wisconsin and the Library of Congress’ Cooperative Acquisitions Programs in New Delhi and Islamabad, long-term plans for the guide are to incorporate titles from other important resources such as Ulrich’s Guide to Periodical Literature and Shaw and Quraishi’s Bibliography of South Asian Periodicals. There are two ways to search the collections, but the “guided search” is recommended, as users can limit to English-language titles only. A search on the term “poetry” limited to “English” produces eighteen results. A sample title from these results, Indian Scholar, mentions that the journal began publication in 1979 and is indexed in Index India from 1980 to 1981 and Guide to Indian Periodical Literature from 1983 to 1988. Library of Congress subject headings are also provided, so researchers can identify additional periodicals that focus on literary criticism. Guide to the Indexing of South Asian Studies Periodicals is a fantastic tool for locating scholarly journals from South Asia and if/where they have been indexed. International Union List of South Asian Newspapers and Gazettes was compiled by Irene Joshi, formerly of the University of Washington Libraries South Asia Section. This union list contains information on three thousand newspapers and gazettes published in South Asia and abroad, including publications serving diaspora communities worldwide. Users can retrieve content by title, place of publication, organization, or date. A search limited to Englishlanguage resources produces 1,359 titles. Basic bibliographic information is provided for each title, along with holdings information for the Library of Congress, British Library, National Library of India, and State Library of South Africa. Because this resource covers newspapers only, it is a nice complement to the Guide to the Indexing of South Asian Studies Periodicals. However, the data were last updated in October 2000, so researchers may want to consult the Indian Newspaper Society Press Handbook 2009–2010 for more current information. Published annually, this resource features facts on the print news industry in India, such as circulation statistics, numbers of papers published by region, and lists of accredited 4

advertising agencies. It is a valuable tool for those seeking a comprehensive list of currently published newspapers. Entries are arranged alphabetically, with no additional indexes to identify titles by language or city/region. Thus you must know the name of the paper to determine the language of publication, date of establishment, contact information, and circulation statistics. Commonwealth Association for Commonwealth Literature & Language Studies. www.aclals.ulg.ac.be/links.html (accessed 12 February 2012). Commonwealth Literature Periodicals: A Bibliography, Including Periodicals of Former Commonwealth Countries, with Locations in the United Kingdom. London: Mansell, 1979.

The Association for Commonwealth Literature & Language Studies (ACLALS) website is a valuable resource for anyone interested in Commonwealth literary studies. Under the category “Links” you will find journals sponsored by the association’s local branches, as well as an impressive list of subscription and open-access journals devoted to the study of Commonwealth literatures. For more information on ACLALS and the resources on its website, see chapter 10. Commonwealth Literature Periodicals: A Bibliography, Including Periodicals of Former Commonwealth Countries, with Locations in the United Kingdom is a unique and important tool for anyone studying Commonwealth literatures. This bibliography identifies journals and magazines published in Commonwealth countries that contain significant coverage of literature and literary criticism. To be listed, content must be written entirely in English or be bilingual with significant English contributions. The period covered is from the earliest colonial times to 1977. Entries are arranged by geographical area and include sections on Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia, as well as a section on general Commonwealth periodicals. “Former Commonwealth Countries” are Pakistan, South Africa, and Sudan. A separate title index allows access by known item. Basic bibliographic information is provided for each title. INDEXES TO PERIODICAL CONTENT Carindex: Social Sciences & Humanities. St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: Association of Caribbean University and Research Libraries (ACURIL), 1977–1990. Evelyn, Shirley. West Indian Social Sciences Index: An Index to Moko, New World Quarterly, Savacou, Tapia: 1963– 1972. St. Augustine, [Trinidad and Tobago]: s.n., 1974. Guide to Indian Periodical Literature: Social Sciences and Humanities. Gurgaon: Indian Documentation Service, 1964–. Index India. Jaipur: Rajasthan University Library, 1967–1993. Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines. Troy, NY: Whitston, 1964–1992. Index to South African Periodicals. Johannesburg: Public Library, South African Library Association, 1940–1986. Continued online as Index to South African Periodicals (ISAP), 1987–. nlsahopta.nlsa.ac.za/dbtw-wpd/textbase/isap/isapsubs.htm (accessed 12 February 2012). Lindfors, Bernth. A Bibliography of Literary Contributions to Nigerian Periodicals 1946–1972. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1975. Sader, Marion. Comprehensive Index to English-Language Little Magazines, 1890–1970, Series One. Millwood, NY: Kraus-Thomson Organization, 1976.

Carindex: Social Sciences & Humanities was produced by the Association of Caribbean

University and Research Libraries from 1977 to 1990. Though no longer active, this resource is still of great value to anyone researching postcolonial Caribbean literature or Caribbean culture and society. Approximately fifty-three Caribbean magazines, journals, and newspapers are covered in Carindex. Although some of these periodicals may be indexed resources such as Hispanic American Periodicals Index, many are not analyzed in other tools. Subject headings of interest to those researching literature are “Caribbean literature,” “Guyanese literature,” “Jamaican literature,” and “Trinidadian literature.” Because the occasional little magazine is included, “Literary Forms” is a subject heading that contains citations to short stories, drama, fiction, and poetry by Caribbean authors from magazines such as Bim. Even more specialized is the West Indian Social Sciences Index: An Index to Moko, New World Quarterly, Savacou, Tapia: 1963–1972, which covers four small-press periodicals: Moko, Tapia, New World Quarterly, and Savacou. The first two are among the first newspapers published in the Caribbean by an important group of young intellectuals who were active during that period. Savacou and New World Quarterly are also significant to the history of the postcolonial Caribbean region, as they were major venues of expression for rising intellectuals. According to Evelyn, the content of these four publications represents “a decisive shift in the intellectual and political consciousness of the new Caribbean” (i). For more information on the impact of the little magazine on West Indian literary history, see Reinhard Sander’s chapter in Commonwealth Literature and the Modern World. Sader’s Comprehensive Index to English-Language Little Magazines, 1890–1970, Series One is an eight-volume set that covers one hundred small-press magazines, most of which are devoted to creative writing. Content is arranged alphabetically according to the last name of the author or subject. Items in each entry are further categorized by genre (poem, article, drama, etc.). A list of the magazines indexed appears at the beginning of each volume; however, more detailed information on each title is available in volume 1. Just over half of the titles are published in the United States, with the next largest group deriving from Europe. Because there are no magazines from Africa, the Caribbean, or India, creative works by authors from these areas are marginally included in Sader’s work. However, more widely recognized authors are likely to be listed. Nine works by Nadine Gordimer are presented in volume 3, along with three reviews. Comprehensive Index to English-Language Little Magazines is a unique resource. Not only does it focus on little magazines, but it analyzes content beginning in the late nineteenth century. Few indexes to creative content exist, and those that do typically begin coverage in the early 1980s. As mentioned in chapter 6, the Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines lists criticism, creative works, and book reviews published in English-language little magazines. To be included, periodicals must be from Commonwealth or former Commonwealth countries. Most of these magazines originate from the United Kingdom, but several titles are published in Africa. There are no periodicals from the Caribbean or South Asia. Entries in the index are arranged alphabetically by author and subject. For example, under “Chimsoro, Samuel,” in part 1 of the volume that indexes 1976–1979 are listed eighteen poems that were published by the Zimbabwean author during that four-year period of time. 5

Though no longer in print, Index India is still an important tool for identifying articles about India and creative writing by Indian authors in the English language. Approximately twelve hundred periodicals focusing on all disciplines are covered from 1967 to 1993. Because this is a quarterly publication in print only, researchers must check each issue to identify articles on a particular subject. Each issue features a separate author index and a subject index. Entries are gathered by broad subject headings, such as “Literature and Linguistics,” and “Fine Arts.” A similar but more selective tool is the Guide to Indian Periodical Literature: Social Sciences and Humanities. This index covers approximately four hundred journals published in India devoted to the fields of humanities and social sciences. Each volume, arranged by subject and author, covers one year of content. Sample subject headings of interest include “English literature, Indian authors”; “English fiction, Indian authors”; and “English poetry, Indian authors.” There is a separate category for “Indian literature,” wherein cross-references to literature in various native languages may be found (e.g., Hindi literature or Bengali literature). Like many indexes to periodical literature, the Index to South African Periodicals (ISAP) began as a print resource, with volumes published on an annual basis. ISAP indexes the content of approximately 435 scholarly journals and popular magazines. In the print version, reviews of books by South African writers appear under the heading “Books: Reviews.” Original literary contributions may be found under the headings “Serial stories,” “Short stories,” “Children’s stories,” “Poems,” and “Plays.” Within each genre heading, items are arranged by language. Thus, under “Poems, English” users can identify all the poems written by authors such as Alan Paton that were indexed for a given year. Because all entries are arranged in a single alphabetical sequence, it is possible to identify both creative writings and literary criticism about an author under his or her last name. The electronic version of ISAP covers over four hundred South African periodicals from 1987 forward. A rather clunky version is available to search through the National Library of South Africa’s website. A more robust product is part of EBSCO’s subscription database, Africa-Wide Information . Although highly specialized, A Bibliography of Literary Contributions to Nigerian Periodicals 1946–1972 contains a wealth of information for anyone researching Nigerian authors. The bibliography is organized by genre, so users can scan through lists of poetry, fiction, drama, and commentaries published in approximately two hundred Nigerian magazines and newspapers. A separate author index provides access to creative content across all genres, and the subject index refers to criticism published about a particular author. Thus, users can easily identify lesser-known poetry and fiction written by Wole Soyinka, as well as any reviews or critical commentary about his work. DIGITAL ARCHIVES OF AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN, AND SOUTH ASIAN PERIODICALS IN ENGLISH Access World News. Naples, FL: Newsbank. www.newsbank.com. African e-Journals Project. East Lansing: Michigan State University. africa.isp.msu.edu/AEJP/about.htm (accessed 12 February 2012). African Journal Archive. Centurion, South Africa: Sabinet. www.sabinet.co.za/index.php?page=african-journal-archive

(accessed 12 February 2012). African Journals OnLine. Grahamstown, South Africa. www.ajol.info. Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library. Miami: Florida International University. dloc.com/cndl (accessed 12 February 2012). Electronic Journals and Newspapers on Africa. New York: Columbia University Libraries. library.columbia.edu/content/libraryweb/indiv/area/africa/guides/resources/ejournals.html (accessed 7 June 2012). SA ePublications, Social Sciences & Humanities. Centurion, South Africa: Sabinet. www.journals.co.za/collections/collect_sochum.html. Times of India Historical Archive. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. www.proquest.com. World Newspaper Archive. Naples, FL: Readex. www.readex.com/readex.

Newsbank’s Access World News is a subscription database that covers more than 2,000 international news sources from countries on six continents. Newspapers, wire services, newsletters, and other resources from the 1980s forward are present in Access World News, with approximately 193 titles from Africa, 80 from India and Pakistan, and 8 from the Caribbean. Resources are originally in English or translated into English from other languages. Users can browse individual titles from a particular continent or country. It is also possible to select a specific country, such as South Africa, then search for content limited to publications in that country. Once a search is performed, you can narrow the outcome by year, source, or source type. Because there is so much content in Access World News, it is advisable to focus your strategy as much as possible before you begin. The African e-Journals Project is the product of a collaborative effort between Michigan State University and the Association of African Universities. In addition to the African Journals Directory (mentioned in the previous section), the e-Journals Project comprises an archive of eleven African scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities. Content is available online for free, as a result of negotiations with the publishers, located in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Users can browse the contents of individual journals or search the entire archive by keyword within authors’ names, titles of articles, or abstracts of articles. Journals of interest to literary scholars include Africa Media Review, Critical Arts, and the Glendora Review. African Journal Archive is an ongoing digitization project of full-text, open-access journals published in Africa in all disciplines. The African Journal Archive is a product of Sabinet Gateway, a nonprofit organization supporting library and information services in Africa. Sabinet’s goal is to provide free access to a multidisciplinary, multicountry digital archive of Africa’s cultural heritage. Researchers may browse by individual journal title or search for information in the entire archive’s content. Sample titles of interest to humanists are English in Africa, Kronos, South African Journal of Cultural History, and Southern African Humanities. Approximately two hundred journals from English-speaking African countries like Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa are featured in the project. For a full list of titles and dates of coverage, see www.sabinet.co.za/index.php? page=list-of-titles. Sabinet also publishes several subscription-based digital archives of South African journals. One of interest to literary scholars is SA ePublications, Social Sciences & Humanities. This resource covers approximately one hundred South African journals and has the ability to search for articles by author, title, or keywords within the full text and/or abstracts of publications. Few North American libraries subscribe to SA ePublications, so

check your local library or OCLC’s WorldCat to identify libraries that do. African Journals OnLine (AJOL) purports to be the world’s largest collection of peerreviewed, African-published journals. Over four hundred scholarly journals from thirty African countries are available to search for free. Accessing the text of articles is an option for a nominal fee. Researchers can browse the collection by title, subject category, or country of publication. Approximately twenty-three titles pertain to the humanities disciplines, with twelve focusing on the category “language and literature.” The advanced search feature is very sophisticated, as queries may be limited to a range of fields, including author, title, discipline, and date range. By registering with AJOL, researchers can sign up to receive free e-mail alerts when new issues of journals are added to the website. The Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library (CNDL) is part of a larger project, the Digital Library of the Caribbean , which provides free access to digitized versions of cultural, historical, and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. Currently more than three dozen Caribbean newspaper titles are available in the library. Users have several methods for searching digitized content. For English-language articles it is best to use either the advanced or “all items” search. “Advanced” allows you to search for a topic and limit to a specific language, then by target audience, place of publication, or country of publication. The “all items” search allows you to browse content, then limit results further. For example, you can browse English-language newspapers only and focus on topics such as “Caribbean literature” or “social conditions.” You can also limit to a particular “genre,” such as “Caribbean literature—periodicals,” or “Caribbean literature— History and criticism—Periodicals.” Columbia’s Electronic Journals and Newspapers on Africa is a guide to more than two hundred freely accessible newspapers and journals on the Web. Resources are not limited to the English language. Users can browse titles via an alphabetical list or by country of publication. Descriptions are available for each title, including dates of coverage and language of publication. Electronic Journals and Newspapers on Africa is part of AFRINUL, an ongoing cooperative project hosted by the Center for Research Libraries to provide information on African newspapers held by research libraries worldwide. For more information on AFRINUL, see www.crl.edu/grn/afrinul/about-afrinul. ProQuest’s Times of India Historical Archive is a fully searchable online version of The Times of India. Founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, the Times is one of the major English-language newspapers of South Asia. ProQuest’s archive provides full text of the paper from 1838 to 2001, including digital reproductions of pages. This is a subscription-only resource, so be sure to check whether your library has access. The World Newspaper Archive is a project created by a partnership between Readex and the Center for Research Libraries. The electronic archive, designed to preserve access to historical newspapers from around the globe, includes full-text, fully searchable historical newspapers published in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Because the coverage for all countries ceases in 1922, its utility for researching postcolonial nations is limited. The African collection covers 1800–1922, the

South Asian one, 1864–1922, and the Latin American (which includes the Caribbean) one, 1805–1922. However, it is possible this project will extend beyond the early twentieth century, and because your research may require exploration into topics prior to a country’s independence from England, its existence is worth noting. CONCLUSION Magazines and newspapers can be important resources when researching literature, because they often contain book reviews, creative works, and interviews with authors. Through accounts of political, cultural, and economic events, periodicals also provide context for an author’s life, which is especially important for the study of postcolonial literature. This chapter addresses strategies for identifying and locating magazines and newspapers in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. It also discusses indexing tools that allow you to discover specific content in these periodicals. It may become apparent as you delve further into your research that the availability of materials and access to them will vary greatly, depending on the author and country of focus. Further, there is no single tool that incorporates all the information you may need, so be prepared to consult multiple tools to identify specific content in magazines and newspapers. Fortunately, librarians can assist you in your search, recommending both online and print directories, indexes, bibliographies, and other tools that will help to identify appropriate resources. NOTES 1. Alma Jordan and Barbara Comissiong, The English-Speaking Caribbean: A Bibliography of Bibliographies (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984), 63–66. 2. Hans Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Bibliography (Lochcarron: Hans Zell, 2008), 504–526. 3. Bernth Lindfors, “African Little Magazines,” in Mapping Intersections: African Literature & Africa’s Development, ed. Anne Adams and Janis Mayes (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1998), 87–93. 4. Graham W. Shaw and Salim Quraishi, The Bibliography of South Asian Periodicals: A Union-list of Periodicals in South Asian Languages. Sussex: Harvester Press, 1982. 5. Reinhard W. Sander, “The Impact of Literary Periodicals on the Development of West Indian Literature and Cultural Independence,” in Commonwealth Literature and the Modern World, ed. Hena Maes-Jelinek (Bruxelles: Librairie Marcel Didier, 1975), 25–32.

Chapter Eight

Microform and Digital Collections Often primary resources that are difficult to discover and even more problematic to locate and view can be found in microform or digital research collections. Using primary documents in these alternative formats can save a great deal of time and money, and they can often stand in as a worthy and authoritative surrogate for original, rare, and fragile documents. For some researchers, the proxy can substitute only for a while because the original document possesses tangible differences in detail, clarity, color, and quality that render the reproduction interesting but not good enough. See chapter 9 for further discussion of primary resources held in archival and manuscript repositories and issues to consider before traveling to do research. Over the past two decades libraries have experienced a series of advances that truly have changed the face of academic research. Card catalogs are now online public access catalogs, and most print indexes have given way to online databases. Digital resources are now the norm, and the academic community presumes that research tools will be available online, be updated regularly, and be accessible from a laptop anywhere in the world. This are weighty expectations, and academic and research libraries and librarians make great efforts to meet them. It would be erroneous to assume, however, that all research materials are easily and instantly available at the click of a mouse. Another common format, nearly the polar opposite of digital resources, is the microform, usually held in disdain by researchers who have used it and completely unknown to most of today’s undergraduate students. Using this format is often perceived as so problematic that less-dedicated researchers will eliminate any microform items from their projects. Fortunately, many major microform vendors are undertaking costly and time-consuming digitization efforts, creating online, and usually high-quality, versions of the contents of their microform vaults. The microformat was developed in the twentieth century and initially seemed to solve the ongoing (to this day) problem of the ever-expanding written record of human knowledge versus limited and costly space for storing that output. Microforms come in several varieties, three of which are still commonly found in libraries: film, fiche, and cards. These surrogates help to increase the lifespan of many unique and aged materials, valuable because of their sheer age as well as for their cultural significance. Once a reproduction has been made, the original no longer has to be used by researchers except under special circumstances in which a scholar has a serious, usually academic, need to see it. Important and rare pieces of the written record of human knowledge can be widely disseminated in copies, and the original is preserved. Although most people will be happy to avoid microforms, they do have a reputation for dependability and reliability. A researcher can use them even in the worst of scenarios. As long as there is a light source and either excellent vision or a

magnifying tool, with great patience, enterprising and dedicated researchers can manage to read the documents. There is no reason to believe that the microform will disappear, although it is likely that fewer libraries will keep their collections and will instead rely on major research institutions to maintain copies. Vendors and cooperative projects such as those at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL; see below) are still actively developing microform collections. Vendors of microfilm are, however, increasingly turning to digital formats going forward. The cost of transforming a microform set into a digital collection is considerable, and the company that undertakes the effort must be able to make a profit from the effort. Not all microforms are on the fast track to the digital world. There is a happy intermediate solution: microform readers have been retrofitted with scanners to let researchers scan pages and save them as electronic files, creating their own digital surrogates. None of this is to say, however, that the microform should be feared or avoided. There is a wealth of information in this format that is still otherwise extraordinarily difficult to find. If you have never used a microform reader, just ask for help. It is not difficult, and once you are shown how to read them, microforms will become just another conduit for content delivery. As mentioned previously the three most common microformats are microfilm, microfiche, and micro-opaque card. Microfilm, the most common and least repellant to researchers, is wound on a reel that the user threads through the machine reader, which in turn projects the page image onto a screen. Microfiche, the next most common type, is a flat sheet of film that is inserted into a reader, and it is also projected for the researcher to read. Whereas microfilm is simply wound forward and backward, microfiche is navigated by moving the sheet of film left to right as well as top to bottom. This movement can be a bit disorienting until you get your bearings, so be patient. Last, and least agreeable, is the micro-opaque (or microprint) card. It is much like the microfiche, but on cardstock rather than film. It looks like a card with many tiny pages on it. It reads similarly to the microfiche, but the machines are generally older and more difficult to use. In recent years even these machines have sometimes been retrofitted with a scanner that makes this particular format exponentially easier to use. In the humanities, you will find that digital projects are abundant, both corporately supported and available to the user for a price, and open-access, grant-funded endeavors that are centered at an academic institution. These projects are much more easily accomplished when the resources to be digitized are not under the long arm of copyright law, which currently designates anything published before 1923 as in the public domain. Those materials are the items you will find most frequently in digital collections. That fact presents a problem for finding digital editions of the postcolonial literature that falls within the purview of this volume. Most of the digital collections in this section have few post-1923 publications, with some exceptions. Nevertheless, there are resources that will help to inform your research by arming you with a far-reaching swathe of cultural and historical documents from the colonial era that preceded the postcolonial world. Libraries have expertly facilitated the discovery of books, newspapers, and serials through the online catalog. Microforms will be variously cataloged by collection or by individual titles of items in the larger group. Only recently have libraries regularly added digital collections,

and there is still a backlog of digital resources that need to be added to catalogs. To accommodate this need, many libraries use their webpages to organize and make accessible vendor-produced and open-access digital resources. If you combine good Internet searches with perusing library webpages, you should be able to develop a solid awareness of what resources are available for your topic. Nevertheless, these collections are large and can be difficult to navigate. Avail yourself of the discovery tools at your fingertips. Use Google and your library’s webpages to explore what is out there. Librarians spend a great deal of time making sure that their users have access to resources, so use the library’s webpages. Internet searches can also introduce you to resources that are new and appropriate to your project. Corporations want users to know about their products, so their finding aids are easily accessible online. This chapter introduces the practicalities and potential of incorporating microforms and digital collections into your research projects, even though most of the literature of the postcolonial era falls under copyright restrictions. You can find many important online resources that will help you develop a strong historical context for contemporary literature. Think of how familiar you are with your own national history and how that informs your ability to read, understand, and interpret your country’s contemporary literature. Recent and distant history are important to your work in the literature of countries that have found their own independence and national identity in the past sixty years. So, though you may not find the texts of postcolonial writers online, you will find many significant documents from the colonial era that influenced the literature of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Remember, newspapers are integral recorders of history as it happens, so review chapter 7 for information on newspaper research. LOCATING MICROFORM AND DIGITAL RESOURCES Center for Research Libraries. African Newspapers Union List, at www.crl.edu/grn/afrinul/search (accessed 19 January 2012). ———. Area Microform Projects, at www.crl.edu/area-studies (accessed 19 January 2012). ———. CAMP: Cooperative Africana Materials Project, at www.crl.edu/area-studies/camp (accessed 19 January 2012). ———. SAMP: South Asian Microform Project, at www.crl.edu/area-studies/samp (accessed 19 January 2012). Dodson, Suzanne Cates, ed. Microform Research Collections: A Guide. 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Meckler Publishing, 1984. Frazier, Patrick, ed. A Guide to the Microform Collections in the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress. Washington, DC: Library of Congress Humanities and Social Sciences Division, 1996. Available at www.loc.gov/rr/microform/guide/ (accessed 19 January 2012). Microfilm Collections Guides. London: Adam Matthew Publications. Available at www.ampltd.co.uk/collections_az/listing.aspx?c=usd (accessed 19 January 2012). Primary Source Media: Scholarly Resources Online Guides. Detroit, MI: Primary Source Media, Gale-Cengage. Available at www.gale.cengage.com/psm/guides.htm (accessed 19 January 2012). UMI Research Collections. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available at www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/collections/rcsearch.shtml (accessed 19 January 2012). WorldCat. Dublin, OH: OCLC. www.oclc.org/firstsearch.

There are many guides that will ideally lead researchers to microform collections of primary resources, but you should remember that other tools discussed elsewhere in this volume are also extremely useful for discovering microform and digital resources. Online catalogs for

individual libraries as well as larger cooperative catalogs such as OCLC’s WorldCat contain thousands of records for these types of formats. The Library of Congress published A Guide to the Microform Collections in the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress in 1996, covering over seven million items that are available in the Library of Congress Microfilm Reading Room. Now there is an expanded online version that is updated regularly to reflect new acquisitions. The microforms in the Library of Congress’s Microfilm Reading Room are also held selectively by other libraries around the world, so once you discover something in this collection that you want to use, you should be able to submit an ILL request for that particular microform collection. The Guide can be explored in two ways: as a list arranged alphabetically by the titles of the microform sets or as a two-part index (A–J and K–Z) arranged alphabetically by broad topic. Neither method provides a search mechanism, so you should use the “find” command in your Web browser to look for keywords that describe material you might need. It is a good idea to search for one term because classifications are broad, and the “find” command simply looks for the word you type. If you search the subject index for “India,” for example, you will find a listing for “Sarvodaya movement in India in the 1950s.” That heading will not be linked to any further information, so you will need to go back to the “S” section of the alphabetical list of titles to see that there are 130 titles, twenty of which are in English, that provide information on India about social conditions, philosophy, spiritual songs, and Gandhi. The record will also tell you if there is a guide to the collection; this one has a title list in random order with no subject or title index. Suzanne Cates Dodson’s Microform Research Collections: A Guide provides information on four hundred collections. It is a very useful guide, but because of its age, it is a good idea to double check in OCLC’s WorldCat or through an Internet search to see if the microform has been digitized. Dodson explains in her preface that microform collections often suffer from confusing title changes over the course of their lives, so much so that it can be difficult for libraries to ascertain whether or not a newly advertised collection is indeed the same one that is sitting on the library shelves. So check carefully before you go to great lengths to secure a microfilm set; check the publisher and contents to be certain the collection you want is indeed different from the one you have already examined. Dodson’s Guide uses numbers to refer to microform sets. Her selection criteria were based on perceived usefulness of the collection, size, reviews, timeliness, and balance, among other factors. Dodson’s Guide features an alphabetical arrangement reflected in a lengthy table of contents. Each entry includes details on format (microfilm, microfiche, microprint, and so on), size of the collection, and scope and content. Using the alphabetical arrangement, a researcher could find “African Documents” from Erasmus Press, and learn that in 1984 this was still an ongoing series, with new documents being filmed as they were created by governments. The index, however, allows researchers to look for documents based on author, title, and compiler, as well as by subject and personal name. Microform vendors now offer free online finding aids through their product sales pages as a promotional and educational tool. If you are working on a project about women in literature

from India, and you want to know more about the development of women’s education, rights, and issues during the colonial years, a search on Google for “church missionary society” India women will point you to Church Missionary Society Archive, Section 2—Missions to Women Part 2: India’s Women and China’s Daughters, part of a microform set published by Adam Matthew Publications. From the company’s Microfilm Collections Guides on its sales page at www.ampltd.co.uk/collections_az/listing.aspx?c=usd, you can see a complete title list of all the microform sets created to date. Clicking on a title will take you to a page that provides a summary of that collection’s purview. A link to “Digital Guide” on the right side of the page will take you to an editorial introduction, a publisher’s note, and a content list of the individual microfilm reels. The Adam Matthew Publications’ microfilm archive has much to offer a researcher needing primary resources from the colonial years, information that can be important in informing your own assessment of the development of postcolonial literatures. This company has made a particular effort to uncover and make available records that are of significance to the cultural heritage upon which contemporary arts and literatures are built. It may be worthwhile to take some time to peruse the collections just to see what is available and possibly hit upon a new and interesting direction for your work. Most of the other leading microform vendors also put some type of finding aid for their microform products online. The Gale-Cengage Learning Corporation similarly lists its Primary Source Media: Scholarly Resources Online Guides titles and reel contents online. The topics covered here are centered more strongly in the social sciences, but titles like Black and Third World Periodicals: Sample Issues, 1844–1963 could prove useful. ProQuest’s UMI Research Collections catalogs can be browsed by topics such as literature (British, American, or other). The “other” option takes you to a list of potentially helpful microfilm sets, including Asian Studies Conference Papers, African Mission Collections, and The Yoruba Collection of William and Berta Bascom. These collections can also be searched in a very basic way with one keyword. The search function is helpful as long as you are aware of its limitations. Because you can only search one word, you need to choose carefully. For example, in looking for material on the West Indies, using “Indies” would be much more focused than using “west.” A search for “Indies” points to a microfilm set entitled Black Culture, which covers the African diaspora in the United States, United Kingdom, and West Indies. The CRL, which is discussed in more detail in chapter 10, supports several microform projects with the goal of preserving and making obtainable by researchers difficult-to-access and rare material in support of preserving the cultural history of geographical and political areas that are not able to meet that challenge. The Area Microform Projects make reproductions available for borrowing, and some of the reformatted copies can also be purchased. Projects potentially useful to postcolonial literature in English research include CAMP: Cooperative Africana Materials Project and SAMP: South Asian Microform Project. Each of these sections on the CRL webpages has a link to collections information on the left side of the opening screen and includes lengthy guides to the resources in each individual area, covering historical, cultural, governmental, economic, geographical, and political information. CAMP has sets such as African Military Accounts and Handbooks for

British Colonial Africa, Documents on African Political History, 1938–1970, Social Message Film and Video in Africa, Black Sash Papers, Johns Collection of Anti-Apartheid Material, Trial Transcripts and Evidence, and Onitsha Market Literature. Related SAMP materials comprise Church Missionary Society, South India (Madras) Mission; Confidential Publications and Home Political Files; Documentation of Emergency Period in India (June 1975–March 1977); Indian Newspaper Reports (Extracts from the Native Press, 1868– 1937); Indian Proscribed Tracts, 1907–1947; Newspapers from South Asia; and Selected Works on Indian Literatures and Cultures. The CRL has another quite valuable tool that will be of help if your research is on African literature. The African Newspapers Union List, also discussed in chapter 2, is an electronic database of library holdings information for newspapers in all formats and in all languages from sub-Saharan Africa. If you are not certain of the name of a paper from a specific country, you can simply select a country from the drop-down menu on the search screen and retrieve a list of titles from that country. This function allows you to locate material that you were previously unaware of. The Union List will provide you with names of holding libraries. For the most thorough coverage of microform holdings, you should also consult OCLC’s WorldCat (refer to chapter 3 for a reminder on how to use it most efficiently). Remember that no one tool will search everything, so you will want to use WorldCat in addition to the other finding aids discussed previously. Figure 8.1 shows a WorldCat record for Jamaica Folk-lore by Martha Warren Beckwith and Helen H. Roberts. Looking at the record, you can tell that this item is a microfilm copy of a book, and that it includes sheet music. It is volume 21 in the series Memoirs of the American Folk-lore Society and also reel 558 in the series Literature of Folklore. With this information, you can perform other searches on the series title to find similar resources. This record also explains that each of the four sections was published individually in print as part of the series Publications of the Folk-lore Foundation, Vassar College (as numbers 1, 2, 6, and 8).

Figure 8.1. Modified OCLC’s WorldCat record for Jamaica Folk-lore. OCLC’s WorldCat on OCLC FirstSearch platform

Rarely does a researcher set out to find microform resources unless he or she happens across a citation for an item that has been reformatted, or such an item appears in the results list from a catalog or Internet search. Many microform collections are included in library online catalogs and OCLC’s WorldCat, and now a growing number of digital collections are represented in these catalogs. Remember that your library’s webpages may list many electronic resources, and librarians will be much more familiar with these projects than you, so don’t hesitate to ask for help.

SELECTED DIGITAL COLLECTIONS Africa Knowledge Project. Endicott, NY: Africa Resource Center. Available at www.africaknowledgeproject.org. African Writers Series. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available at www.proquest.com. Alexander Street Literature. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com. Alexander Street Drama. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com. Black Drama. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com. Black Short Fiction and Folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com. Black Women Writers. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com. Digital Library of the Caribbean, at www.dloc.com (accessed 28 January 2012). Caribbean Literature. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com. Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO). Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale. Available at www.gale.com. Empire Online. London: Adam Matthew Publications. Available at www.adam-matthew-publications.co.uk. South and Southeast Asian Literature in English. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Available at alexanderstreet.com.

This section examines a few digital collections that provide the complete text of primary documents for study. Chapter 10 discusses electronic text archives, and for the purposes of this volume there is a delicate distinction. The resources discussed in this chapter have been built around a central topical focus, ranging from a broad concept like the eighteenth century to something with a considerably narrower focus, like Caribbean literature from 1900 onward. The works covered in chapter 10 have the goal of digitizing everything in print or in a library collection, or they were built around a pedagogical goal of learning by doing. This chapter instead covers projects that seek to create access to smaller bodies of work arranged around a discrete topic, often with accompanying secondary contextual material. Some of these resources are freely available on the Internet, but most will require a library subscription. The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) creates and makes available documents illustrating the history and culture of the Caribbean region. Materials digitized are from a wide range of partner libraries and feature literature, poetry, music, travel narratives, data, newspapers, official government publications, maps, and so on. The project has received grant funding to digitize contemporary and historical newspapers and literary journals. This endeavor was founded in 2004 and is supported by an international partnership of Archives Nationale d’Haïti; the Caribbean Community Secretariat; the National Library of Jamaica; La Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo; Universidad de Oriente, Venezuela; University of the Virgin Islands; Florida International University; University of Central Florida; and the University of Florida. The project is staunchly open access and continues to encourage new partnerships. The dLOC has a basic search option on the front page that will search the entire database regardless of the original format of the item. For example, if you need to understand the history and importance of the sugar industry in West Indian culture, you could start here with a basic search for “sugar.” The database returns over three hundred hits, one hundred of which are in English. The results screen makes it easy for you to narrow such a broad search by providing facets on the left side of the page. You can immediately limit to English, and then to the West Indies. You also have the option to start a search based on format (maps, texts); to browse by contributor, topics, or geographical region; and to use the advanced search option for more

complicated, targeted searches. The dLOC is a model for cooperative digital initiatives and has a wealth of primary resources with the potential to enrich any research project that deals with the Caribbean. The Africa Knowledge Project (AKP) is a valuable, multidisciplinary tool for what its creators refer to as “Critical African Studies,” which “utilizes concepts and assumptions generated from African ontology and epistemology to theorize African societies and the world.” Essentially, this database gathers together full-text scholarly journals, cultural resources, and primary source materials on Africa and its diaspora. All AKP content is born digital (in other words, these resources have never been in print) and is only available through individual or institutional subscription to this portal. To date, AKP comprises six scholarly journals—JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies; West Africa Review; Ijele: Art eJournal of the African World; African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies; ProudFlesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics, and Consciousness; and Journal of African Philosophy—and several curated databases: Biafran War Database, Kiswahili Story Database, African Music Database, and Enriching Resource on African Languages Database. These resources come from diverse disciplines such as art, criminology, history, justice studies, literature, music, political science, philosophy, and women’s studies. The AKP homepage acts as a portal to these disparate resources, from which scholars can either browse the contents of individual journals or databases or search across all content or specific titles. The search interface has the option to limit by date and allows for queries in all categories, authors, titles, full text, and supplementary files. Scholars may also elect to search index terms for discipline(s), keyword(s), type (method/approach), and coverage. Unfortunately, there is no option to browse the indexes, so scholars may have to guess at appropriate index terms. There is also no “Help” file to provide insights into the searching capabilities of the AKP. As a whole, this is a valuable database of unique scholarly and cultural resources for Africana scholars. The African Writers Series comprises important texts by modern African writers. With over three hundred volumes of poetry, prose, drama, and fiction, this database provides access to works of some of the most well known and respected contemporary African authors. The content of this database comes from the Heinemann African Writers Series, which began in 1962 with the republishing of founding editor Chinua Achebe’s 1958 Things Fall Apart. The AWS had a goal to make works by African authors available to African readers at affordable prices. As African independence began to replace the European influence in schools with an African focus, the AWS sought to publish texts to support the curriculum. Featured authors include Chinua Achebe, Steve Biko, Nadine Gordimer, Doris Lessing, Nelson Mandela, Christopher Okigbo, and many others. There are two options for exploring the database: searching or browsing the complete contents. If you select “complete contents,” you will retrieve an alphabetical list of all authors in the collection. From that list, if you click a linked author’s name you will be taken to a biography of that author. Most of these biographies were written for ProQuest’s Literature Online product, of which AWS is a part. From the author page, you also have access to the 1

author’s publications. If you select to search the collection, you will be taken to an advanced search screen in which you can query the database for keyword, title, author, and genre, with the additional options of gender, nationality, publication details, and language. In AWS you can mark records, and after every search you will have the opportunity to revise what you have done. Alexander Street Press is a growing company that has developed a series of specifically focused literary databases, many of which are pertinent to research in the postcolonial arena. These smaller collections are available as individual databases, and they are also part of the larger Alexander Street Literature (ASL) umbrella. Eight collections comprise the larger database, and the search and browse features are functional across all modules. The individual sets in ASL are Black Short Fiction and Folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora, Black Women Writers, Caribbean Literature, Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period, Latin American Women Writers, Latino Literature, Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period, and South and Southeast Asian Literature in English. Alexander Street Drama (ASD) is a complementary yet separate database that is searchable alone or through Alexander Street Literature, and it includes six individual drama collections as well as a reference resource. Individual collections in ASD are Asian American Drama, Black Drama, North American Indian Drama, North American Women’s Drama, Twentieth Century North American Drama, and the Latino drama that is in Latino Literature. The Asian American Drama, Black Drama, and Latino Drama collections in particular are appropriate for research on the postcolonial diasporas. It is important to note that Alexander Street Press has put much effort into securing the right to use works of contemporary authors still under copyright, and you will find access here to many post-1923 publications. Each collection has a detailed introduction on its “About” page that includes selection criteria, editorial board members and backgrounds, and a list of bibliographies used to assist in developing content (many of which are discussed in chapter 4). Black Short Fiction and Folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora covers more than eleven thousand works (stories, fables, folktales, literary magazines, and black-owned and -edited news-papers and journals) from over fifteen countries dating from the middle of the twentieth century forward. Pertinent authors featured include, among others Chinua Achebe, Ben Okri, Bessie Head, and Ken Saro-Wiwa. Publications are in English as well as many other languages, so you may need to limit your searches to English. In Black Short Fiction, as in the other collections, there is an option to browse “Performed Words,” which links to the Smithsonian Folkways webpages (the nonprofit recording label of the Smithsonian Institution). You will find that many of these subsections of ASL link to open-access resources. Black Women Writers offers more than one hundred thousand pages of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose written by women from Africa and the African diaspora from around the world. Caribbean Literature similarly features over one hundred thousand pages of poetry and fiction in the original languages from the nineteenth century forward. This section has the option to browse “reference,” referring to the Creole dictionaries provided. You can also browse by place and limit searches by English Creole, French Creole, Haitian Creole, and

Papiamento, in addition to non-Creole languages. South and Southeast Asian Literature in English is still developing and covers fiction, poetry, manuscripts, and interviews in English from South and Southeast Asia and the diasporas. Authors included are from or identify themselves with the cultures of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Fiji. It allows language limits for English Creole and Gujarati, among others. Black Drama includes over fourteen hundred plays by over two hundred playwrights from the middle of the nineteenth century forward. More than six hundred are published for the first time in the database, due in large part to the lack of publishing outlets for drama in many countries. The browse options in this resource offer certain access points that are not important in the nonperformance databases mentioned previously. You can browse by theatrical company, productions, years, characters, theaters, and resources (fliers, handbills, photographs, and other ephemera), in addition to standard bibliographic access points. This resource has a strong representation of plays from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, and the West Indies. All of these resources share some common functionality. You can select to search or browse using buttons at the top of the screen, and you also have the immediate option to limit your search to only one of the collections in the larger product. You can browse by author, genre, and reference. The latter lets you explore biographies and dictionaries. The search function allows you to construct a detailed search for title, author, editor, translator, publisher, place of publication, literary type, language, and date. Many of those classifications also come with a list from which you can select terms. You can further limit the search by author’s residence, place of birth, birth and death dates, nationality, ethnicity, race, or gender. Beyond the almost tailor-made Alexander Street Press suite of databases, there are not many other digital collections that are very useful for postcolonial literary research projects. Since Alexander Street Press has taken on copyright issues with great success, its resources are the most likely place for you to locate digital versions of the literature about which you are writing. There are a few digital collections that will be of assistance if you need to find documents from the colonial era to help you understand the cultural development before independence of a specific country, a practice that will also strengthen your research because you will be able to convey your implicit authority on a subject if you internalize the history of the culture and country. The Gale-Cengage Corporation has developed a large-scale product called Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), which comprises more than 180,000 titles and 200,000 books, broadsides, and pamphlets that were published in England and the colonial empire during the eighteenth century. Most of the contents are in English, but there are a few in other languages. You will find in this collection works that may not have been read by anyone since the eighteenth century, and much writing here relates directly to the rapid British expansion and colonization. If you were interested in learning more about the British colonizers’ impressions of the colonized residents throughout the West Indies, you could search for “West Indies” and “colonies,” and you would get a list that includes The History, Civil and Commercial, of the

British Colonies in the West Indies: in two volumes by Bryan Edwards. The author attempts to relay the character, manners, and dispositions of several islands in the West Indies, revealing a contemporary British observation of a native population in the eighteenth century, including relatively detached overviews of reactions of groups to being kidnapped and carried into slavery. Many such narratives are in ECCO. ECCO was developed to reflect the eighteenth-century contents listed in the English Short Title Catalog, a record of books published from 1473 to 1800, some of which have stood the test of time and others that have rarely been read. This database provides almost instant access to a century of publishing, regardless of content or quality. You can search the entire collection, or you can limit your queries to topical subdivisions: “History and Geography”; “Social Science”; “Fine Arts”; “Medicine, Science, and Technology”; “Literature and Language”; “Religion and Philosophy”; “Law”; and “General Reference,” a catchall category that encompasses almanacs, directories, dictionaries, catalogs, and reference books for many professions and pastimes. Another content provider is Adam Matthew Publishing, a smaller company that built its reputation on creating distinctive microform collections that focused on specific narrow areas (see previous discussion). The company has decisively made the transition into the digital environment and devotes the same creativity and attention to user needs to its online products, both in content and in functionality. Adam Matthew Publishing seeks out academically valuable and difficult to access collections, digitizes them, and creates products that are fun to use. Like ECCO, these resources will be relegated to background and historical use for postcolonial literature. Empire Online, as the name indicates, is a collection of documents that record the building of the British Empire, and the reactions, descriptions, and opinions that surrounded it. Documents are from the British Library, the National Archives, the Bodleian Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Church Mission Society Archive, the School of Oriental and African Studies, the National Archives of Canada, the Glenbow Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, among other institutions. Publications featured comprise exploration journals and logs, letter books and correspondence, diaries, missionary papers, travel writing, slave papers, folktales, and maps. Materials were sought from around the world, including South Africa, the Caribbean, India, and Asia. CONCLUSION The topic of this chapter is a difficult one, largely because of the recent publication dates of postcolonial literature. Consider that the subject of this volume begins coverage in 1947, and then that works published after 1923 fall under copyright protection. These realities make it extremely complicated and expensive for a company to reformat and resell this literature. Technology continues to move along and make it easier to create digital collections, and laws become stricter as they are reexamined in the courts. For open-access or subscription resources, post-1923 publications present a problem. Nevertheless, both microform and digital resources can provide important context and background for your research, especially if this is

a new area for you. It is difficult to write about a national literature without having a solid grasp of what brought the nation itself into being. Use these resources to help develop your knowledge of the culture, history, and canon about which you are writing. NOTE 1. Africa Knowledge Project (AKP). www.africaknowledgeproject.org/akpflyer.pdf.

Chapter Nine

Manuscripts and Archives Manuscripts and archival resources offer the potential of unique and undiscovered information for eager scholars who decide to undertake this serious research. Most often, a researcher will turn to archives and manuscripts after encountering a promising reference to an author’s papers in journal articles, when working on someone about whom little has been written, or simply because of the excitement and thrill of discovery that comes with exploring the secrets that may await in the depths of primary research materials. Many aspects of using archives and manuscripts have changed markedly in recent years as the digital environment enhances access, but in many other ways archival and manuscript research has not changed in decades. In this chapter you will notice the dual nature of archival research as you see how decades-old print guides complement digital finding aids, and vice versa. Archives and special collections repositories increasingly are making parts of their collections available online. Of particular use to a scholar or student who is starting to explore archival research is the growing number of finding aids (detailed descriptive guides to a collection) that repositories are developing for an online environment. Regardless of these advances, there is always the possibility that you may reach a point at which, in order to take your research in the direction you want, you must visit an archival or manuscript repository. For such an undertaking, you will be best served by doing as much preparation as possible before the visit. There are policies and procedures at these special collections that are simply the rules by which you must abide. It will be an extremely rare situation in which rules can be bent or exceptions be made. Knowing the rules and being prepared will make your time using valuable and unique material in such collections rewarding and even fun. You may find that the collections you want to visit are not located in a place that is close or convenient. Travel can quickly become time-consuming and expensive, so you need to be certain that a trip to a research collection will be worthwhile. Always contact the institution you are contemplating visiting before you begin to make travel plans; the staff may be able to give you enough information to render the trip unnecessary, or you may be redirected to a different collection that will better serve your research needs. In addition, the online resources provided by some repositories may at least allow you to move your project further along in order to make the most of your time on the road. Many of these collections have also been made available in part in other formats. Review chapter 8 for tips on using microform and digital collections, many of which offer access to previously hard-to-locate manuscripts and records. There are many repositories across the United States that could be of use for research in postcolonial literatures, often located at universities supporting programs in postcolonial studies.

Remember, arriving at an archival or manuscript repository well prepared will position you for a successful research trip. There are certain basic pieces of information that you need to have, so basic that they can easily be forgotten in the midst of a major research project. For example, find out the hours of operation of the collection. These types of repositories usually hold some extremely valuable and unique resources, and users are not usually left alone to use the materials. As a result, the collections rely heavily on a conscientious and well-trained staff, which costs money. Hours of operation are thus logically more restricted than an open-stacks library in which users are left on their own. Contact someone at the institution as you are making your plans. Speaking to a librarian or archivist about your project and what you hope to find in the collection is often the best way to navigate this traditionally complicated type of research. Through this preliminary contact, you should find that people working in the repository are quite familiar with the collections. Because these repositories often have “hidden collections,” ones that are not cataloged and not discoverable by standard research methods, talking with the staff about your project and resources that would be important to you may take your project considerably further than you initially expected. If you find staff who know their collections well, you may also find that they are well positioned to point you toward complementary resources at other institutions. You will usually need to register as a researcher, and as long as your registration is current, you will sign in on subsequent visits. Although some places will allow anyone in who wants to look at the collections, regardless of research project or affiliation, others are much more restrictive and will require a letter of reference or introduction from your home institution or an institutional faculty member who has agreed to sponsor you. Know this information before you travel to the collection, because once you are there it will likely be too late to prepare retrospectively. You will almost never be able to browse the stacks but rather will be restricted to a reading room, and most often you will have to submit individual requests in writing for each item you want to view (although some institutions are now set up for electronic requests). Rarely, and only with good reason, will you be able to use more than one item at a time. Many reading rooms insist that you use the paper they offer and will not let you use bound notebooks; pens are usually not permitted because they are more dangerous to materials than are pencils. Laptop computers, and other such devices, are increasingly being allowed, but laptop cases are usually not permitted in the reading rooms. When you leave the reading room, your papers will be searched by staff, with varying degrees of thoroughness depending on the institution. Regardless of the congeniality of the staff, they do watch carefully to ensure that researchers use their resources gently and with care. Policies and procedures will vary among collections. WHAT IS AN ARCHIVES? Archival research differs greatly from doing research on your own in an open-stacks library where for the most part, you are in charge of what you do and where you go. Arrangement and description of archives and manuscript collections also differ from your typical library, and you may need help from staff simply to figure out exactly what is there. Although this chapter

does not attempt to explain the organizational systems used in these repositories, it will help you with some basic concepts that will make your research endeavors easier. First, the word archives is sometimes confusing: with an “s” it is the officially preferred term of the Society of American Archivists . Used without an “s” it is a verb or refers to computer files. An archives is the materials of an individual, group, institution, organization, and so forth, created or received by that entity, and that represent some enduring worth. The types of materials that you can find in an archives are practically limitless: letters, photographs, papers, contracts, birth certificates, 8-track tapes, home movies, architectural drawings, licenses, hammers, microscopes, swords, and almost anything else you can imagine. Organizational standards for archives are distinct from what you will be familiar with in traditional libraries. Archival materials have two diverse methods for organization: intellectual and physical. Intellectual organization is represented in a finding aid, or a list of items similar in format (such as letters, contracts, e-mail, creative writing) and topic, grouped in logical relational order: letters listed by sender and then chronologically within that arrangement, manuscripts in chronological order, and so forth. The finding aid attempts to make sense out of the papers of an individual or institution and to make them discoverable by researchers. Physical organization is focused much more on the preservation and safe storage of materials. Papers of similar size will be stored together, while larger items are kept elsewhere. Items in need of special care, such as photos and film, will be stored in yet another area. The finding aids are extremely valuable to researchers, because they make it possible to browse a collection that is most likely physically stored in many different areas in the repository. Each item is given a physical shelving location so staff can retrieve resources for researchers easily. Archival research is usually necessary when you are working on a scholarly project. Many colleges and universities have unique special collections, and if you have the good fortune to be researching something that matches up with the holdings of a nearby repository, you should visit the collection. There are many institutions in the United States that have materials related to postcolonial literature. You may also want to explore documents from the colonial era or earlier if you think historical resources may productively inform your research. Using archives and manuscript collections can be an exciting process of discovery, with the very real possibility of finding something—a letter, contract, photograph—that no one else has ever truly explored. 1

PREPARING FOR ARCHIVAL RESEARCH Remember, you must do preliminary groundwork before heading to an archives. Make sure that you are not planning to look at resources that have been made available or are accessible in other collections. Just because something is in a special collection does not mean it has not been reprinted or otherwise reproduced, and it could be available at your institution or via ILL services. The number of archival and manuscript materials reproduced digitally or in microform increases yearly (although microfilm is quickly giving way to digital formats), so

look carefully to avoid expensive travel just to see a document you could have used at your own institution. Check OCLC’s WorldCat (see chapter 3) to ascertain whether what seems to be a unique title is held at other libraries with more liberal borrowing privileges than special repositories. There is always a possibility that you will still need to see the original document after examining a reproduction. Take care to use the finding aids and expertise of the staff, because limited time visiting an institution rarely allows the luxury of looking at a complete collection. Know what you want to examine, and do that first. It is a good idea, however, to have a second priority list in case you have extra time. Many archival repositories have some sort of online interface. Working with postcolonial literature, you will find that the usefulness and details offered online vary greatly—from valuable specifics about collections to scant, outdated, and unreliable tidbits of uncertainty. When you find current information online, you should take advantage not only of collections details but, more important, of the general rules of the repository. Rules can be very strict, so knowing them ahead of time will make your visit much more productive. There are certain basic requirements that you will generally be expected to follow. Bags such as computer cases, purses, backpacks, and so on will not be allowed into reading rooms. Cell phone policies seem to vary greatly among reading rooms. Large coats, jackets, and other winter wear will rarely be permitted in the room. Typically there will be a coatroom, often equipped with lockers for personal items. Note that even in the best of unattended coatrooms coats do go missing, so take as little with you as possible. Accept the rules, and do not make your visit overly difficult by arguing for exceptions to clearly stated rules. Expect to wait for items you request; libraries and archives are increasingly short staffed. Archival research can be rewarding and fun just as easily as it can be frustrating and exasperating, so following a few general suggestions can be useful in helping to stay on track. Keep your enthusiasm in check; remember that you cannot possibly look at everything that might be of interest unless you have the luxury of a great deal of time, so be careful of getting sidetracked. On the other hand, you have to be open to the possibility that a tantalizing sidetrack could be worthwhile, even if it may change your focus. You have to be responsible for maintaining a balance and concentration while still allowing your research to change based on evidence you encounter. Understand that this research will simply move more slowly than what you may have done before. You have to wait for items to be retrieved, and you will use them one at a time. Many of the archival items will be old and delicate, so be careful not to inflict damage. Most archives and special collections provide a copy service, and you will rarely be able to scan or copy items on your own. Some archival repositories now allow the use of digital cameras, and if you are able to use one well, you can save a great deal of time. You can potentially photograph pages and then use those images at your leisure. This process makes it possible for you to collect data from more items during your visit and to study their content later. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AT ARCHIVAL AND MANUSCRIPT REPOSITORIES

Rules and policies will vary among repositories, but there are numerous parallels from one institution to the next. A couple of specific examples should give you a good feeling for what you will need to do to gain entrance to a repository. The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center on the Austin campus of the University of Texas is a wellknown special collections library with far-reaching literary manuscript holdings, as well as in many other areas. Similarly, Library and Archives Canada is a national archives with strong holdings including sheet music, architectural drawings, books, newspapers, federal records, and literary manuscripts and papers of authors. Both have resources that support research in postcolonial literature. The webpage for the Harry Ransom Center clearly lays out the details a potential researcher needs to know before his or her arrival at the institution. Tabs at the top of the webpage provide easy access to important material about searching collections, finding aids, visiting the repository, policies, contact information, and fellowships. The webpage contains clear guidelines for researchers, explaining that they will need to show identification, register at the center, create an online research account, and watch an instructional presentation about how to use the valuable and rare items in the collection. Access policies are explained clearly, and many forms are also available so researchers can prepare before arriving and not waste valuable time filling out paperwork in the lobby. Duplication and publication policies, procedures, and charges are delineated, with links to documents about the use of cameras, intent to publish, and so forth. Hours of operation are posted. Be careful if you are planning a research trip between semesters, because some special collections, particularly at academic institutions, have shortened schedules or are closed during these academic breaks. For collections at the Ransom Center that were cataloged before 1990, you need to consult the card catalog or contact the staff before visiting. Searchable online finding aids are available for collections cataloged or recataloged from 1990 forward. For example, if you were to search for Caribbean drama, you would discover the finding aid “Joseph Jones: A Preliminary Inventory of His Caribbean Plays Collection in the Performing Arts Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,” among several others. This finding aid is available in PDF and HTML formats, and though the PDF is easier to read, the HTML file allows you to check off box and folder numbers in the finding aid and then to submit the request online if you have created an online account. A different type of collection that you may encounter in your research is Canada’s national library and archives, Library and Archives Canada, established in 2004 with the merger of the National Library and the National Archives. Its webpage explains that the collections are still only moderately digitized, so a researcher may need to visit one of the many departments (all with potentially different open hours). Similar to the Harry Ransom Center, Library and Archives Canada clearly sets forth rules and regulations for use on its webpage. You may register online, which will allow you to request up to ten items to be waiting for you in advance of your trip. The staff have provided a particularly useful guide for researchers making arrangements to visit the repository at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/0058000-e.html. The repository is gradually placing more resources online, some fully digitized

and others as discovery tools. From the webpage, one of many ways you can explore is to select the “Discover the Collections” option, find the literature section, then find the literary archives. Scanning the alphabetical list of collections reveals that Library and Archives Canada has a collection of papers from Michael Ondaatje, acquired from the author through the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The description of the collection also includes a very important piece of information regarding use restrictions: researchers must have Ondaatje’s permission to use the collection. A finding aid exists for this collection, but it is not online. With these stated restrictions, your best first step would be to contact the repository in order to see the finding aid before even deciding if you should seek permission from the author to use the collection. Archivists and librarians are there to help researchers, and they will be able to assist you through these early steps and as you move forward. LOCATING RELEVANT ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS Guides and Directories Ash, Lee. Subject Collections: A Guide to Special Book Collections and Subject Emphases as Reported by University, College, Public, and Special Libraries and Museums in the United States and Canada. 7th ed. New Providence, NJ: Bowker, 1993. DeWitt, Donald L. Guides to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994. Foster, Janet, and Julia Sheppard. British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom. 4th ed. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2002. Hamer, Philip M., ed. A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States. Compiled for the National Historical Publications Commission. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961. National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1988.

There are many venues for consulting archival and manuscript collections, and their helpfulness will vary depending on what you need. Because several repositories may have collections that feature your author or area of interest, your foray into discovering where and what can be vexingly difficult or surprisingly easy. This section looks at a few reference tools that should be of assistance in locating archival papers. Note that several of the sources in this section are dated, but because archival repositories do not routinely deaccession materials, the sources are still accurate, historically. With the information that you are given in these works, you can usually conduct an Internet search for the repository to find current contact information. The seventh edition of Subject Collections: A Guide to Special Book Collections and Subject Emphases as Reported by University, College, Public, and Special Libraries and Museums in the United States and Canada was published in 1993 (the first edition was published in 1958) and is a comprehensive list of collections, with subjects highlighted in a detailed index. The 1993 volume includes information on 65,818 collections in 5,882 institutions. Entries are alphabetically arranged by subject and then geographically by U.S. state or Canadian province. For example, if you look under the broad subject of authors, you will find geographical subdivisions for the author’s country or region of origin (African, Bengali, Caribbean, Jamaican, West Indian, and so on). The description of holdings for “West Indian Writers” points to Howard University and the College of the Virgin Islands. You also

may find useful resources by looking at the holdings from or about particular countries, which frequently have subdivisions for literature, authors, languages, and literature. Details about institutional holdings are provided by the repositories. Individual entries feature summaries of collections and formats of materials, as well as contact information. Web and e-mail contacts are included, but this information may have changed since 1993. The Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States, published by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, is arranged alphabetically by institution, highlighting more than four thousand repositories based on collections descriptions provided by the individual repositories. Entries include contact information (not Internet contact, because this was published in 1988). The subject and repository index is the most effective method to discover resources in this volume. Subject areas of particular use include missionaries, Africa, Bahamas, Guyana, Malawi, Nigeria, and South Africa. Much of what you will find in this directory will not be directly connected to an author, but rather to the colonial and postcolonial history of a country or a region. Hamer’s A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States is arranged alphabetically by state or territory in which the repository resides. Although literary manuscripts are not the strong point of this resource, it is useful for researchers looking for historical archives related to particular areas or organizations. For example, if you were to look up India or South Africa in the index, you would find that the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in Boston holds archival records for missions of the Congregational and Old School Presbyterian Churches in India and South Africa. Because this book was published in 1961, your next step would be to verify that this information is still correct. In this case, a simple Google search for “American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” reveals that the Congregational Library for the Congregational Christian Historical Society is located on Beacon Street in Boston, at the same address as the ABCFM. Contact information and finding aids are available online. A helpful source for discovering collections in the United States is Donald L. DeWitt’s Guides to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Published in 1994, this volume is a lengthy compilation of citations and brief descriptions of finding aids for collections of unpublished materials. The concise yet descriptive introduction explains the limitations of the text as well as the difficulties with defining what repositories mean by terms such as “guide” and “finding aid.” Arranged by collection type in broad categories such as business, ethnic populations, federal archives, fine arts, literature, and religion, all chapters except the one dealing with literature have several subdivisions. This guide also includes chapters on foreign institutions that have U.S. material and U.S. institutions that have foreign material. This resource offers a strong overview of available guides and finding aids. Foster and Sheppard’s 2002 publication, British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom, is in its fourth edition and includes listings for 1,231 archives. Entries feature information about the parent organization, contact details such as e-mail and Web address (these may be incorrect due to the age of the book), hours of operation, access

policies, history, acquisitions, and so forth. The book is easily navigable, with a main index of collection and personal names. That index is supplemented by a helpful guide to key subjects, with potentially useful categories such as colonialism, migration, missionaries, exploration, ethnic groups, and literature. Remember to check the Dictionary of Literary Biography and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (covered in chapter 2) for locations of authors’ papers. Bibliographies that follow entries in these series are extremely thorough and can be a time-saver for your research project. LOCATING NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS Currently, most archives and special collections in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain have well-developed online sites through which researchers can begin research and locate policies and procedures regarding a specific collection. This is not always the case with archives in smaller and younger countries that scholars and students of postcolonial literature will want to explore. The online presence of a repository may provide some insight into the collections or basic contact information, or there may be none. This section presents a few solid online resources and a range of illustrative webpages from archives, exploring some of the possible discoveries and disappointing pitfalls of Internet research in developing countries. The holdings of many archives will feature state papers. Because research in postcolonial literature frequently also focuses on the history and culture of a nation, these resources can be useful. National Archives Bahamas National Archive, at www.bahamasnationalarchives.bs/ (accessed 13 December 2011). Guide to the Kenya National Archives, at researchguides.library.syr.edu/kenyanarch (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Bangladesh, at www.nanl.gov.bd/index.php (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of India, at nationalarchives.nic.in (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Malaysia, at www2.arkib.gov.my/english/index.html (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Malawi, at www.sdnp.org.mw/ruleoflaw/archives/overview.html (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Malta, at secure2.gov.mt/nationalarchives/ (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Pakistan, at www.nap.gov.pk/ (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, at www.natt.gov.tt (accessed 13 December 2011). National Archives of Zambia, at www.zambiarchives.org/archives.htm (accessed 13 December 2011). National Library of Trinidad and Tobago, at www2.nalis.gov.tt/Default.aspx (accessed 13 December 2011). National University of Lesotho Library, at www.nul.ls/library/ (accessed 13 December 2011). State Archives of Cyprus, at www.mjpo.gov.cy/mjpo/mjpo.nsf/dmlstate_en/dmlstate_en?OpenDocument (accessed 13 December 2011).

It is clear that the literature from many of these countries is still relatively young, but it is important to remember that archival and manuscript repositories are also often new and still developing. They can be distinctly different from researching British or American literature from the same time period. A good illustration is a recurring theme that appears from the 1970s onward in the journal History in Africa, published by the African Studies Association, which explores the development and use of African archives. Scores of articles have been written and continue to be published on the state of archives in African countries. 2

The State Archives of Cyprus, for example, have a webpage on the site of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order. It provides basic information about the mission, collections, and access policies, along with forms necessary for researchers. Most of the collections contain official state papers. A finding aid for the microfilm Kenya National Archives, Guide to the Kenya National Archives, is available at Syracuse University. (See chapter 8 for more information about microfilm.) The National University of Lesotho’s library webpage has a short description of holdings and services, and the library includes an archives. The National Archives of Malta, by contrast, has a robust Web presence that features a searchable catalog that is still being updated. On the other end of the spectrum is the younger and still developing National Archives of Malawi, whose webpage has so little information about collections and states that there is a $500 research fee for foreign passport holders. The National Archives of Zambia has some digitized collections online, and there is a clearly stated distinction between resources from the colonial period and the postcolonial period. The National Archives of Bangladesh website provides a solid background to the establishment of the archives and library and the importance of preserving the country’s cultural history. The holdings of the library and archives are both covered in great detail on the webpages, but using the collections appears daunting. Enough information is on the webpages about collections and use policies and procedures to make a researcher want more, but in this case, contacting the archives will be necessary. Access is open to anyone, but you will need a guide from the repository to help you. Similarly, the National Archives of India has a welldeveloped Web presence complete with a history of the archives and information on its move from Calcutta to New Delhi; founding The Indian Archives journal; and establishing regional offices and centers in Bhopal, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, and Puducherry. The “record holdings” section of the webpage includes “private papers,” where you will be most likely to find personal papers of literary authors. The collection is open, and the Indian government is encouraging its use. The National Archives of Pakistan’s webpage parallels that of the National Archives of India, but with briefer notes about its development, history, holdings, and digitization plans. The National Archives of Malaysia’s webpage features a “Material Archive Search” that leads users to lectures and working papers in addition to books and archival records. A broad search for “literary” returns several lectures on Malaysian literature that are not readily discoverable through other traditional literary databases such as the MLAIB. The National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago features a well-developed Web presence with links to descriptions of holdings, as well as a few digitized collections, such as a series of excerpts from historical newspapers (from the print collection that covers 1825–2007). The archives pages are complemented by the National Library of Trinidad and Tobago’s page, which also spotlights materials of particular importance to the cultural heritage of the country. The online presence of the Bahamas National Archive is at a similar level of development, with clear, concise directions about what a researcher is and is not allowed to bring to or do in the reading room. Currently, some of the online features are only available for the “Bahamian Governors-General” and “Personalities in Bahamian Education” collections, and the

digitization work is ongoing. Although it can be frustrating that so many archives have so little available online, it is exciting to think about the possibilities that exist for discovering material that no one has studied yet. Databases and Webpages for Locating Archives Abraham, Terry. Repositories of Primary Sources, at www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html (accessed 11February 2012). ArchiveFinder. Ann Arbor. MI: ProQuest Information and Learning Co. Available at archives.chadwyck.com. ArchiveGrid. Dublin, OH: OCLC. Available at www.archivegrid.org/web/index.jsp. ArchivesUSA. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest Information and Learning Co. Available at archives.chadwyck.com. The British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue, at searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do? vid=IAMS_VU2 (accessed 11 February 2012). Library of Congress. Index to Personal Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959–1984. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1988. ———. Index to Subjects and Corporate Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959–1984. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1994. ———. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1961. ———. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, at www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/oclcsearch.html (accessed 11 February 2012). National Archives. ARCHON, n.d., at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/ (accessed 11 February 2012). National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the UK and Ireland (NID-UK/Ireland). Teaneck, NJ: Chadwyck-Healey, 1983. WorldCat. Dublin, OH: OCLC. Available at www.oclc.org/firstsearch.

Terry Abraham’s Repositories of Primary Sources is a longstanding online list of links to archives and repositories around the world. Divided by geographical regions, the list is heavily weighted to North American institutions, but the “Latin America and the Caribbean” section provides a fairly up-to-date list of Caribbean archives. “Asia and the Pacific” is predominantly a list of collections in Australia and New Zealand, but there are several archives listed for India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore. South Africa is best represented in “Africa and the Near East,” but Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Namibia, Mauritius, and Kenya are also covered. Not all the links are still accurate, but you can shorten the URL until you reach the home address for the institution or organization page, then search the site for the archives link. Alternately, because some of the URLs have changed completely, you can use the name of the repository or institution provided on Abraham’s page and search for that using a Web browser. The online resources covered so far lead to archives in Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean, and many of these discovery tools are severely limited. In addition, the distance to these repositories and potentially difficult travel restrictions for you as a researcher can be prohibitive. There are, however, resources held in British and North American archives and manuscript repositories that are appropriate for research in postcolonial literature that are much easier to find and use. The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) is a multivolume and complicated reference set that was the traditional go-to resource for discovery of manuscripts in U.S. repositories. Published in print from 1959 to 1993, the set covers fourteen hundred institutions and seventy-two thousand collections. The set has two indexes: Index to Personal Names in the National Union Catalog of

Manuscript Collections, 1959–1984 and Index to Subjects and Corporate Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959–1984, and there are separate indexes for 1985 and 1986. Through a partnership between OCLC’s WorldCat and the Library of Congress, the volumes have been made freely searchable at the Library of Congress National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections website. From the search screen, the user has the option of four different searches. A search instruction page provides further explanation of what you can do with the searches. A “Simple Search Form (word list)—all names fields” search for Derek Walcott will return twenty-nine hits. The sixteenth record describes the Derek Walcott Papers (1980–ongoing) (see figure 9.1), with a thorough description of the collection and a link to a finding aid at the University of Toronto’s library. If you were to look further in the list of records from this search, you would see that record 18 describes the Derek Walcott Collection, also at the University of Toronto, but covering 1957–1981. A similar search in the subscription version of WorldCat would bring back these records, but it is important to remember that WorldCat does not include the complete NUCMC, although it does have other archival materials that are not in NUCMC. These resources are best used in tandem.

Figure 9.1. Record for the Derek Walcott Papers from the NUCMC via the Library of Congress.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections via Library of Congress

The British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue is the new interface at the British Library for searching the manuscript holdings. This new catalog should, by the end of September 2012, incorporate all the library’s manuscript catalogs into one interface, making it possible to search the archival collections and the manuscript collections at the same time. A simple search for Jean Rhys brings back a record for a collection of her manuscripts (see figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2. British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue record for Jean Rhys collection of papers, with search terms highlighted. British Library Archives and Manuscript Catalogue

The National Archives of the United Kingdom can also be of use for researching postcolonial literature and history. Here you can find records pertaining to former colonies from the colonial and postcolonial eras as well as the transition period between them. Many of the documents are available online for free. You can place items of interest in a shopping basket, and after you “check out,” links to requested items will be sent to the e-mail address you must enter to register in the system. These resources will be of particular use if your approach to the literature relies heavily on the culture or history behind the literature. The National Archives has also created a directory called ARCHON. This directory is a searchable and browseable compilation of archival repositories that have holdings listed in the indexes of the National Register of Archives. You can browse by repository location in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. There is also a handy list of foreign archives that you can browse alphabetically by country. In addition to the freely available, and occasionally unreliable, online resources discussed so far, you may have access to some databases to help you in archival research if your library or institution subscribes to them. ProQuest’s ArchiveFinder is a database that merges the content of ArchivesUSA and the National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the UK and

Ireland (NIDS UK/Ireland) index. ArchivesUSA currently lists over 5,600 institutions with more than 175,000 archival collections in the United States. Complementing this is the NIDS UK/Ireland index, which indexes an extensive set of microfilm finding aids for collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Institutional information in ArchiveFinder comprises contact details, hours of operation, and types of materials collected. Collection records link to repository records. In addition to these two major resources, ArchiveFinder also includes the NUCMC from 1959 to 2009, which makes searching this resource considerably easier than searching the Library of Congress’s free and incomplete version, discussed previously. OCLC’s ArchiveGrid includes finding aids to nearly one million collections from more than twenty-three hundred repositories internationally. It is a simple database to search, with one search box only, much like the Google interface. To use the database most efficiently, review the section on Boolean searching in chapter 1. Remember also to look at the search tips page, linked on the left side of the page, below the search box. If you conduct a broad search for an author, such as Salman Rushdie, you will bring back a list of thirty-seven collections with finding aids that mention the author. The first record in the list is for a collection of his papers held at Emory University. The linked collection title goes to a short description of the collection, with a link to the institution where it is held. CONCLUSION Archival research is quickly becoming much more accessible for many researchers, due in large part to the proliferation of online finding aids and digitized collections. However, it is a long way from being simple. Archival research can lead you to areas that no one else has explored, and if you have the opportunity to pursue this type of research, it can be very rewarding. The chance to make new discoveries and find hidden treasures that have been long overlooked can be almost irresistible, so it is important to keep in mind that not every archival venture is rewarded with an amazing find. You do need to remember that there is a distinct difference between using archives and manuscript collections in the United States and the United Kingdom and using similar collections throughout the postcolonial countries covered in this volume. A national archives, for example, will be only as old as its parent country, and many of these countries are very young. A robust and well-developed literary collection of archives and manuscripts takes time to put together, and for developing nations there are usually larger infrastructure concerns that must come before collecting national manuscripts. This means that currently manuscripts and other papers of authors either have not been collected or are held in manuscript repositories, often at universities, in older, developed countries. This type of research is as challenging as it is rewarding and can open doors to exiting new paths. NOTES The list that follows is a representative sample of these studies: Adelberger, Jörg. “The National Archives: Kaduna (NAK), Nigeria.” History in Africa 19 (1992): 435–439. Baier, Stephen. “Archives in Niger.” History in Africa 1 (1974): 155–158.

Carotenuto, Matthew, and Katherine Luongo. “Navigating the Kenya National Archives: Research and Its Role in Kenyan Society.” History in Africa 32 (2005): 445–455. Cason, Maidel. “A Survey of African Material in the Libraries and Archives of Protestant Missionary Societies in England.” History in Africa 8 (1981): 277–307. Conrad, David. “Archival Research in Guinea-Conakry.” History in Africa 20 (1993): 369–378. ———. “Archival Resources in Mali.” History in Africa 3 (1976): 175–180. Feinberg, H. M. “Research in South Africa: To Know an Archive.” History in Africa 13 (1986): 391–398. Heap, Simon. “The Nigerian National Archives, Ibadan: An Introduction for Users and a Summary of Holdings.” History in Africa 18 (1991): 159–172. Howell, Caroline. “A Cupboard of Surprises: Working in the Archives of the Church of Uganda.” History in Africa 2 (2001): 411–415. McConnell, Stuart. “Historical Research in Eastern Uganda: Local Archives.” History in Africa 32 (2005): 467–478. Painter, Thomas. “Rediscovering Sources of Nigerian History: The Dosso Archives.” History in Africa 12 (1985): 375–378. Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. www.archivists.org/glossary/term_details.asp? DefinitionKey=156. Shick, Tom W. “A Catalog of the National Archives of the Liberian Government.” History in Africa 3 (1976); 193–202. Silver, James B. “The Sekondi Archives.” History in Africa 5 (1978): 365–370. Ram, K. V. “Survey of Canadian Protestant Missionary Archives Relating to Africa.” History in Africa 7 (1980): 359–368.

Chapter Ten

Web Resources This volume has concentrated primarily on traditional, publisher-produced resources that libraries or individuals purchase or license for use, but this chapter turns to open-access resources that are widely available for no charge. Most of the resources that this chapter covers have been created by an academic institution, a unit within an institution, or a person affiliated with an institution. There is now a proliferation of literature research resources available for free online. Postcolonial literature resources, however, seem to have been slower to develop than have resources for many older literatures. For the postcolonial resources that do exist, as well as for resources in any other area, you will want to remember that evaluation of the sources is extremely important, as discussed in this chapter. Because of rapid developments in technology and its increasing ease of use, many students and scholars have entered into the digital realm, creating variously useful and authoritative websites or more elaborate projects. It is imperative to maintain an awareness that Internet access is now comparatively commonplace, and almost anyone can create a Web presence for research or entertainment. Projects are often started with great and eager energy and dedication, but they must be ongoing to maintain pertinence and require continued attention. That attention is not something that every person who starts a project has time for, and you will find that frequently a resource that was cutting edge a couple of years ago has been left behind by its creator. Students produce Web projects for class and understandably do not maintain them afterward. Faculty may start a project and then move to new institutions, leaving the project unattended and at the mercy of outmoded design decisions and dated functionality. The Internet represents a world of temptation, quick access to information presented as authoritative. Your work can be compromised by using weak or incorrect resources as the basis for your arguments. There is no way around the fact that your scholarship is no better than the research upon which you base it. Evaluate your resources carefully. You will discover that many websites for postcolonial literature are older than one might hope, and you may need to be more lenient about the dates on which these sites are updated. Libraries have developed benchmarks by which Web resources should be evaluated. Figure 10.1 is the set of evaluation standards that the Indiana University Bloomington Libraries have created to help researchers decide the academic value, or lack thereof, of an Internet site. This tip sheet not only presents the top four criteria of authority, accuracy, currency, and point of view, by which you should review any resource, particularly an Internet resource, but it also guides you through purposes, audiences, and broad categories of most sites.

Figure 10.1. Modified Indiana University Tip Sheet for Evaluation of Web Sites. Indiana University Bloomington Libraries

SCHOLARLY PORTALS Bahri, Deepika. Postcolonial Studies at Emory, at english.emory.edu/Bahri (accessed 28 November 2011). The Center for Research Libraries (CRL). Topic Guides, at www.crl.edu/collections/topics (accessed 28 November 2011). Columbia University Library. African Diaspora, at library.columbia.edu/indiv/area/cuvl/african_studies/diaspora.html (accessed 28 November 2011). ———. SARAI: South Asia Resources on the Internet, at library.columbia.edu/indiv/area/cuvl/sarai.html (accessed 28 November 2011). Indiana University Bloomington Libraries. Green Boxes, at www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1765 (accessed 28 November 2011). Landow, George P. Postcolonial Web, at www.postcolonialweb.org (accessed 28 November 2011). Liu, Alan. Voice of the Shuttle, at vos.ucsb.edu (accessed 28 November 2011). Lynch, Jack. Literary Resources on the Net, at andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit (accessed 28 November 2011). Stanford University Libraries. Africa South of the Sahara: Selected Internet Resources, at library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/ (accessed 28 November 2011). ———. Reference Works on African Literature, at www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/afrlit.html (accessed 28 November 2011). University of California Berkeley South/Southeast Asia Library. South Asian Diaspora, at www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/diaspora.html (accessed 28 November 2011). University of Chicago. Digital South Asia Library, at dsal.uchicago.edu (accessed 28 November 2011). University of Colorado Boulder. Foreign Information by Country, at ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/foreigngovt.htm (accessed 11 February 2012).

Internet portals can help you direct your Web research, but these broad types of tools are decreasing in the twenty-first century as it becomes increasingly challenging to impose order on the Internet, and they are giving way to narrowly focused subject portals that nevertheless demand attention from their creators. As suggested previously, the Internet resources that abound online are not as robust, developed, or reliable as you need for academic research. The portals that are covered in this section also need close scrutiny, mainly because the webpages that they list are often out of date or simply nonexistent. A Google search for “postcolonial literature” appears to return a long list of options to browse, but upon closer examination the same sites are repeated several times—some have changed URLs and some have switched owners—and such fluidity leads to inevitable user confusion. Similarly, portal sites offer a repetition of suggested pages from one to the next. Maintaining a portal site is a timeconsuming effort, one that can go unrewarded. It is understandable that portal sites are not always current, and there are frequently links that go nowhere. Be prepared for this inevitable frustration. Resources included in this section, though they sometimes have the complete text of documents, are not built around the goal of a subject-oriented, full-text collection, but rather are developed as guides. One of the oldest portals for humanities research is Alan Liu’s Voice of the Shuttle, which started in 1994. In 2001 the site was overhauled and began to be run by a database that allowed users to search as well as browse its contents. In 2012, the 2001 update was still on the “about” page for this portal, and it is difficult to know when it was last updated. If you choose to browse the site, select “Literature in English” from the left sidebar, and from the next page you can scroll through a list of categories and subcategories, such as Front List Books: Scholarly Books on the Web—(Post)Colonial Studies. This link reflects the apparently dated nature of Voice of the Shuttle, because it will take you to the front page of Front List Books,

but not to the page that VoS suggests. When this happens, and it will with other links also, you should use an Internet search engine to look for the title of the resource in case the URL has changed. Other browsing options include “Other Literatures in English,” where unfortunately many of the URLs are broken. You can navigate through general resources as well as countryand author-specific sites. Alternatively, you can find your way through VoS by using the search option. By looking for “postcolonial” as a search term, you will retrieve several pages, many of which are parts of larger topics, like cultural studies, that deal in some way with postcolonial literature or theory. Another literary portal worth noting is Jack Lynch’s Literary Resources on the Net. Hosted at Rutgers, this is a long-lived resource. Updated in 2007, considerably more recently than VoS, Literary Resources on the Net also requires similar patience and dedication to manipulate. The most useful browsing categories from the main page are “Theory,” “Ethnicities and Nationalities,” and “Other National Literatures.” Literary Resources on the Net does have a search feature, but it allows the user to search only one word at a time. With several broken links and links to resources that no longer exist, this resource reflects the state of many early Web-based literary resources. A new added bonus to Lynch’s resource, however, is his entertaining blog, linked from his homepage. This is well worth an occasional research break. A more dated yet frequently cited project is Postcolonial Studies at Emory, sponsored by Emory University and started by Deepika Bahri. Though most of the essays were written between the mid-1990s and the first years of the twenty-first century, the information remains useful. From the front page, you can tell by the design style that the site has not been updated in recent years. You have the option to browse by authors, theorists, or terms and issues. On the authors and theorists pages you have a straightforward alphabetical list by name, with some topical or title subdivisions. The links still work because they are all part of the same work; in other words, the entire site is self-contained and refers you to other parts of the whole. Though a bit old, the information is not incorrect, but you will need to supplement it with more current resources. The bio-bibliographic author essays are signed and dated and include short bibliographies, making this one of the most useful Web resources for biographical information. The theorists’ essays include short biographies and concise introductions to their theoretical concepts. The terms and issues section features an eclectic and interesting assortment of concepts, such as cricket, female genital mutilation, the Sepoy Mutiny, and nuclear proliferation, in addition to more traditional postcolonial concepts like nationalism, the Third World, and representation. These essays can be particularly useful for a student, or a scholar, who is beginning to work in a new area in which a brief background essay is the first step to starting the project. Similarly, the list of terms and issues can be of great assistance for a student who may be trying to find an area of interest for a class paper or project. The Postcolonial Web is another once great and now still somewhat useful Web resource. Created by George Landow at Brown University in the mid-1990s, this site, unlike many others that refuse to admit that they are waning, has acknowledged since 2006 that it is no longer a vibrant participant in the academics of postcolonial literature. Landow announced that the site

would remain up and unchanged as long as possible. For a while there was a mirror site in Singapore, but that is gone as of 2009. The “contact” form is prefaced by a statement by Leong Yew, to whom Landow gave the project, explaining that the site is indeed still an archive, with no plans to continue updates. Because of the several different (and phantom) Web addresses for this site that show up on the Internet, a user can spend a great deal of time looking for the most current version. There is only one version, and it is not current. However, what is on this site remains useful. On the landing page you will see several red squares, each a link labeled with countries or areas (Africa, South Asia, Singapore, Caribbean) or concepts (authors, history, religion, theory, gender, diasporas). Each will take you to another page within this site, populated with more links that in turn take you deeper into the site. For the most part, the links are all directed internally to the site. You will encounter some, however, that try to link to the National University of Singapore, and unfortunately those will not work. An example of a profitable trail is the South Asia link, which leads to a page with links to individual countries and topics such as gender, history, politics, and music. Some pages have essays describing a literary or other topic, while other pages present, for example, a list of demographic facts. Overall, the pages are variously developed, with some author pages including lengthy bibliographies, biocritical essays, and links to information on writing, whereas others provide short biographies and lists of works. The librarians at Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR) have an extensive series of research webpages that cover a wide range of geographic areas. The Reference Works on African Literature page covers Lusophone Africa, Anglophone Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa, Francophone Africa, and Amharic. Although this site is not technically an Internet portal, it will effectively lead you to useful Web resources. The literature pages include broad subdivisions of resource types such as indexes and bibliographies (many of which are mentioned in chapter 4 of this volume); general resources like encyclopedias, biographies, and critical collections; library catalogs; and literary companions. In addition to traditional print research tools, these pages also feature lengthy lists of Web resources, many of which are freely available online. Although the SULAIR pages are relatively frequently updated, some of the sites in the lists are quite dated. Many sites are devoted to individual authors, conferences that have been held in recent years, awards, and presses. In addition to the literary-themed pages, Africa South of the Sahara: Selected Internet Resources has a broader African focus, covering countries such as Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, plus other non-Anglophone countries, and the regions of Central Africa, East Africa, Horn of Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Sections devoted to individual countries list webpages that focus on government information, human rights issues, the arts, literature, and so forth. The site also has a list of browsable topics such as African diaspora, birds, business, culture, and society, development, education, environment, film, human rights, language, libraries, maps, religion, travel, and

women. The section on libraries is subdivided into Africa, North America, and Europe, with each section comprising a robust list of libraries and repositories for African research. For more detailed coverage of the newspaper search function, see chapter 7. The Center for Research Libraries (CRL), also discussed in chapter 3, is a consortium of university and research libraries with international membership. It collects and preserves expensive and often narrowly focused primary resources on behalf of member institutions. Holdings are particularly strong in newspapers, microforms (see chapter 8 for additional discussion of the CRL’s microfilm holdings), and journals. In recent years, the CRL has begun collecting digital resources. A particular strength of the organization’s collection activities centers on Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. The CRL has an extremely helpful series of Topic Guides that cover a broad range of research areas. Of particular interest for a researcher of postcolonial literature are “African Studies,” “Human Rights,” “ Middle Eastern Studies,” “Latin American Studies,” “Black Studies,” “Literature,” “Socialism and Communism,” “South Asian Studies,” “Southeast Asian Studies,” and “World War II and Aftermath.” The most recently updated guides usually have an overview of the area of study, information on the CRL holdings, and links to other resources. The landscape overview gives some details about the difficulties encountered when collecting for that specific area. The collections section lists the CRL holdings, often accompanied by a set of geographic subdivisions. The CRL webpages also feature detailed information about several microfilm projects that reformat and preserve rare or hard-to-locate materials from the areas mentioned here. For a thorough discussion, see chapter 8. On the webpages you can see a list that presents the complete holdings for the geographic subdivisions of the microfilm projects. There is also an overview of the ongoing projects, as well as a guide for particularly important parts of the collections. For individual collections within a geographic subdivision, you will find links to PDF guides that provide author, title, call number, and notes for items in the collection; the catalog record for the complete collection; and a link for a predefined catalog search of the collection. Columbia University Library has developed SARAI: South Asia Resources on the Internet. An extensive site filled with links to South Asian resources, it can be navigated in several ways. There is a basic search interface that will return a list of pages with contextual snippets from within the SARAI webpages. An advanced search option allows limiting by language, file format, and domain. In addition to searching, the site offers easy and well-organized browsing. Browsing starts with format divisions, with links to electronic lists of journals, books, and other text collections; reference and bibliographic tools; a directory of scholars of South Asia; and a searchable collection of images from the Digital South Asia Library (discussed in greater detail in the next paragraph). The site can be browsed by countries and regions, and by governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Finally, there is a possibly quite useful topical arrangement that includes sections on South Asian culture, history, human rights, languages, literature, mass media, and other topics.

With sponsorship from the CRL and the University of Chicago, the Digital South Asia Library (DSAL) is a collection of resources targeted toward academic, government, and business researchers. It continues an initiative started by the Association of Research Libraries with funding from the Mellon Foundation and has a lengthy list of international participants. DSAL includes resources categorized by a broad range of types: reference resources, bibliographies, catalogs and other finding aids, images, indexes (including an open-access subset of the Bibliography of Asian Studies), maps, and Internet resources, among others. Of particular importance is the section on bibliographies, which includes the National Bibliography of Indian Literature, the South Asian Union Catalog, and several others, which can be searched individually or all at the same time. The images section provides access to six online image collections: the Hensley Photo Library, the Bond Photograph Library, and the Keagle Photograph Library, which all comprise World War II photos taken by their namesake servicemen; the American Institute of Indian Studies, with collections of images from the Center for Art and Archaeology in Gurgaon, Haryana, India, which features architecture, sculpture, terracotta, painting and numismatics; the Government College of Arts and Crafts (Chennai), which hosts the Museum of Contemporary Art, with a nineteenth-century Indian photograph collection; and the still-developing Oriental and India Office Collections. The UC Berkeley South/Southeast Asia Library’s South Asia Resources contains a module entitled South Asian Diaspora that has information on UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library’s South Asians in North America collection, a database of diaspora resources that can be browsed and is moderately searchable, an informative exhibit on South Asian immigrants in California, and two photo exhibits on Indian immigrants in the western United States. The Columbia University Library has compiled an extensive African Diaspora page of links to academic programs, organizations, exhibits, projects (films, campaigns, scholarly digital endeavors), Internet portals, institutes, and museums that cover the international expanse of the African diaspora from colonization and the slave trade to today. This lengthy page is arranged alphabetically and is searchable only by using the “find” command on your Web browser. If you are beginning to research the African diaspora and are still new to the concept, however, this site is a must for helping you get started. Librarians at the Indiana University Libraries have created similar compilations of resources in their virtual Green Boxes, so named because originally they comprised physical items that were held in green boxes. Most items in these lists are freely available online, although some will require a subscription. Browsable by region (as defined by the Department of State: Africa, Sub-Saharan, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Near East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, and Western Hemisphere) and by an extensive country list, these resources are a solid starting point if you need to know more about a specific country’s history, demographics, economic standing, and so forth. Usually the boxes are divided into sections such as general information, census, crime, culture and cultural policy, development, economy and commerce, education, environment and sustainability, official government publications and statistics, human rights and social conditions, and politics.

Similar to the Green Boxes are the University of Colorado Boulder Library’s Foreign Information by Country pages. This site is a reliable place to look for official country information. In addition to providing links to U.S. reports and information about countries, this site has links to official pages developed and maintained by the governments of other countries. For example, the page for Jamaica features links to such webpages as the Jamaica Information Service (the official government page), Bank of Jamaica, government cabinet pages, parliament, many ministry pages, as well as country profiles created by other countries. ELECTRONIC-TEXT ARCHIVES Google. Google Books, at books.google.com (accessed 5 January 2012). Halsall, Paul. Internet History Sourcebooks Project, at www.fordham.edu/halsall (accessed 5 January 2012). Hart, Michael. Project Gutenberg, at www.gutenberg.org (accessed 5 January 2012). HathiTrust. HathiTrust Digital Library, at www.hathitrust.org (accessed 5 January 2012). Litvack, Leon. The Imperial Archive, at www.qub.ac.uk/english/imperial/imperial.htm (accessed 5 January 2012).

To explain the rationale for discussing some full-text resources here, while others have been classified under digital collections in chapter 8, we need to differentiate electronic-text archives from digital collections. The philosophical goal behind the text archives described here is that they have digitized or are digitizing as much of the written history of humanity as is practically or legally possible, or are the result of a larger pedagogical exercise (see The Imperial Archive). Selection criteria go no further than whether or not something exists in a format that can be scanned. Digital collections covered in chapter 8 involve a much more intricate and thoughtful decision process for the compilation of resources, ensuring a cohesive collection. Be sure to look at both of these sections for a complete picture of available online resources. Although electronic-text sites are pervasive on the Internet, unfortunately there are relatively few options for postcolonial literatures. Copyright issues are naturally a problem for works covered in this volume because of the recent publication dates of most of the works that fall into its purview. More often than finding the full texts of postcolonial writers online, you will instead find works about postcolonial literature or theory made available by scholars and students in a variety of places and of varying quality. The open-access movement has made it much more academically acceptable for scholars to make their work available online, yet resistance to this mode of publishing remains in the academy and in the confusing realm of copyright laws. Academic professionals are held to certain high standards for publishing articles and books. Meeting these standards is particularly important for faculty because they are working toward tenure at academic institutions, and new open-access publishing venues are not yet held in the same esteem as subscription-based journals. As a result, new scholars tend to publish in the traditional peer-reviewed journals. Similarly, literature faculty and graduates more frequently participate in collaborative digital humanities projects, yet the lack of a peer-review process means these projects are often undervalued when a scholar makes a case for tenure. Copyright is also a significant obstacle for the development of open-access primary resources such as poetry, drama, and prose written in the time span that this book

covers. There are laws with many intricacies truly only comprehensible to copyright lawyers that will make many electronic-text projects impossible. At the most basic level, anything written after 1923 is under copyright, and the author, or the author’s heirs, has control over what happens to the work. Pre-1923 publications are considered to be in the public domain, and those are the texts you will most often find in electronic text projects. The rules of copyright and the public domain are changing all the time, and there are high-profile legal cases being debated as this book is being written. Changes will continue to happen, and decisions will continue to be argued, for the foreseeable future. Two large projects have received a great deal of attention over the past few years: Google Books and HathiTrust. They are both astoundingly ambitious, moderately mysterious, and widely questioned. Google Books was started in 2002, in secrecy, as a team at Google began to investigate seriously the possibilities and pitfalls of such a large digitization project; the goal was to digitize as much of the world’s written record as possible. Working initially with the University of Michigan, the Google Books project developed fast and nondestructive scanning procedures and sought library partners, including Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, as well as a range of publishers. In addition to scanning and making available online books that are out of copyright, Google also decided to scan books that are still in copyright, but would only make available information about the book in the project. A researcher could discover the book via Google Books, but then would have to locate the book in a library or bookstore to read it. Since 2005, a dispute with the Author’s Guild and with a group of publishers has plagued the project. As of December 2011, the lawsuits remained unsettled. In spite of the legal drama, Google Books currently provides varying access to thousands of books. A user can search or browse the collection from the project’s front page. The default search is a basic box into which you can type keywords. For example, a search for Derek Walcott will bring back a list of approximately 120,000 hits in less than one second, as the database tells you. If that results list seems too large to handle (and it should), select the advanced search option. You will be taken to a page that offers you the option of many more search criteria. Here you can limit your search to books that appear in full, books that appear in excerpted form, or all books. You also have the option of selecting language, author, publisher, subject, publication date, and so forth. From the main Google Books page, you also have the option to browse content based on broad topics. If the complete text of a book is available in the project, you will be able to read the entire book online. If only the snippet view is available, you can see the publication details and a few sentences. In the limited preview, you will be able to read a few pages, and if only the book record is available, you will be presented with publication information. In the latter situations, you can easily locate a copy of the book in your library catalog or OCLC’s WorldCat. A new feature on the front page is the option to search the Google eBookstore so you can purchase books for e-book readers. The HathiTrust Digital Library is a growing collaboration among international academic and research libraries and consortia to digitize library collections. At the core are the libraries from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Triangle Research Libraries Network,

and the University of California libraries. The purpose of this collaboration is to collect, preserve, and provide access to recorded knowledge. The participating libraries are digitizing their print collections to create a participant-owned, combined collection, which is currently more than ten million volumes. The digitization efforts complement the shared print collections currently being developed by consortia, a process made possible by creating dependable digital surrogates. Although the HathiTrust is a member-run organization, and members have access to more of the collection, anyone can search the catalog and have access to much of the content. Users not from member institutions can create a “friend” account through the University of Michigan by filling out a very brief online form and waiting a few minutes until the application is automatically processed. Once registered, users have access to greater functionality within the HathiTrust, such as the ability to create personal collections. The search capability of the HathiTrust is quite advanced and allows users to develop extremely targeted searches. A lengthy series of search tips is provided for users. A “Collections” tab at the top of the pages will take you to a long list of collections that have been compiled by other users, usually titled and described so that it is easy to tell what is in the collection. Currently there are collections being built of South Asian humor, Barbados, India, English translations of Sufi manuscripts, and many more. The entire collection is searchable by a very basic search on the opening page, one search box with options to search by all fields, or author, title, subject, publisher, and so forth. The advanced search screen includes four search boxes so you can combine the options listed above. There are also options to limit to full-text availability, and by year, language, and format. Search results are ranked in relevancy order, and you can change that order to date or alphabetical by title. This resource is still developing and adding features regularly, so if you use it, remember to look for updates on the news pages through the “about” options. Subtitled “A Site Dedicated to the Study of Literature, Imperialism, Postcolonialism,” The Imperial Archive was developed by Leon Litvack at the Queen’s University of Belfast as a pedagogical project. It presents information and discusses British imperialism, transnational imperialism, and postcolonialism in Africa, India, and the Caribbean, as well as in Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Essays on this site are primarily written by master’s degree students at the Queen’s University School of English. The pages that are linked from the area or country topical pages appear jarringly different from the neat and clean upper levels of the site, most with bright backgrounds and difficult to read HTML text that is simply a vestige of the time when the site was developed. The information, however, can still be useful. The section on India includes subdivisions for “Colonial India” (1857–1858 Mutiny, colonialism in fiction, Western education, opium and empire, Charlotte Brontë); “Wilkie Collins” (biography, imperial resistance in The Moonstone, and The Moonstone text); “Rudyard Kipling” (biography, text of Kim, race, diaspora); and “Postcolonial India” (independence, Narayan, Jhabvala, Rushdie, Anand). Caribbean areas of interest are slavery, voodoo, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, missionaries, and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea. An extensive section on Nigeria is subdivided into colonial administration and missionaries, the Igboo people (featuring Achebe), and other Nigerian writers. The sections are characterized by

short essays, annotated bibliographies, and links to related websites that are not always functional. From Fordham University there is an interesting resource called the Internet History Sourcebooks Project, which is actively maintained and updated for currency and accuracy and is undergoing a checking process to eliminate bad links. Established in 1996, it initially pointed to other sites, but since 2000 there have been few external sources added, in an endeavor to maintain a high level of functionality, providing users with expected success and ease of use. The project’s introduction suggests a Google search or a visit to the Internet Archive to find texts for which the link is broken. The Internet History Sourcebooks present public domain or copyright-permitted historical primary documents for educational purposes. Initially focused on ancient and medieval texts, sourcebooks have been developed for African, East Asian, Global, Indian, and Islamic history, among others. In the “Asia Since 1900” section, for example, you can find Mahatma Gandhi’s Indian Home Rule and the British government’s Policy in India. In “Africa Since 1945” you can read the 1948 National Party’s Colour Policy along with Nelson Mandela’s speech after he was released from prison and his inaugural address. There are also some thematic collections of note. “Modern Social Movements” offers documents on ethnic and minority movements. “Post War Western Thought” includes poststructuralism and postmodern Marxism, deconstruction, and social constructionism. “Decolonization” includes writings on empire and new forces including multinational corporations, global poverty, globalization, and ethnic conflict. Finally there is the grandfather of the e-text ventures, Project Gutenberg. This seminal project is considered to be the first instance of e-book creation; it was started in 1971. Michael Hart, who sadly died from a heart attack in September 2011 at the age of sixty-four, was at the University of Illinois when he received an extremely generous grant for computer time. He chose to put that time toward creating a digital archive of culturally important literary works. After forty years, Gutenberg still delivers its texts in ASCII format, fulfilling one of the original tenets of the project: to create and deliver texts that can be read on almost any computer, regardless of the computer’s capacity. Although the format of texts remains the same, the search capability continues to improve. You can search by author, title, and subject, and when you select a search type the most popular of those searches also appears in a list below the search box. Most of the titles in Project Gutenberg are older, published before 1923 to avoid copyright conflicts. However, it remains an excellent resource for important background information about the countries that this volume discusses. Texts can now be downloaded to the Kindle, and Gutenberg has added a mobile interface. The project is always looking for both donations and volunteer proofreaders. ORGANIZATIONS AND CURRENT AWARENESS RESOURCES The African Literature Association(ALA), at www.africanlit.org (accessed 17 December 2011). The Association for Commonwealth Literature & Language Studies (ACLALS), at www.aclals.ulg.ac.be/links.html (accessed 17 December 2011). Calls for Papers in English and American Literature, at cfp.english.upenn.edu (accessed 17 December 2011).

The Caribbean Studies Association (CSA), at caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/en/index.html (accessed 17 December 2011). The International Research Confederacy on African Literature and Culture (IRCALC), at www.africaresearch.org/ (accessed 17 December 2011). The Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA), at www.postcolonialstudiesassociation.co.uk/ (accessed 17 December 2011). The South Asian Literary Association (SALA), at www.southasianliteraryassociation.org/ (accessed 17 December 2011).

In this section, “current awareness resources” is a catchall term that refers to websites that publicize the conversations, events, and opportunities that characterize current and developing movements and themes in the scholarship of postcolonial literature. Most leading associations will have a presence online, and these sites are useful starting points, both for discovering ideas and for becoming involved with a larger community with academic interests similar to your own. If you are pursuing serious scholarly work and want to establish yourself in an academic community, these associations can be extremely important. Here you will make contacts and find mentors who can be of indispensable value as you progress in your field. Webpages that represent organizations are often useful as you work through a research project. Organizations can sometimes provide you with interesting conference programs that, with enough patience, you can scan for papers or panels that are connected to your own research. The academic community focused on any one literary area can be quite small, and contacting other researchers about their work can open doors for your own involvement in important national and international organizations. When looking for organizations online, remember the criteria for evaluating webpages in figure 10.1; a site not updated since 2003 is highly unlikely to be of any use to you. Unfortunately, you will encounter many organizational pages that have been untended for years. The pages listed here are certainly not the only ones, but they are currently maintained and should give you an idea of what to expect from organization and author pages. The English Department at the University of Pennsylvania sponsors and maintains a thorough and active service in its Calls for Papers in English and American Literature. If you are looking for an opportunity to publish your work or to present your ideas at a conference, monitoring this resource is a must. Not only will it give you access to new announcements for potential outlets for your work, by keeping an eye on posts you can also stay current on new or developing movements in literary studies. The list is broadly inclusive, and now it can be navigated by a series of subcategories located along the left side of the page. Although “postcolonial” is the most logical category to browse, keep in mind that these calls are tagged by the people or organizations who submit them. Areas such as “theory,” “travel writing,” “twentieth century and beyond,” and “interdisciplinary” are also important to investigate. Submissions are reviewed by staff and usually show up on the list within a day of submission. In its early days, the list featured an e-mail option through which users could receive the list of new submissions daily. This element has been replaced by subscriptions via RSS feed. The page includes easy instructions for subscribing. Because there are so many calls listed here, you will need to subscribe to subject sections or to the “all recent posts” option. There is also a searchable archive for the site that dates back to at least 1995. The International Research Confederacy on African Literature and Culture (IRCALC) is an organization of scholars and writers who share an interest in the literature and cultural

arts from Africa and the African diaspora. With a primary purpose of sharing resources and disseminating information about the arts in Africa, the IRCALC seeks a broad and diverse membership that can contribute positively to conversations about development in and among African nations. It publishes two journals, The Journal of African Literature and Culture and New Poetry. Calls for papers are posted on the webpages, and the site also provides an opportunity to nominate partner organizations for consideration. The IRCALC sponsors a literary chat forum through which scholars and creative writers can propose and lead conversation about pertinent topics. Current discussions feature such topics as myth, masks, and poetic language. The site also maintains a new books list. The South Asian Literary Association (SALA) is a small organization allied with the Modern Language Association, and it supports and promotes scholarship in the languages, cultures, and literatures of South Asia and the South Asian diaspora. It publishes a newsletter and a refereed journal, The South Asian Review. The webpage posts job openings, announcements, and calls for papers. The SALA meets at the MLA annual conference and sponsors a program there. The Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) concentrates on multicultural and interdisciplinary Caribbean studies. With an international membership, it welcomes both scholars and practitioners working in or on the Caribbean. Geographically the hub of Caribbean studies for the CSA is the Caribbean Basin (Central America, Mexico’s Caribbean coast, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, and Guiana). The CSA has an annual conference and encourages interdisciplinary papers and panels. Its website posts calls for papers and job postings, and membership includes a twice-yearly newsletter. The membership of the African Literature Association (ALA) similarly comprises an international community of educators, scholars, and writers. It publishes the ALA Newsletter and the Journal of the African Literature Association. The website includes links to information about publications, the annual conference, and committees. The Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA) is dedicated to postcolonial studies broadly, welcoming any topic or language. Topics lean toward the humanities and social sciences, particularly anthropology, area and cultural studies, gender studies, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, literary studies, politics, and sociology, to name a few. The PSA encourages and seeks international collaborative partnerships with other organizations. It sponsors an annual conference and is affiliated with the Journal of Postcolonial Writing. The Association for Commonwealth Literature & Language Studies (ALCALS) began in 1964 and exists to encourage, organize, and promote interest in Commonwealth literature. The organization arranges lectures and workshops. The ACLALS publishes a newsletter and puts on a conference every three years. International in its membership, the ACLALS has local branches in Canada, East Africa, Europe, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the South Pacific, the United States, and the West Indies. AUTHOR RESOURCES Facebook, at www.facebook.com (accessed 11 February 2012).

Twitter, at twitter.com (accessed 11 February 2012). YouTube, at www.youtube.com (accessed 11 February 2012).

Unfortunately, it is difficult to find current, authoritative, and reliable webpages for contemporary postcolonial writers. Most of what you will encounter via Internet searches is a combination of fan pages and publisher or agent pages. Though the official agent/publisher sites can be moderately useful, they exist predominantly to help sell books. Sometimes an author will have a Facebook page, but you need to proceed with caution before using this as authoritative. Frequently the author has little to do with the page, and it is actually maintained by an agent. Status updates are often quotes from the author’s publications or speeches. Similarly, Twitter can have potential if you want to keep up with what authors are saying or following. The problem is that just as on personal webpages, there is little authority control on Twitter. It is not difficult for someone to take on the persona of others in the social media world. Through YouTube you can search for audio and video clips of authors speaking or reading parts of their works. A search for “Derek Walcott” will bring up clips of Walcott reading his work, speaking at lectures, and being interviewed, ranging in length from just over a minute to nearly an hour. Other, more broadly focused searches include “poets africa reading” and “indian poets reading English.” CONCLUSION This chapter is a snapshot of a moment of postcolonial resources on the Internet. These resources are ever-changing and impossible to cover completely. From what we have discussed in this chapter, it is clear that the quality of Web-based resources varies widely. Obviously several sites were important to their creators and sponsoring institutions a few years ago, and they have suffered in recent years from lack of attention. Good information remains, and nothing has yet replaced some of the aging pages. With these types of resources, you need to be conscious that their material is not current. Remember, almost anyone can put almost anything online. With Internet research it is up to you to verify the validity and authority of the sources. Use these resources wisely.

Chapter Eleven

Researching a Thorny Issue A common theme throughout this book has been the unevenness and often unavailability of both primary and secondary materials on postcolonial literatures. Compared to other eras and national literatures, there are relatively few published works from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia from this period. Scholars researching in these areas will inevitably encounter this paucity of resources and may find that some existing publications are not widely held by libraries, with the exception of major research institutions. Even open-access websites tend to be unstable in both their general availability and their ability to remain free. These pragmatic resource-availability issues are symptomatic of bigger picture, theoretical questions about the nature of postcolonial literature and how it is understood in relation to the literary canon. Scholars continue to wrestle with questions such as the following: Who writes postcolonial literature and criticism, and from what vantage point? How does postcolonial literature repudiate, revise, and redefine the canon? How do authors and critics writing in the African, Caribbean, and South Asian diasporas change our understanding of national literatures? This final chapter begins by exploring practical questions about resource availability and examining how the sources and strategies outlined in this book can be applied to researching both widely read and lesser-known postcolonial authors. The latter half discusses some larger issues surrounding the production and study of postcolonial literature, along with their implications for future scholarship. We do not intend to offer the final word on any of these questions, but we do want to highlight some of the issues facing current and future postcolonial literary scholars. First, we need to address the pragmatic question of which sources are generally available to scholars and how those scholars might use them to expand their knowledge of postcolonial literatures. One of the challenges in locating scholarship on postcolonial literatures is endemic not only to African, Caribbean, and South Asian but also to all contemporary literatures. Once a literary work has been published—whether it is a novel, play, or poetry collection—a certain amount of time must pass before researchers begin to acknowledge it in the scholarly literature. Typically the first pieces written about any literary work are reviews (see chapter 6 for more detailed discussion of contemporary reviews). Generally speaking, reviews are published the year a work is first released and during the three following years, although they may also be printed later if a new edition is released or if the book or author wins a major award. Although they are not often relied on as sources for new scholarship, in the absence of

journal articles, a substantial, critical review may greatly benefit a researcher. For some titles, book reviews may be more readily available than scholarly journal articles. In your search you may also find that Western publications are somewhat more plentiful than postcolonial sources. As the introduction to this volume notes, the question of general availability was carefully considered in selecting works for inclusion in this research guide. A source that cannot be acquired is not necessarily any better than having no sources. Consider the readily available scholarship and reviews on three recent postcolonial novels: Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy (Penguin, 1993), Earl Lovelace’s Salt (Faber and Faber, 1997), and J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace (Secker and Warburg, 1999). Each of these novels has received critical acclaim, primarily through their recognition by the Commonwealth Foundation. In 1994, 1997, and 2000, respectively, A Suitable Boy, Salt, and Disgrace each received the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book award, indicating their literary merit. As with all contemporary literature, the first pieces written about them were book reviews. In looking for reviews for these three novels, we find that even general databases such as Academic Search Complete include citations for a variety of reviews: twenty-one for A Suitable Boy, eight for Salt, and thirty-three for Disgrace. Scholars may locate reviews in this database by searching for each book’s title and author and limiting to “book review” as the document type. This type of search excludes literary criticism from the results. The benefit of searching databases like Academic Search Complete is that because it is multidisciplinary, scholars can survey academic and trade journals alongside newspapers and ultimately uncover a wide range of reviews. Scholars may also turn to review-specific indexes such as Book Review Index and Book Review Digest, which are available both in print and online. When researching these three novels, we find that these indexes point us to additional reviews. For example, Book Review Index includes citations for forty-seven reviews of Disgrace, fourteen for Salt, and forty-eight for A Suitable Boy. For those same novels, Book Review Digest has nine, six, and eleven reviews, respectively. Although some will be duplicates, each source indexes a unique set of titles, so you will usually have to consult multiple sources to find all salient reviews. In turning to postcolonial publications, we may find additional reviews not available through Western databases and indexes. For example, in searching the Caribbean Journal Index for more reviews of the Trinidadian novel Salt, we find another review from the online journal The Caribbean Writer, which was not included in Academic Search Complete but was listed in Book Review Index. For South African authors such as Coetzee, other region-specific databases, such as SA ePublications, Social Sciences and Humanities, produce no results for either the author or his novel Disgrace. The challenge of postcolonial review and article sources, among other resource types, is that they are often not widely known in or available to Western institutions. Western publications may include international content, but they frequently exhibit a heavy bias toward American and British works. This is not to say that these authors are not being reviewed in their own countries’ publications, but that locating those works may be challenging. Another tactic for finding review content on contemporary postcolonial novels is to search

newspapers through aggregators such as Factiva and LexisNexis Academic, both of which provide full-text content for domestic and international newspapers. Searching for reviews of Seth’s A Suitable Boy from 1993 to 1996 in Factiva produces a list of 115 articles, including international newspapers such as the Far Eastern Economic Review and India Today Plus. To locate reviews in Factiva, you should use the “Search Builder” and search for the words A Suitable Boy, Seth, and review. To get the best results, you should put the title in quotation marks so that the database searches for it as an exact phrase. It can also be useful to truncate the word review (e.g., review*) to account for alternate forms of the word. Using phrase searching and truncation in newspaper databases such as Factiva and LexisNexis Academic can help you retrieve appropriate, specific results, particularly since their contents are not indexed and because they search in the full text rather than being limited to the record, which may comprise citation information, an abstract, and descriptive keywords and subjects. Fulltext databases tend to rely more on natural language searching than on precoordinated search terms such as subject headings. If we look at another newspaper database, we find similar results to those in Factiva, although no two news aggregators include the exact same titles. LexisNexis Academic provides some additional refining features not available in Factiva, which will help you find book review content more efficiently. This database allows you to search for terms such as A Suitable Boy and Seth in the “Headline and Lead.” This is useful because newspaper articles tend to put the most important information in the headline or first paragraphs of an article. If the title of your book and the author’s name appear in these places, then it is more likely that a given article is substantially about them. Also, LexisNexis lets you specify “book reviews” as the article type. Using these search techniques and limiting to news sources published between 1993 and 1996, LexisNexis produces seventy-nine book reviews on Seth’s A Suitable Boy. Though reviews in general do not carry the same weight as scholarly journal articles, the accessibility of some international sources through readily available aggregated news databases may help you engage with a broader range of views on a given literary work and author. An alternate use of newspaper sources such as Factiva and LexisNexis Academic is to search them for author interviews. LexisNexis includes eleven interviews with Vikram Seth that mention A Suitable Boy in the years immediately following the book’s publication. Likewise, Factiva has forty-four interviews with Seth in the same time period, 1993 to 1996. To produce results such as these, you would simply use the same search techniques described for locating reviews, but substitute interview* for review*. In the absence of scholarly journal articles, interviews as well as reviews can be valuable secondary sources for contemporary authors and their literature. Unlike reviews, literary criticism isn’t written on a consistent timetable. Some literary works may exist for centuries without receiving critical attention, whereas others may be considered notable from the moment they are published. For example, novels such as Lovelace’s Salt and Seth’s A Suitable Boy have been discussed in relatively few scholarly articles: thirteen for the former and fifteen for the later, found using the MLA International Bibliography. You can find these articles by searching MLAIB for a work’s title as “Name of Work.” Typically this is

enough to retrieve all records about a particular literary text. However, because salt has meanings other than its use as a novel’s title, scholars should add Lovelace as a “PersonAbout” to find criticism of Salt. Considering how recently these two novels were published, articles found may seem to be a reasonable amount of scholarship. In comparison with the 193 MLAIB entries on Coetzee’s Disgrace, however, the scholarship record begins to seem rather thin. As mentioned previously, A Suitable Boy, Salt, and Disgrace were all recipients of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book award, in 1994, 1997, and 2000, respectively, indicating that each book was considered to have significant literary merit. However, scholars writing about Disgrace have a great deal more scholarly resources at their disposal than scholars of Salt and A Suitable Boy have, and this is only when we consider those indexed in a single bibliography, MLAIB. Coetzee’s status as a Nobel Prize in Literature recipient has very likely influenced how many literary scholars have chosen to study him; however, that is not necessarily an indicator that his novel, Disgrace, has any more or less literary value than Salt or A Suitable Boy. It does illustrate, in one small way, that the scholarship record for contemporary literature is uneven at best. If you also have access to ABELL, you should search that alongside MLAIB because the two do not completely overlap in the titles they index. ABELL searches slightly differently than MLAIB. Rather than having separate “Person-About” and “Name of Work” designations for authors and literary texts, ABELL designates each as “Subjects.” To find sources on a particular novel, you should search for the title as a subject. You may also want to limit by source type—articles, books, and reviews—if you are looking for a particular kind of result. Although ABELL includes reviews, they tend to be of scholarly books rather than creative works. If we search for our three novels using the techniques described, we find eighty-two articles and three books on Coetzee’s Disgrace, four articles and one book on Lovelace’s Salt, and six articles and one book on Seth’s A Suitable Boy. You will find that in searching for Disgrace as a subject, ABELL does not distinguish between the word and the novel. To correct for this conflation, you should add in Coetzee as a keyword. It’s interesting to note that even though Disgrace and A Suitable Boy both received significant interest from reviewers, scholars have paid far more attention to the former than the latter. For additional sources on Coetzee and his writings, you could consult specialized bibliographies such as Geoffrey V. Davis’s South Africa, which is part of the World Bibliographical Series (see chapter 4). Because this is a general bibliography, it will be valuable for identifying literary as well as cultural resources. The “literature” chapter discusses works such as Coetzee’s Doubling the Point: Essays and Interviews (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992) and White Writing: On the Culture of Letters in South Africa (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988). It also contains annotations for seminal works of literary criticism on South African writing, such as Martin Trump’s Rendering Things Visible: Essays on South African Literary Culture (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1990), which discusses Coetzee along with other South African authors. Scholars may also wish to consult the reference and bibliographical works cited, as they will provide valuable background information and paths for further research.

Whereas sources such as ABELL and MLAIB include books but focus largely on journal articles, catalogs such as WorldCat are valuable for identifying pertinent scholarly books on an author or literary text. If you are new to using WorldCat, consult chapter 3 for detailed information on this catalog and search strategies. One way to locate relevant books about Coetzee’s Disgrace, for example, is to search for Coetzee J.M. as a subject and Disgrace as a keyword. Searching this way means that results must be about Coetzee and that Disgrace must be referenced somewhere in the record, including the subject headings, title, and table of contents. Alternatively, you could do a subject search for Coetzee J.M. 1940 Disgrace. The difference between these two searches is rather significant. In the latter, forty-three records for books, Internet sources, and articles come up. The former retrieves eighty-seven results, including books, journal articles, visual resources, and audio files. Though there is some overlap between the two searches, you will benefit by searching both ways. Not all postcolonial authors and texts will even have this much research published on them. If you are not finding many articles and books on your author, you may need to consult other types of sources such as reference books, dissertations, and websites. The preceding discussion focused largely on researching well-known authors, who are typically covered in major resources. You may, however, find yourself researching a text or author who is less well known and infrequently studied. An example is Jamaican novelist Sylvia Wynter’s 1962 novel The Hills of Hebron. A simple “Name of Work” search in MLAIB via Gale Cengage turns up five results: two journal articles and three book chapters. Broadening the search parameters to include all indexed scholarship on Wynter herself produces only one additional book chapter to the results from the initial search. In searching ABELL we find only four results on this novel, two of which are unique to this database. Between our MLAIB and ABELL searches, there are only seven books and articles about this novel. Considering it was published fifty years ago, this is a rather scant amount of scholarship. Traditional review sources are not much more fruitful because Book Review Index does not begin coverage until 1965, three years after The Hills of Hebron was published. Likewise, LexisNexis and Factiva do not go back as far as 1962. Book Review Digest, however, does list reviews for this novel from diverse publications such as the Virginia Kirkus Service Bulletin, Library Journal, New York Herald Tribune Books, New York Times Book Review, Springfield Republican, Time, and the Times Literary Supplement. Though not scholarly articles, these reviews may help you gauge the novel’s reception immediately following publication. Another source you could consult for finding articles about Caribbean authors such as Sylvia Wynter is West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930–1975 (see chapter 4). Although somewhat dated, it is still a good source for locating older criticism. It is organized into indexes of authors, critics and reviewers, and general articles. Because you need information on Wynter, it is best to use the author index, which is organized alphabetically by last name. Under the heading “Wynter, Sylvia. Jamaica,” the works are organized into “General,” “The Hills of Hebron (1962),” and “Shh . . . It’s a Wedding (drama, 1963),” with articles and reviews specific to each topic listed underneath. None of these articles is indexed

in either MLAIB or ABELL, and although a few of the reviews for The Hills of Hebron are listed in the review sources discussed previously, many of them are unique to West Indian Literature. The unique citations provided by this source attest to its continued scholarly value. Having surveyed select online and print journal article and review indexing sources, let us turn our attention to catalogs such as WorldCat. A search for Sylvia Wynter as a subject with no additional limiting parameters produces nineteen results with one duplicate record, none of which overlaps with the MLAIB and ABELL results. Among the retrieved records are six dissertations and theses, five journal articles, and seven books about Wynter. Adding in Hebron as a keyword limits the results to six records, most of which are dissertations. Although they have not had the same rigorous editing as a published book and are sometimes difficult to obtain, scholars serious about researching an understudied author or text may need to consult pertinent dissertations as a means of finding additional source material. A dissertation may be accessed in four main ways: by traveling to the library that owns it, by requesting it through your library’s ILL service, by seeing if a digital copy has been included in ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses Full Text database, or by purchasing a specific dissertation through ProQuest. Each of these methods has its limitations. Going to the library that owns the dissertation will almost always guarantee access, but it could involve significant amounts of time and money spent on travel. If you need more permanent access to a particular dissertation, ProQuest allows scholars and libraries to purchase a PDF, printed, or microform copy. Rather than purchasing a copy outright, you may also choose to request a copy through ILL; however, whether a particular text is lent out is at the discretion of the library that owns the extant copy. If your institution subscribes to Dissertations and Theses Full Text and the dissertation was written at a U.S. institution from 1997 onward, then you may be able to acquire the text digitally. We should also consider available primary source materials such as those found in archives and special collections. Although somewhat dated, Special Collections: A Guide to Special Book Collections and Subject Emphases as Reported by University, College, Public, and Special Libraries and Museums in the United States and Canada can be a useful source for uncovering archival holdings on literary authors. The entries are organized under subject headings, so scholars can easily browse for relevant content. We could begin our search by looking under the heading for “Jamaica,” as a means of finding where there might be holdings on the culture, development, and history of the nation in which Wynter lived and wrote about. Collections at Trinity College, Yale University, Howard University, the University of Miami, and Boston College are all listed under the “Jamaica” heading. Additional relevant headings include “Jamaica—History,” “Jamaica—Politics and Government,” and “Jamaica—Social Life and Customs.” The Nicholas M. Williams Collection at Boston College is listed under the latter heading. A scholar interested in that collection should go to the Boston College library’s website to see if there is an online finding aid or other pertinent information about the collection. This will help to determine whether any of the contents are relevant to the study of Wynter and her novel. Another useful heading in Special Collections is “Authors, Jamaican,”

under which one collection at Howard University is listed. There is no heading for or entry specific to Wynter herself. If they are available at your library, you should also consult proprietary databases such as ArchiveGrid. A simple keyword search for Sylvia Wynter retrieves ten results, only two of which are pertinent but not exclusive to Wynter. The Harold Cruse Papers in The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University include a folder of correspondence between Cruse and Wynter in 1977. Likewise, the Robert E. Hemenway Collection at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas contains an unspecified folder of material related to Wynter. Although these are not substantial holdings, having minimal archive and manuscript collections is not atypical for contemporary and understudied authors. When an author is still living, it is not at all unusual for his or her papers to be unavailable to scholars. One facet of the currency issue relates to copyright. Regardless of country of origin, postcolonial literary works are still under copyright restrictions and cannot be disseminated through open-access sources in the way that historical literature can. A significant number of postcolonial authors are still living, so their personal papers and manuscripts are most likely not readily available to scholars. Although some well-known, living authors, such as Indian author Salman Rushdie, have made their papers public in a major archival collection, others, such as Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri, may not have established a centralized repository for their papers. A search of ArchiveGrid reveals that Rushdie’s correspondence and papers from 1947 to 2008 are currently held at the Emory University Library in Atlanta, Georgia. The same database shows that select papers from Okri’s manuscripts are included in the Charles R. Larson Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin, and in the Archives of George Braziller, Inc., 1960s–1995 at Princeton University. Authors such as Rushdie and Okri are the exception, not the rule, and many lesser-known authors may not be represented in either American or British archives. Scholars may find it both difficult and cost prohibitive to access manuscript collections held in repositories in African, Caribbean, and South Asian nations. In addition to reviews, scholarly articles and books, dissertations, and archival materials, scholars may need to look at basic reference sources and literary histories to contextualize the author or text they’re researching. Returning to the example of Sylvia Wynter’s The Hills of Hebron, we may want to consult reference sources such as Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert and Olga Torres-Seda’s Caribbean Women Novelists: An Annotated Critical Bibliography and M. J. Fenwick’s Writers of the Caribbean and Central America: A Bibliography. As their titles suggest, both of these are bibliographies, designed to direct scholars to additional resources. Paravisini-Gebert and Torres-Seda’s work compiles annotated citations for both primary and secondary source materials for specific Caribbean women novelists and general works on the region. There is an author bibliography for Wynter, which lists her novels, writing excerpts, poetry, essays and other nonfiction, broadcast literature, children’s literature, and audio recordings along with criticism, reviews, and interviews. Although some of the secondary sources are indexed in sources such as ABELL and MLAIB, some are unique to this

bibliography, including reviews from publications such as the Sunday Gleaner and John O’London’s Weekly. Scholars may also find the annotation for The Hills of Hebron interesting, as it reveals that Longman reprinted the novel in 1984. This is pertinent because it tells us that the novel has not been out of print for significant amounts of time since its initial publication, and yet it has still not drawn much scholarly attention. Whereas the Caribbean Women Novelists combines citations to original creative works as well as secondary source materials, other bibliographies, such as Fenwick’s Writers of the Caribbean and Central America, point solely to primary sources. This reference work’s value stems from its ability to help scholars easily identify other works by a particular author, including minor publications. Wynter, for example, is covered in the section on Jamaican writers. In addition, the scope of Caribbean Women Novelists is not limited to major authors but incorporates lesser-known writers and texts as well. Consequently, sources such as this can be invaluable for discovering new avenues for scholarly inquiry. In the absence of an extensive scholarship record for a particular author, you should consult general histories about a particular body of literature. Two such works—The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature and A History of the Literature of the Caribbean—are worth examining to understand the context in which Wynter wrote The Hills of Hebron. The former work only makes a passing reference to Wynter; however, several chapters in this two-volume set may be of value: “Anglophone Caribbean Literature,” “Postcolonial Caribbean Identities,” and “‘Postcolonial’ African and Caribbean Literatures.” Coverage of Wynter is better in the latter of the two histories. In volume 2 of A History of Literature in the Caribbean, she is discussed in the chapters “The Literatures of Trinidad and Jamaica,” “The Novel from 1950 to 1970,” “Theatralizing the Anglophone Caribbean, 1492 to the 1980s,” and “The Essay.” In volume 3 she is mentioned in chapters such as “Resistance and Globalization,” “The Cult of Caliban,” and “(Post)Modernity and Caribbean Discourse.” Although she is not the sole focus of any of these chapters, they do provide valuable information on her cultural and critical contexts that could inform your understanding of her work. One last type of resource you should consider, particularly when researching contemporary literature, is Web resources. Since traditional sources seem to have limited information on both Wynter and The Hills of Hebron, you may want to turn to the Internet to see if any additional knowledge can be gleaned. Even tools such as Google and Wikipedia can be useful for scholars seeking information on an understudied literary author or text. For example, a Google search for Sylvia Wynter The Hills of Hebron review retrieves a variety of results, including reviews of the 2010 edition, from open-access sources such as Jamaican Literature and Repeating Islands: News and Commentary on Caribbean Culture, Literature, and the Arts. This type of information could be useful if you wanted to see how a particular novel’s reception has changed over time. Even with older postcolonial works, you may find that searching the Web produces unique and often valuable results; however, as chapter 10 emphasizes, Web resources must be carefully evaluated for quality because they frequently do not undergo the same rigorous editing process as traditionally published sources. 1

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Wikipedia should probably not be your first or last stop for information on any author or text, but it can be valuable for learning quick facts and for identifying other potential sources. In the case of Wynter, you will find that the Wikipedia entry for her is rather sparse, but it does have a thorough bibliography of her writings and identifies several scholarly books and articles that discuss her. Unfortunately, this entry doesn’t reference any other websites that would be germane to this line of research. As noted in chapter 10, open-access sites on postcolonial literature in English have been slow to develop and may not be well maintained. Having said that, there are some sources, such as Postcolonial Studies at Emory, which offer relevant background information on terms and issues pertinent to postcolonial scholars even though they do not discuss Wynter. As mentioned previously, the contemporary nature of postcolonial literatures significantly restricts what information is available in the public domain. Though there are some freely available websites dedicated to African, Caribbean, and South Asian literatures, they are often not stable. These sites frequently comprise “born digital” materials, whether literary works, images, reviews, criticism, or other types of information. The phrase “born digital” implies that the work originally existed online and has no print counterpart. The challenge is keeping these valuable resources freely available. For example, some online collections, such as the Africa Knowledge Project (AKP), a subscription-only resource, may have begun as openaccess repositories but now require institutions or individuals to pay a subscription fee. AKP comprises journals such as Ijele: Art eJournal of the African World, JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies, and West Africa Review, as well as databases on topics such as African music, the Biafran War, and Kiswahili stories, and is a valuable collection for Africana scholars. The economics of publishing often force resources such as this one to switch to a subscription model, which can limit its potential readership. Another issue plaguing open-access sources is that without continued institutional commitment, they may fall into disrepair and eventually become obsolete, with outdated information and broken links. One prime example of this is George Landow’s The Postcolonial Web. Started in the mid-1990s, it used to be regularly updated with new essays on postcolonial literatures. The site and its contents are still available, but no new materials have been added since 2006. Even though the contents have not drifted into obsolescence, unless the site is revived, scholars should not expect to see continued growth of this once vital resource. Having briefly considered the pragmatic question of which resources are available to scholars and identified some of the potential barriers to accessing non-Western publications, let us turn to the larger issues that have created this problem. We start with the question of who writes postcolonial literature and criticism, and from what vantage point. In answering this question, we must consider the location of postcolonial scholars and authors, and through which presses they choose to make their works available. A significant number of literary authors and scholars are part of the African, Caribbean, and South Asian diasporas and live, work, and publish in countries such as the United States and Great Britain. These scholars and authors may not currently reside in their countries of origin, but they frequently write about

their native literatures or about either life in their homelands or the experience of living in the diaspora. Some of the individuals who have contributed significantly to the discussion of the postcolonial condition are foundational theorists Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Homi K. Bhabha. Said, whose seminal work Orientalism (New York: Vintage, 1978) delineates many foundational ideas for postcolonial studies, worked as an English and comparative literature professor at Columbia University. Spivak—known for her essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Edited by. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg, 271–313. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988)—is also a professor at Columbia. Homi K. Bhabha, another prominent postcolonial scholar from India, is a professor at Harvard University. This is not to say that all postcolonial scholars have moved to the diaspora. Many scholars have remained in their home countries. One such scholar is Pramod K. Nayar, who is a senior lecturer in English at the University of Hyderabad, India. He has remained in India; however, his scholarship, including Postcolonialism: A Guide for the Perplexed (New York: Continuum Books, 2010), is usually published by Western presses. In addition to scholars, many literary authors—including Chinua Achebe, Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Kamau Brathwaite, and Derek Walcott—live and write in the diaspora. Their writing, however, is usually set in or draws inspiration from their homelands. Other authors have chosen to remain in African, Caribbean, and South Asian nations, including Nadine Gordimer (South Africa), Arundhati Roy (India), Aravind Adiga (India), Karen KingAribisala (Nigeria), Lindsey Collen (Mauritius), and Mark McWatt (Guyana). Many of these authors have studied in American, British, or Canadian institutions, or their books are published by Western presses. We are not passing judgment on authors’ choices related to residence, employment, or publisher; we do, however, want to highlight a trend among authors who either live in the diaspora or have remained in their homelands but have academic and publishing connections in the West. There are many reasons an author might choose to publish with a British or American press, not the least of which is that these presses may have the ability and resources to distribute books more widely than many African, Caribbean, and South Asian presses. Economic considerations as well as a question of intended audience may also factor into choice of publishers. With so many authors and scholars living and publishing in the diaspora, we must consider questions about how these individuals and their writings may be changing our understanding of a country that has a national literature, and how postcolonial literature as a whole may work to repudiate, revise, and redefine the canon. This chapter will not settle any debates surrounding these questions, but we want to highlight them because they have implications for the future study of postcolonial literatures. How do we understand an author such as Nigerian Buchi Emecheta, whose writings are addressed in disparate general reference sources such as The Oxford English Literary History, which emphasizes the development of British literature, and The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature? In what ways can a single author be woven into two literary traditions? What considerations influenced the decision to include a volume on African, Caribbean, and South Asian literature in a series that largely

focuses on American and British literature? In his essay “Postcolonial Literature and the Western Literary Canon,” John Marx considers the ways in which postcolonial literatures may relate to canonical literature. He argues that they may “repudiate the canon,” “revise canonical texts and concepts,” or “[define] a new sort of canon from an established position inside its boundaries.” In terms of repudiation, postcolonial literary works such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God seek to revive native storytelling traditions and eschew Western forms. Along these same lines are authors such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who fought to have English departments in Africa be renamed as literature departments and be refocused on African and other non-Western literatures. Postcolonial texts written from a revisionist approach have worked to change our understanding of canonical texts and the questions we ask of them. This practice can be seen both in literary works that have responded to canonical texts and in critics’ efforts to provide new interpretations of established works. For example, Dominican novelist Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) serves as a prequel to British novelist Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) and deals with issues of race, identity, and power by telling the story of Antoinette Cosway, Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre. Critics have also provided revisionist readings of texts such as William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, challenging accepted understandings of these works and raising new questions about what viewpoints are privileged in literature. The third option—redefining the canon—presents a radically different way of understanding postcolonial literatures as related to other literary traditions. If literatures in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia are not, in fact, outside of or auxiliary to the canon, but part of it and participating in re-creating how scholars conceive canonicity, then literary scholarship is perhaps poised to enter a new era. As Marx suggests, “it may be possible to conclude that literary study is becoming less exclusively focused on the question of how fiction from the Maghreb and poetry from Indonesia repudiate or revise Western writing, and turning towards analysis of how they perform as part of a new and improved canon.” It is conceivable then that future literary scholarship may focus less on national literatures and more on an international canon. The words we use to describe bodies of literature illustrate this shift from national to international literature. Rather than “English literature,” authors may speak of literature(s) in English, sometimes using the plural form to emphasize the diverse cultures, peoples, and histories represented. Though the term “English” is present in both phrases, the latter emphasizes the unifying role of the language in which fiction, poetry, and plays are written, while the former emphasizes literature associated with a particular national identity. In Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000, Brian W. Shaffer notes: 3

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The last half of the twentieth century witnessed a monumental shift in the character of both literary and national identity: the “novel in English” supplanted the “English novel” in significance and cogency. What was at one time on the margins of canonical literature—the English language but non-British (or “Commonwealth”) novel—is at present squarely at its center: the English-language novel is now a genuinely international affair, with postcolonial Anglophone and “black British” works as widely read and critically esteemed as “British” ones.6

The definition of canonical changed as postcolonial literature was established and gained broader readership, while at the same time England, and ultimately English literature, diversified as the post–World War II influx of immigrants began to influence the shape of its culture. The final volume in the esteemed Oxford English Literary History attests to this, with its emphasis on the “internationalization” of English literature. We should note, however, that changes to the canon have resulted not only from the inclusion of postcolonial writers, but also from the acknowledgment of women and minority writers over time. In addition, the canon has shifted as various authors go out of fashion while others attract fresh scholarly interest. As scholars probe the boundaries of the canon and reconsider how it is defined, the shape of the information landscape continues to fluctuate, being redefined with each addition to African, Caribbean, and South Asian literatures. That is perhaps the challenge and opportunity of researching contemporary literature in general and postcolonial literatures in English specifically. Most of the other volumes in Scarecrow’s Literary Strategies and Sources series have addressed relatively closed literary periods. This volume, however, has attempted to guide scholars through an active, growing body of diverse literatures. The questions posed in this chapter and the unevenness of the scholarship record, as highlighted throughout this book, illustrate some of the many areas ripe for new research and critical inquiry in postcolonial literatures in English from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. 7

NOTES 1. Sylvia Wynter’s The Hills of Hebron was recently republished (Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2010) and has yet to receive much attention from major review sources. 2. Mary Hanna, “Review of The Hills of Hebron,” Jamaican Literature, July 20, 2011, www.jamaicanliterature.com/2011/07/review-of-the-hills-of-hebron; “New Edition: Sylvia Wynter’s The Hills of Hebron,” Repeating Islands: News and Commentary on Caribbean Culture, Literature, and the Arts, March 15, 2010, repeatingislands.com/2010/03/15/new-edition-sylvia-wynter’s-the-hills-of-hebron. 3. John Marx, “Postcolonial Literature and the Western Literary Canon,” in The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies, ed. Neil Lazarus (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 83, 85. 4. Ibid., 93. 5. This shift is evident even in the titles of recent works on English-language literatures: for example, Brian McHale and Randall Stevenson, eds., The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Literatures in English (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006); Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly, eds., Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2005); and Dominic Head, ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, 3rd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). 6. Brian W. Shaffer, Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 15. 7. Bruce King, The Internationalization of English Literature, vol. 13 of The Oxford English Literary History, ed. Jonathan Bate (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).

Appendix This section surveys major reference sources in other disciplines that may be beneficial to scholars of postcolonial literatures in English. Whereas the resources covered in the previous chapters are more explicitly related to literary studies, the works identified here will be useful for discovering contextual information about the authors, texts, themes, and periods you may be researching. In compiling this appendix, we sought to identify core reference sources rather than to catalog comprehensively all available resources for a particular discipline. In addition to general resources, this section addresses works in art, film studies, historical atlases and geographic resources, history, language and linguistics, literary terms and theory, music, philosophy, religion, science and medicine, the social sciences, and theater. Each resource selected for inclusion has a particular purpose: to provide background information or define terms (dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks); to present specialized, discipline-specific information (atlases); to survey a discipline’s reference literature (guides); or to point to additional primary or secondary sources (bibliographies and indexes). These sources are excellent starting places, but you should also search your local library catalog or WorldCat for other relevant resources. The strategies outlined in chapters 1 and 3 should help you effectively search library catalogs as well as the databases discussed here. GENERAL RESOURCES Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Appiah, Kwame Anthony, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., eds. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. 2nd ed. 5 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. With broad coverage, this encyclopedia comprises nearly 4,500 articles on Africans, African Americans, and the African diaspora. The set emphasizes political and social history, literature, and the arts from the earliest times to the present. Entries are organized alphabetically, include cross-references, and occasionally have bibliographies. In addition, this resource has a selected chronology in the first volume and a topical outline of selected entries, a bibliography, and an index in the final volume. Guides Kieft, Robert, ed. Guide to Reference. Chicago: American Library Association, 2008.

Available at www.guidetoreference.org. Only available online, this guide provides annotated entries for sixteen thousand reference resources in all disciplines. Entries are organized into six broad categories: “General Reference Works,” “History and Area Studies,” “Humanities,” “Science, Technology, and Medicine,” “Social and Behavioral Sciences,” and “Interdisciplinary Fields.” Each section is then subdivided into particular disciplines. For example, “Humanities” includes areas such as “Religion,” “Languages, Linguistics, and Philology,” “Literature,” and “Theater and Performing Arts.” This resource’s contents may be either searched or browsed. Blazek, Ron, and Elizabeth Smith Aversa. The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Resources. 5th ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000. This guide instructs scholars about research in the humanities, including philosophy, religion, the visual arts, the performing arts, and language and literature. There are two chapters for each disciplinary area: one on how information is accessed and another that highlights major resources. This single-volume work begins with a detailed table of contents and ends with author/title and subject/keyword indexes. Lester, Ray, ed. The New Walford: Guide to Reference Resources. 3 vols. London: Facet Publishing, 2005–. The British equivalent of the American-centric Guide to Reference (see Kieft above), currently only two of the three volumes have been published: volume 1 on science, technology, and medicine resources, and volume 2 on the social sciences. The third volume, on the arts, is anticipated to publish in 2013. Each volume is a guide to major research resources in specific disciplines, with resources hierarchically classified into subject parts (e.g., “Politics, Government and Law”), groupings (e.g., “Politics”), fields (e.g., “International Relations”), and subfields (e.g., “International Migration and Colonization”). In addition to a detailed table of contents, each volume has topic and title/author indexes. Zell, Hans M. The African Studies Companion: A Guide to Information Sources. 4th rev. and expanded ed. Locharron, Scotland: Hans Zell Publishing, 2006. This guide covers resources for African studies in general; however, the majority is for subSaharan Africa and in the English language. Contents are organized into twenty-five broad sections, such as “Bibliographies, Indexing and Abstracting Services, and Review Media (Print and Online),” “Guides to Film and Video/DVD Resources,” “Journals and Magazines,” “Major Academic Libraries and National Archives in Africa,” “Awards and Prizes in African Studies,” and “Using Google for African Studies Research: A Guide to Effective Web Searching.” An index concludes this volume. Access to an online version of this text is included with purchase of the printed book. Indexes and Bibliographies Academic OneFile. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Cengage. Available online at www.gale.cengage.com. This general database indexes more than fourteen thousand titles, six thousand of which are

available in full text. It covers select literature journals alongside those from business, education, engineering, history, medicine, and the hard sciences, among other disciplines. Academic Search Complete. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Available online at www.ebscohost.com. Though not specific to literary studies, this multidisciplinary database indexes more than thirteen thousand journals, nearly nine thousand of which are in full text. Containing both popular and scholarly material, its broad coverage makes it a good source for both reviews and journal articles. Nelson, David N. Bibliography of South Asia. Scarecrow Area Bibliographies, No. 4. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1994. Although slightly dated, this bibliography is valuable for both its depth of coverage and its use of Library of Congress subject headings for organization, which span all disciplinary areas. Once a scholar has identified an appropriate subject heading, he or she can easily use it to search for additional resources in a local library catalog or WorldCat. The primary emphasis is on late twentieth-century works published on Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In total, 3,115 resources are cited in this bibliography. An author index is included at the end of this work. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Available online at www.ebscohost.com. Comprising several resources formerly published by H.W. Wilson, this database indexes nearly three thousand publications from 1982 to the present in education, general science, the humanities, and the social sciences. It also contains more than five hundred art, humanities, and science podcasts and video podcasts. ART Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Oxford Art Online. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007–2011. Available online at www.oxfordartonline.com. Oxford Art Online is a cross-searchable portal for major art reference sources, including Grove Art Online (see entry for Turner’s Dictionary of Art below), Benezit Dictionary of Artists (14 vols. Paris: Gründ, 2006), Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (4 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), The Oxford Companion to Western Art (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms (2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010). Chaturachinda, Gwyneth, Sunanda Krishnamurty, and Pauline W. Tabtiang. Dictionary of South and Southeast Asian Art. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2000. This slender volume provides definitions for architectural, historical, mythological, and religious terms used in South and Southeast Asian art. Terms from both Sanskrit and Pali are

included, with cross-references from the Pali to the Sanskrit entry. A chronology precedes the alphabetically arranged entries. A bibliography of selected works and a list of suggested museums conclude this dictionary. Shipp, Steve. Latin American and Caribbean Artists of the Modern Era: A Biographical Dictionary of More Than 12,700 Persons. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003. As the title suggests, this work comprises biographies of artists from Latin American and Caribbean nations. Entries tend to be brief; provide biographical and stylistic information; and list bibliographies, exhibitions, titles, and collections as available. This work also has a bibliography and appendixes for artists by country, a chronology of exhibitions, and lists of museums and galleries. Turner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. New York: Grove, 1996. A standard reference source, The Dictionary of Art comprises more than forty-five thousand entries in thirty-four volumes. It spans all time periods and geographic areas, with entries ranging from a few lines to several pages. The alphabetically arranged entries include crossreferences and bibliographies. Volume 33 contains the following appendixes: “List of Locations,” “List of Periodical Titles,” “Standard Reference Books,” and “List of Contributors.” The final volume is an index to the set and has an appendix, “Non-Western Dynasties and Peoples.” Turner, Jane, ed. Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Art. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 2000. Similar to Turner’s The Dictionary of Art (see above), this encyclopedia gives in-depth coverage of art, artists, and culture in the Western Hemisphere excluding the United States and Canada. Some of the entries overlap with the Latin American and Caribbean content included in The Dictionary of Art; however, these entries have been updated and in some cases completely rewritten. This encyclopedia also has nearly three hundred additional illustrations and plates, as well as a guide to abbreviations, an index, and appendixes for locations, periodical titles, and contributors. Werness, Hope B. The Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art: Worldview, Symbolism, and Culture in Africa, Oceania, and Native North America. New York: Continuum, 2000. This encyclopedia surveys non-Western art from Africa, North America, and Oceania. The alphabetically arranged entries include cross-references both to other entries and to the work’s index. A bibliography and thematic index help facilitate access to this single-volume work. The index categorizes the entries into the following broad areas: “Animals,” “Art, Artifacts and Techniques,” “Artists,” “Deity Archetypes,” “Geographical Subdivisions and Native Cultures,” “The Human Body,” “Natural Phenomena and Materials,” and “Miscellaneous.” Each area is then subdivided into narrower categories; for example, “Cosmology,” “Danger,” “Cameroon Masquerades,” “Divination,” “Dreams,” “Layered Universe,” “Names,” and “Primordial Conditions” are listed under “Miscellaneous.”

Guides Arntzen, Etta, and Robert Rainwater. Guide to the Literature of Art History. Chicago: American Library Association, 1980. Although somewhat dated, Arntzen and Rainwater’s guide (GLAH 1) remains an excellent resource for navigating the literature of art history. It directs scholars to general reference sources (bibliography, directories, sales records, visual resources, dictionaries and encyclopedias, and iconography), general primary and secondary sources (historiography and methodology, sources and documents, and histories and handbooks), the particular arts (architecture, sculpture, drawings, paintings, prints, photography, and decorative and applied arts), and serials (periodicals and series). The sources covered are international in scope, so it is valuable for researching African, Caribbean, and South Asian art. Author-title and subject indexes conclude this single-volume work. Scholars should consult both GLAH 1 and its supplement (see Marmor and Ross below) as they conduct their research. Ehresmann, Donald L. Fine Arts: A Bibliographic Guide to Basic Reference Works, Histories, and Handbooks. 3rd ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1990. This research guide directs scholars to reference works—bibliographies, library catalogs, indexes, directories, dictionaries and encyclopedias, iconography, and historiography of art history—and histories and handbooks for the following areas: prehistoric and primitive art, periods of Western art history, national histories and handbooks of European art, Oriental art, new world art, and art of African and Oceania (with Australia). It also has author-title and subject indexes. Marmor, Max, and Alex Ross. Guide to the Literature of Art History 2. Chicago: American Library Association, 2005. Rather than supersede Arntzen and Rainwater’s guide (see above), the Guide to the Literature of Art History 2 (GLAH 2) serves as a twenty-year update, so scholars should consult both sources when conducting their research. The resource categories vary slightly from GLAH 1 and include the following areas: bibliography; directories; sales records; visual resources; dictionaries and encyclopedias; iconography; historiography, methodology, and theory; sources and documents; histories and handbooks; architecture; sculpture; drawings; painting; prints; photography; decorative and applied arts; periodicals; series; patronage and collecting; and cultural heritage. This guide also contains an index. Indexes and Bibliographies Art Abstracts. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Available online at www.ebscohost.com. This database indexes and abstracts 450 periodicals and has an international focus, including publications from 1984 to the present in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It covers art broadly, including subjects such as advertising, archaeology, architecture, art history, crafts, film, folk art, graphic arts, interior design, and video. Art Index Retrospective: 1929–1984. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Available online at

www.ebscohost.com. This volume indexes more than six hundred publications from 1929 to 1984 on diverse subjects such as archaeology, art history, fashion design, folk art, non-Western art, pottery, and textiles. It includes materials in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. ARTbibliographies Modern. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available online at www.proquest.com. Books, dissertations, essays, exhibition catalogs and reviews, and journal articles published from 1974 onward are abstracted in this volume. It includes subjects such as art history, body art, ethnic and tribal art, folk art, iconography, pottery, sculpture, textiles, and woodwork. Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available online at www.proquest.com. This comprehensive index covers journals for architecture and design from 1934 to the present, including ones for archaeology, architecture, architectural design, furniture and decoration, green design, historic preservation, architectural history, interior design, landscape architecture, sustainable development, and urban planning. Design and Applied Arts Index. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available online at www.proquest.com. The Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) abstracts periodical publications from 1973 to the present for subject areas such as interior design, ceramics, furniture, fashion and clothing, metalsmithing, vehicles, garden design, universal design, and design history. Stanley, Janet L., comp. The Arts of Africa: An Annotated Bibliography. 6 vols. Atlanta, GA: African Studies Association, 1989–1997. Published in six volumes over eight years, The Arts of Africa is a detailed bibliography of scholarship on general, country, and regional studies done on African art. In addition to the bibliography proper, each volume has a list of recommended titles on African art, OCLC numbers for serials cited in the bibliography, and author and subject indexes. FILM STUDIES Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Armes, Roy. Dictionary of African Filmmakers. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008. Emphasizing feature films made by Africans both in Africa and in the diaspora, this book covers more than 5,400 films by roughly 1,250 filmmakers from thirty-seven countries. The contents are divided into three parts: “African Feature Filmmakers,” “Feature Film Chronologies,” and “Index of Film Titles.” A bibliography to background material; general studies in African cinema; and magazines, journals, and festival programs completes this work. Ganti, Tejaswini. Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2004. This slender guide introduces popular Hindi cinema, key figures in the film industry, major

post-independence films, and significant dates and events. In addition, it contains suggestions for further readings, notes, a bibliography, and an index. Kolker, Robert Phillip, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Film and Media Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. This resource introduces film and media studies through twenty discrete essays that examine the current state of and issues that concern media production, theory, and culture. Chapters that will be of particular interest to postcolonial scholars include “Asian Film and Digital Culture” and “Popular Cinema and the ‘New’ Media in India.” This volume also contains an index and two appendixes: “Evolution of Modern-Day Independent Filmmaking” and “The Digital Revolution.” Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, ed. The Oxford History of World Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. This substantial work traces the history of cinema through three developmental stages: “Silent Cinema 1895–1930,” “Sound Cinema 1930–1960,” and “The Modern Cinema 1960–1995.” Each section comprises discrete chapters with bibliographic citations. Content relevant to postcolonial scholars includes “India Cinema: Origins to Independence,” “India: Filming the Nation,” and “The Cinemas of Sub-Saharan Africa.” A bibliography and index to the entire work are also provided. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. New rev. ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002. Now in its second edition, this encyclopedia comprises a chronology, national production figures, a biographical dictionary of important individuals in the Indian film industry, an annotated filmography, a bibliography, and name and film indexes. Russell, Sharon A. Guide to African Cinema. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. This guide covers the actors, directors, and films of sub-Saharan Africa. Entries range from two to four pages in length and contain filmographies and bibliographies as appropriate. This volume also includes a list of distributors, a bibliography, and an index. Guides Emmons, Mark. Film and Television: A Guide to the Reference Literature. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Comprising 1,244 annotated entries, this guide surveys the reference literature of global film and television studies. The contents are organized in the following sections: “Introduction,” “Indexes and Bibliographies,” “Dictionaries and Encyclopedias,” “General Film and Television Filmographies,” “National Cinema,” “Genres,” “Formats,” “Studios,” “Portrayals,” “Filmmakers,” “Screenplays,” “Making Films and Television Programs,” “Film and Television Industry,” and “Fans and Audience.” Author/title and subject indexes and six appendixes covering Library of Congress subject headings and Dewey Decimal Classification conclude this work.

International Film Guide: The Definitive Annual Review of World Cinema. New York: Wallflower Press, 2008–. Also available online at www.internationalfilmguide.com. This annual review surveys the cinematic output of ninety-two nations, including Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa. In addition, it provides information on film festivals. The International Film Guide was previously published by Samuel French (1990– 2006) and A.S. Barnes (1964–1989). Indexes and Bibliographies Film Literature Index. Albany, NY: Filmdex, 1976–2001. Available at webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp. Originally a print index, this online source gives scholars the ability to search across all years of the Film Literature Index. Currently this database comprises around seven hundred thousand citations to articles, book reviews, and film reviews. Contents may be searched and browsed. FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1972–. Available online at www.proquest.com. Created by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), this source covers popular and academic film journals from 1972 to the present. The online version currently indexes more than 345 periodicals. The International Index to Film Periodicals also includes Treasures from Film Archives, Documentation Collections, and FIAF Affiliates’ Publications. HISTORICAL ATLASES AND GEOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES Atlases Ajayi, J. F. Ade, and Michael Crowder, eds. Historical Atlas of Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Comprises seventy-two maps; contextual information on events, historical processes, and quantitative data related to the history and development of the African continent; and an index. Atkinson, Alan, and Christopher Alan Bayly. Atlas of the British Empire. New York: Facts on File, 1989. This resource depicts the growth and development of the British Empire from AD 1500 to the late twentieth century. The forty-one chapters are organized into five broad areas: “Voyages and Plantations: 1500–1763,” “The Age of Free Enterprise: 1763–1860,” “The Heyday of Empire: 1860–1914,” “The World Wars: 1914–1945,” and “The Retreat from Empire: 1945– the Present.” Maps, images, and an essay comprise each chapter. An index also facilitates access to this resource’s contents. The Diagram Group. The Atlas of Central America and the Caribbean. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1985. This atlas provides a holistic view of the people, land use and economy, mid-1980s political

situation, and government finances of the roughly thirty nations that comprise Central America and the Caribbean. Concludes with a bibliography and an index. Griffiths, Ieuan Ll. An Atlas of African Affairs. New York: Methuen, 1984. Comprising fifty-five maps with commentary on the environmental, historical, political, and economic conditions of Africa, this atlas succinctly represents the growth and development of African nations. It also has a select bibliography, an index, and three appendixes: “Chronology of African Independence,” “States, Capitals, Changes of Government and Political Leaders in Post-colonial Africa,” and “Area, Population and GNP; Population Density, GNP per Capita, GNP per Capita Growth Rates and Life Expectancy.” Johnson, Gordon. Cultural Atlas of India. New York: Facts on File, 1996. In addition to India, this atlas covers Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka through maps and commentary on the physical and cultural background, the past, and the subcontinent’s regions. A chronology precedes the atlas proper, and a glossary, bibliography, list of illustrations, list of contributors, gazetteer, and index conclude this work. Oxford Atlas of the World. 18th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Updated annually, this substantial atlas includes information on world statistics; images of Earth; a gazetteer of the nations; and world geography, cities, and maps for Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania, North America, and South America. The atlas also has a geographical glossary and index. The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. 13th ed. London: HarperCollins UK, 2011. The maps comprising this atlas depict the current geographic and geo-political state of the world. Maps are provided for the world and all its regions: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, and the oceans. An index to more than 200,000 geographic features and place names is also provided in this work. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Cohen, Saul B., ed. The Columbia Gazetteer of the World. 2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Now in its second edition, this gazetteer is the standard resource for information on geographical features and places. The more than 163,000 entries cover the political world, the physical world, and special places such as monuments, dams, and shopping malls, and may include information about agriculture; changed or variant names and spellings; cultural, historical, and archeological points of interest; demography; distance to relevant places; industry, trade, and service activities; longitude, latitude, and elevations; official local government place-names; physical geography; political boundaries; pronunciations; and transportation lines. Mann, Joel F. An International Glossary of Place Name Elements. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005.

Provides meaning and origin of place names in more than three hundred languages. Entries are organized alphabetically, and the volume ends with a selected bibliography. Room, Adrian. African Placenames: Origins and Meanings of the Names for Natural Features, Towns, Cities, Provinces, and Counties. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008. Defines more than 2,500 African place names. Each entry may include the name’s geographical location within a country, origins, meaning, relevant source references, and cross-references. Concludes with a select bibliography and seven appendixes: “Arabic Terms in African Placenames,” “Official Languages of African Countries,” “Locations and Populations of African Countries,” “Official Names of African Countries,” “Independence Dates,” “African Placenames with Biblical Connections,” and “African Placenames in the 1771 Encyclopaedia Britannica.” Room, Adrian. Placenames of the World. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. Comprises the identifiers, geographic locations, and definition for 6,600 place names. This work also includes a select bibliography and three appendixes: “Common Placename Words and Elements,” “Major Placenames in European Languages,” and “Chinese Names of Countries and Capitals.” Stewart, John. The British Empire: An Encyclopedia of the Crown’s Holdings, 1493 through 1995. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996. This single-volume work covers all British possessions acquired since 1600 as well as colonies that date back to 1493. It includes a chronology from 1497 to 1995 and encyclopedia entries that cover each former British territory, its dates of colonization, location, capital, other names, history, and rulers, as appropriate. The final eighty-five pages of the book comprise the index. Guides McIlwaine, John. Maps and Mapping Africa: A Resource Guide. London: Hans Zell Publishers, 1997. A comprehensive survey of maps and the history of mapping Africa, this guide comprises a bibliography of 3,131 resources on “Africa in General,” “Africa as Mapped by Colonial and Overseas Agencies,” and “Africa by Region and Country.” Resource types include map collections, bibliographies, catalogs, atlases, gazetteers, toponymy, maps, and surveys. Name and subject indexes facilitate access to this work. HISTORY Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Burki, Shahid Javed. Historical Dictionary of Pakistan. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006. Now in its third edition, this resource provides background information on Pakistan’s history, politics, economy, society, culture, and religion, among other topics. Burki includes a guide to

acronyms and abbreviations; a chronology from 712 to 2005; an introductory essay; an appendix to important personalities; and a bibliography of resources for history, government and politics, economics, society, newspapers and magazines, and websites. The nearly five hundred entries are arranged alphabetically and cross-reference to one another. Collins, Robert O. Historical Dictionary of Pre-Colonial Africa. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2001. This single-volume work contains a chronology and brief entries on Africa and Africans prior to European colonization. It also has an appendix to precolonial African dynasties and bibliographies by African region. Davis, R. Hunt, Jr., ed. Encyclopedia of African History and Culture. Rev. ed. 5 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2005. Each of the five volumes of this encyclopedia covers a different period in African history: “Ancient Africa (Prehistory to 500 CE),” “African Kingdoms (500 to 1500),” “From Conquest to Colonization (1500 to 1850),” “The Colonial Era (1850 to 1960),” and “Independent Africa (1960 to Present).” Each volume has its own chronology, alphabetical entry list, glossary, suggested reading list, and index. A cumulative index is included in volume 5. Entries contain cross-references and occasionally bibliographies of further readings. Malik, Hafeez, and Yuri V. Gankovsky, eds. The Encyclopedia of Pakistan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Originally published in a Russian edition in 2001, entries in this encyclopedia address Pakistan’s history, politics and parties, geography, foreign policy, arts, and religions; crossreference to one another; and may have brief bibliographies. This resource also has fifteen featured essays covering diverse topics such as “Tourism,” “Puppetry in Pakistan,” “Textiles in Pakistan,” and “Pakistani Currency.” Mansingh, Surjit. Historical Dictionary of India. 2nd ed. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006. Part of the Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East series, Mansingh’s volume contains entries on India’s culture, economy, events, government, people, places, political parties, religion, and society. It also offers a guide to abbreviations and acronyms; maps; a chronology; an introductory entry; and ten appendixes related to India’s political and judicial system, population, economic reforms, and foreign trade. This dictionary ends with a glossary and a bibliography to general resources as well as some specific to India’s culture; economy; government, politics, security, and international relations; history; science and technology; and society, religion, and education. Olson, James S., and Robert Shadle, eds. Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. This set covers the history of the British Empire, including parts of Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia that were formerly under English rule. Entries have cross-references and brief

bibliographies. An index, an appendix to medals and orders of knighthood, a glossary, and a bibliography of recent scholarly works are also included. Robinson, Francis, ed. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Although slightly dated, this encyclopedia provides excellent background information on the nations that comprise South Asia. It is organized according to the land, peoples, history up to independence, politics, foreign relations, economies, religions, societies, and cultures of this diverse region. This single-volume work also has a glossary, lists of maps and tables, and an index. Shillington, Kevin, ed. Encyclopedia of African History. 3 vols. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2005. This three-volume set covers all aspects of African history from the earliest times through the early twenty-first century. Each entry has cross-references and a bibliography of further readings. To aid in access, the set has A–Z and thematic lists of entries as well as an index. Wolpert, Stanley, ed. Encyclopedia of India. 4 vols. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2006. Each of this set’s four volumes begins with lists of maps and articles contained in the encyclopedia. In addition, the first volume has a preface; thematic outline of contents; contributor directory; and chronologies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The 580 entries are arranged alphabetically, include bibliographies and cross-references, and cover all aspects of India and its four-thousand-year history. The set’s final volume has primary source documents, a glossary, a general bibliography, and an index. Zeleza, Paul Tiyambe, and Dickson Eyoh, eds. Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History. New York: Routledge, 2003. This encyclopedia includes lengthy, four-thousand-word essays on broad topics relevant to African history; shorter, two-thousand-word entries on major events, key thematic areas, and “conventional and novel areas of African historical research and writing”; and area surveys by region, country, and major city. Entries have suggestions for further readings and crossreferences to related material. The resource also has a guide to use, a thematic entry list, and an index. Chronologies Diggs, Ellen Irene. Black Chronology from 4000 B.C. to the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1983. Black Chronology takes a global approach, covering both Africa and the African Diaspora from 4000 BC to AD 1888. It also contains an index and a list of cited references. Freeman-Grenville, G. S. P. Chronology of African History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.

Covering ca. 1300 BC through AD 1971, this source outlines the history of Africa in the context of other world regions. It is unique in that it examines different regional histories for each defined time period. For instance, the section on 1300 to 1799 compares events in the following regions—Egypt and the Sudan, Northern Africa, Western Africa, Eastern Africa, Central and Southern Africa, and other countries—while the section for ca. 1300 BC to AD 597 compares Egypt, the Sudan, and Eastern Africa; Northern Africa and Western Africa; Western Asia; and Europe. The volume concludes with an index. Riddick, John F. The History of British India: A Chronology. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. This volume contains chronologies of India’s political history to 1947 and for topics such as economic development; religion and the missions; British education in India; cultural developments; law and judicial institutions; Oriental studies; and science, technology, and medicine. It also includes biographies of “notable Anglo-Indians” and an index. Guides Fritze, Ronald H., Brian E. Coutts, and Louis A. Vyhnanek. Reference Sources in History: An Introductory Guide. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Now in its second edition, this research guide covers historical reference materials for all geographic areas and time periods. Resources are categorized into “Guides, Handbooks, and Manuals for History,” “Bibliographies,” “Book Review Indexes,” “Periodical Guides and Core Journals,” “Periodical Indexes, Abstracts, and Guides,” “Guides to Newspapers, Newspaper Collections, and Newspaper Indexes,” “Dissertations and Theses,” “Government Publications and Legal Sources,” “Dictionaries and Encyclopedias,” “Biographical Sources,” “Geographical Sources and Atlases,” “Historical Statistical Sources,” “Archives, Manuscripts, Special Collections, and Digital Sites,” and “Microforms and Selected Microform Collections.” An index completes this essential resource. Norton, Mary Beth, and Pamela Gerardi, eds. The American Historical Association’s Guide to Historical Literature. 3rd ed. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. This two-volume set provides a “systematic survey” of the best scholarship for all areas of historical study. It emphasizes secondary over primary sources and comprises 26,926 annotated entries in forty-eight sections. The sections “World History,” “South Asia,” “SubSaharan Africa,” “Native Peoples of the Americas,” “Latin America to 1800,” “Latin America since 1800,” “International Relations, 1815-1920,” and “International Relations since 1920” will be the most relevant to postcolonial literary scholars. A journal list and author and subject indexes are also provided. Indexes and Bibliographies Historical Abstracts. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO. Available online at www.ebscohost.com. Historical Abstracts indexes more than 3,100 journals for historical study published from 1955 onward. It covers world history, excluding the United States and Canada, from the fifteenth century to the present, including the history of education, military history, women’s

history, and world history, among other areas of historical inquiry. Porter, Andrew, ed. Bibliography of Imperial, Colonial, and Commonwealth History Since 1600. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. This bibliography compiles citations for general resources as well as those specifically for researching population and environment; social structure and organization, family, household, and social conduct; gender; economic activity and organization; slavery; science, technology, and medicine; ideas and learning; the arts; religion and belief; constitutional, administrative, and legal; politics and political culture; armed forces, wars, and defense; and empire, Commonwealth, and international relations. Each broad section is then further subdivided, and within each section entries are arranged by a geographical sequence. Indexes to authors, places and people, and personal names are also provided. LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS Atlases Asher, R. E., and Christopher Moseley, eds. Atlas of the World’s Languages. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2007. This atlas presents explanatory text; linguistic classification for the region; references and further readings; and maps for North America, Meso-America, South America, Australia and the Pacific, East and South-East Asia, Southern Asia (from Iran to Bangladesh), Northern Asia and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. In total, it includes 108 maps. A language index and a general index guide scholars through the contents. Breton, Roland J.-L. Atlas of the Languages and Ethnic Communities of South Asia. 2nd ed. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 1997. This resource provides essays and maps that examine the linguistic diversity of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It comprises sixty plates and fourteen chapters divided into two parts: “General Presentation of the Languages and Ethnic Communities of South Asia” and “The Sixty Plates with Their Commentaries,” and concludes with a select bibliography, a language classification and plate index, and a subject and author index. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Allsopp, Richard, ed. Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. ———. New Register of Caribbean English Usage. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 2010. Allsopp’s Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage catalogs vocabulary unique to English of the Caribbean. Headwords, variant forms, pronunciation, pitch-contour or tone-pattern, part of speech, territorial label, status label, allonyms, subject labels, gloss, illustrative citation, etymology, usage notes, and phrases may comprise each entry. The New Register of Caribbean

English Usage continues and updates the dictionary. Burchfield, Robert, ed. English in Britain and Overseas: Origins and Development. Vol. 5 of The Cambridge History of the English Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. This volume examines the development of regional English-language varieties in Great Britain and Ireland as well as overseas in Australia, the Caribbean, New Zealand, South Africa, and South Asia. It also contains a glossary of linguistic terms, a bibliography, and an index. Cassidy, Frederic G. Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred Years of the English Language in Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 2007. This history surveys historical and contemporary Jamaican English. The seventeen chapters are divided into two sections: “History, Pronunciation, and Grammar” and “Jamaican Vocabulary.” The main body of this work is supplemented by a bibliography of books, periodicals, and manuscripts cited; a list of informants; indexes to both pronunciation and “Anansi and the King’s Son”; and a word list. Dalgish, Gerard M. A Dictionary of Africanisms: Contributions of Sub-Saharan Africa to the English Language. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982. Comprising roughly three thousand African terms that have entered the English language, this dictionary contains words derived from the major African language families—Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, and Khosian—as well as from non-African languages such as Arabic, Hindi, and Persian. Each entry includes the term’s pronunciations, definitions, illustrative quotations, and etymologies. Terms cross-reference to one another, and an appendix to entries related by subject area is also provided. Kortmann, Bernd, and Edgar W. Schneider, eds. A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Reference Tool. 2 vols. and CD-ROM. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. Covering phonology (volume 1) and morphology and syntax (volume 2), this handbook aims to both document and map the “non-standard varieties of English” from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, the British Isles, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Each volume has its own indexes to subjects and to varieties and languages. The CD-ROM that accompanies the set contains audio samples, interactive maps on phonology and grammar, and a bibliography of general references. Momma, Haruko, and Michael Matto, eds. A Companion to the History of the English Language. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008. Momma and Matto’s single-volume work traces the history and development of the English language. The sections “English in History: English Outside England and the United States” and “Issues in Present-Day English” will be most relevant to scholars of postcolonial literatures in English. This work also has a timeline of the history of English, a linguistic terms glossary, and an index.

Nihalani, Paroo, R. K. Tongue, Priya Hosali, and Jonathan Crowther. Indian and British English: A Handbook of Usage and Pronunciation. 2nd ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004. Indian and British English examines the variances in usage and pronunciation between British Standard English and Indian English. The book’s first part comprises about one thousand terms along with notes on their usage; the second part is a pronunciation dictionary. Silva, Penny, ed. A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Silva’s dictionary records South African English and its development from the late sixteenth to the late twentieth centuries. Like the Oxford English Dictionary (see below), it is an etymological dictionary that traces the development of each vocabulary term included in addition to providing information on definitions, pronunciation, and parts of speech. This single-volume work has a select bibliography. Simpson, J. A., and E. S. C. Weiner. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 20 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Also available online at www.oed.com. Although stronger for British and American English, The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a valuable source for most varieties of English. The OED is the seminal etymological dictionary and traces the shift in meanings, history, and pronunciation for 290,500 words. A bibliography of sources quoted is provided at the end of the final volume. The online version of the OED is significantly expanded, boasting 600,000 words, more than double the number in the printed second edition. Guides DeMiller, Anna A. Linguistics: A Guide to the Reference Literature. 2nd ed. Reference Sources in the Humanities Series. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000. Although somewhat dated, this valuable guide comprises annotated citations for general linguistics reference sources and allied areas such as anthropological linguistics, applied linguistics, mathematical and computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, semiotics, sociolinguistics, and languages: general and multilanguage, Indo-European, Uralo-Altaic, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan, Austroasiatic, Austronesian and Indo-Pacific, Paleosiberian, African, Afro-Asiatic, Native American, artificial, and Pidgin and Creole. Author, title, and subject indexes conclude this work. Indexes and Bibliographies Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available online at www.proquest.com. Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts indexes and abstracts the literature of linguistics and related areas of the language sciences, including applied linguistics, interpersonal behavior and communication, language classification, orthography, phonology, psycholinguistics, semiotics, and theory of languages, among other subjects. Coverage extends

from 1973 onward. LITERARY TERMS AND THEORY Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Groden, Michael, Martin Kreiswirth, and Imre Szeman, eds. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. Also available online at litguide.press.jhu.edu. Now in its second edition, this is the seminal guide to literary theory and criticism. It comprises 241 essays on individual critics and theorists, schools and movements, and specific countries and historical periods. Entries cross-reference to one another and include substantial bibliographies of primary and secondary sources. Lists of entries and contributors and indexes to names and topics are also provided. Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. This handbook defines terms used in the study of literature. It also includes an outline of British and American literary history; appendixes to monetary terms and values, Nobel Prizes for Literature, and Pulitzer Prizes for fiction, poetry, and drama; and an index of proper names. Lentricchia, Frank, and Thomas McLaughlin, eds. Critical Terms for Literary Study. 2nd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1995. Divided into three parts—“Literature as Writing,” “Interpretation,” and “Literature, Culture, Politics”—this work’s twenty-eight chapters focus on critical terms rather than schools or movements. For example, there are chapters on “Unconscious,” “Gender,” and “Imperialism/Nationalism” rather than psychoanalysis, feminist theory, and postcolonial theory. Each chapter includes suggested readings, and the volume as a whole concludes with a list of references and an index. MUSIC Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Ghosh, Nikhil. The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. This encyclopedia offers extensive coverage of a wide range of Indian music. Its more than five thousand entries cover two thousand years of music, including biographical sketches of musicians and other influential people, definitions of technical terms, descriptions of musical instruments, and musical styles and traditions. Longer entries are signed, but very few are more than a couple of paragraphs long. Arrangement is alphabetical, and an index and bibliography are reproduced in each of the three volumes. Larkin, Colin, ed. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 3rd ed. 8 vols. New York: MUZE UK, 1998.

This encyclopedia covers global popular music, from “A Band of Angels” to “ZZ Top,” in eight volumes. Entries tend to be brief and include both cross-references and album ratings. The set ends with bibliographies by artist and subject, selected fanzines, a song title index, a general index, and a quick reference guide. Moskowitz, David V. Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. Although the title suggests a broad Caribbean focus, this encyclopedia’s main emphasis is Jamaican popular music and its influence in the Caribbean, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Entries tend to be brief and include cross-references. A bibliography and index conclude this alphabetically arranged work. Nettl, Bruno, and Ruth M. Stone, eds. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. 10 vols. New York: Garland, 1998–2002. Divided by geographic area, this encyclopedia surveys musical cultures and practices from around the globe. Each volume is divided into three unequal parts: an introduction to a particular region’s or continent’s music, issues and processes, and country- or region-specific case studies. There are specific volumes for Africa; South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean; and South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent (volumes 1, 2, and 5, respectively). The essays comprising each volume offer in-depth treatments of music topics with extensive bibliographies. CDs with audio samples and guides to publications, recordings, and films and videos accompany each volume except for the last. The final volume in the set covers general perspectives and reference tools for all of the world’s regions and contains a general index. Each volume also has its own index. Oxford Music Online. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007–. Available online at www.oxfordmusiconline.com. This portal provides online access to the Encyclopedia of Popular Music (see Larkin above), The Oxford Dictionary of Music (2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), Grove Music Online (see Sadie below), and The Oxford Companion to Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed. 29 vols. New York: Grove, 2001. The standard encyclopedia for music reference, The New Grove Dictionary overviews music from all time periods and geographic areas. The alphabetically arranged entries fill the first twenty-seven volumes. Volume 28 comprises seven appendixes to private collections, congressional reports, music dictionaries and encyclopedias, historical editions, libraries, periodicals, and sound archives, and volume 29 is an index to the set. The main entries cover biographies, musical terminology, instruments, genres and forms, institutions, and bibliographic and reference materials. Entries tend to be in-depth, with valuable bibliographies of further sources.

Guides Crabtree, Phillip, and Donald H. Forster. Sourcebook for Research in Music. 2nd ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. This volume comprises annotated entries to reference sources for music. The contents are organized according to introductory materials, bibliographical tools, area bibliographies, dictionaries and encyclopedias, history of music sources, current research journals, editions, and miscellaneous sources. An index to authors, editors, compilers, and translators, and an index to titles are included in this work. Duckles, Vincent H., and Ida Reed. Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography. 5th ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997. This thorough guide provides annotated entries for more than 3,800 reference sources in global music studies. Sources are organized into the following categories: “Dictionaries and Encyclopedias,” “Histories and Chronologies,” “Guides to Musicology,” “Bibliographies of Music Literature,” “Bibliographies of Music,” “Reference Works on Individual Composers and Their Music,” “Catalogs of Music Libraries and Collections,” “Catalogs of Musical Instrument Collections,” “Histories and Bibliographies of Music Printing and Publishing, “Discographies and Related Sources,” “Yearbooks, Directories, and Guides,” “Electronic Information Resources,” and “Bibliography, the Music Business, and Library Science.” An index concludes this work. Indexes and Bibliographies RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. New York: RILM International Center. Available online via various vendors. Purporting to be the “world’s most comprehensive music bibliography,” RILM covers research materials from 1967 onward published in 151 countries in 214 languages. Subject areas include ethnomusicology, popular music and jazz, musicology and theory, and pedagogy. International Index to Music Periodicals. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available online at www.proquest.com. This index includes journals from 1874 onward in classical music and opera; jazz and blues; rock, soul, and hip-hop; folk music; music business; sound recording; ethnomusicology; music education; music therapy; and instruments. PHILOSOPHY Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Borchert, Donald M., ed. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. 10 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. This ten-volume set covers all schools of philosophical thought in roughly two thousand entries. Each essay is lengthy, with cross-references as needed and bibliographies of further readings. The final volume has an appendix of additional articles, a thematic outline,

bibliographies, and an index. Craig, Edward, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 10 vols. New York: Routledge, 1998. The more than two thousand entries comprising this encyclopedia range in length from 500 to 19,000 words and cover philosophical traditions from around the globe. The final volume is an index to contributors, countries, key concepts, and names included in the set. Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. With more than 2,200 entries, this single-volume work comprises brief overviews of individual thinkers, schools of thought, and philosophical terms. Entries are organized alphabetically, with cross-references and suggestions for further readings, and the work ends with an index; a list of entries; and appendixes to logical symbols, maps of philosophy, and a chronological table of philosophy. Horowitz, Maryanne Cline, ed. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. 6 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005. This unique encyclopedia attempts to comprehensively overview the development of major ideas from antiquity to the present day. In addition to broad chronological coverage, this source has extensive geographic coverage as it examines ideas from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and South America, the Middle East, and North America. An alphabetical article list is in volume 1, and a detailed reader’s guide that categorizes entries into four areas —“Communication of Ideas,” “Geographical Areas,” “Chronological Periods,” and “Liberal Arts Disciplines and Professions”—begins each volume. Entries are quite lengthy, with crossreferences and detailed bibliographies. The set also contains a thorough essay on historiography and an index. Irele, F. Abiola, and Biodun Jeyifo, eds. The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Comprising more than 360 alphabetically arranged entries, this encyclopedia covers the history and development of African intellectual traditions. Each article includes crossreferences and a primary and secondary source bibliography. A topical outline of entries, a contributor directory, and an index are provided in the second volume. Guides Bynagle, Hans E. Philosophy: A Guide to the Reference Literature. 3rd ed. Westport, CT: Library Unlimited, 2006. Now in its third edition, this standard guide directs scholars to 866 philosophy reference resources. Entries are annotated and organized into the following broad sections: general sources, history of philosophy, branches of philosophy, and miscellanea. These are then divided into narrower topics, such as “National and Regional Bibliographies and Indexes,” “Non-Western Philosophy,” and “Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy.” Appendixes of

“Core Academic Titles” and “Titles Especially Suited for Public and School Libraries” and indexes to authors, titles, and subjects conclude this work. Dillon, Martin, and Shannon Graff Hysell, eds. ARBA In-Depth: Philosophy and Religion. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. The reference sources cataloged in this guide cover philosophy and religion, including general works, Bahá’í faith, Bible studies, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Native American religions, occultism and witchcraft, Shinto, Sihkism, and Taoism. In spite of its title, the work is primarily dedicated to religion reference sources. Author/title and subject indexes are provided. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/ Available at plato.stanford.edu. This is an online, open-access encyclopedia, written and maintained by experts in the field. It addresses the entire range of philosophical inquiry, with entries ranging from eighteenthcentury British aesthetics to the Indian theory of two truths, and from African sage philosophy to Socrates. Entries are lengthy, with detailed bibliographies and cross-references to related entries. Scholars may search or browse to locate relevant content. Indexes and Bibliographies The Philosopher’s Index: An International Index to Philosophical Periodicals and Books. Bowling Green, OH: Philosopher’s Information Center. Available online via various vendors. This is the most “current and comprehensive” index for philosophical research. Coverage extends back to 1940 for all major aspects of philosophy. RELIGION Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Asante, Molefi Kete, and Ama Mazama, eds. Encyclopedia of African Religion. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2009. Surveying the beliefs and discourse surrounding African religions in almost five hundred entries, this encyclopedia also includes a thematic reader’s guide; a subject index; an appendix, “Names of God in Africa”; and a bibliography of African religious sources. Entries have cross-references and further readings. Cush, Denise, Catherine Robinson, and Michael York, eds. Encyclopedia of Hinduism. New York: Routledge, 2008. The Encyclopedia of Hinduism comprises nearly 900 entries that range from 150 to 5,000 words in length, covering all aspects of Hinduism. The contents are organized alphabetically, cross-reference to one another, and have brief bibliographies. To aid scholars in locating relevant content, this single-volume work has thematic and alphabetical lists of entries as well as an index. Dogra, Ramesh Chander, and Gobind Singh Mansukhani. Encyclopaedia of Sikh Religion and

Culture. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1997. Organized alphabetically, this encyclopedia provides brief entries on Sikh religion, culture, castes, customs, fairs, festivals, folklore, history, and tribes, and has definitions for the mythological animals, birds, demons, gods, mountains, persons, places, religious books, and rivers mentioned in the Guru Granth Sāhib. A bibliography and index are included. Fahlbusch, Erwin, Jan Milič Lochman, John Mbiti, Jaroslav Pelikan, and Lukas Vischer, eds. The Encyclopedia of Christianity. 5 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing, 1999. This reference work examines Christianity in a global context. Among its 1,700 entries are individual articles for each continent and more than 170 countries as well as articles discussing theological positions and theologians, doctrines, practices, spirituality, traditions, organizations, biblical themes and key figures, early church contexts, church councils, creeds, contributions to culture, missions, and important individuals. Entries are arranged alphabetically and include cross-references and substantial bibliographies. This five-volume set lacks an index. Glazier, Stephen D., ed. The Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions. New York: Routledge, 2001. This encyclopedia comprises 145 articles about religious traditions of African nations and in African American communities. An appendix on “Anthropology of Religion in Africa: A Critique and Model” and a select bibliography conclude this work. Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. 2nd ed. 15 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. The fifteen-volume Encyclopedia of Religion is a standard reference source for religious studies with more than three thousand entries, many of which were substantially revised from the first edition. This resource is excellent for background information on world religions. The alphabetically arranged entries are lengthy essays with cross-references and bibliographies. Volume 15 contains an appendix to articles not included in the encyclopedia’s main body, a synoptic outline of contents, and an index. Martin, Richard C., ed. Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004. This encyclopedia’s two volumes contain 504 alphabetically arranged articles that examine the history of Islam throughout the world. Entries cross-reference to one another and contain bibliographies of further readings. This resource has an index, an alphabetical entry list, and a synoptic outline of entries. Melton, J. Gordon, and Martin Baumann, eds. Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. 4 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Intended to represent global religious practices and beliefs in the early twenty-first century, this encyclopedia provides more than twelve hundred entries. Among those entries are sixteen

core essays on major religious traditions as well as essays on specific countries, religious communities, and interactions between the religious and secular world. Entries cross-reference to one another and include bibliographies. In addition to the entries proper, this set has an introduction to the study of religion, a section entitled “A Statistical Approach to the World’s Religious Adherents, 2000-2050 C.E.,” an A–Z list of entries, and an index. Schuhmacher, Stephan, and Gert Woerner, eds. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion. Trans. Michael H. Kohn, Karen Ready, and Werner Wünsche. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1994. This encyclopedia surveys the doctrines and terminology of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Zen through slightly fewer than four thousand entries. Entries are brief with crossreferences to relevant content. Also included are a Ch’an/Zen lineage chart and bibliographies to each of the four Eastern religions covered in the entries. Skolnik, Fred, ed. Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. 22 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. Also available online at www.gale.cengage.com. This substantial encyclopedia provides background information on the Jewish culture, people, and religion for all time periods and geographic regions. Entries vary in length, include cross-references, and frequently have bibliographies. Volume 23 comprises an index and a thematic outline that categorizes entries into the following broad areas: history, religion, Jewish languages and literature, Jews in world culture, and women. Guides Dillon, Martin, and Shannon Graff Hysell, eds. ARBA In-Depth: Philosophy and Religion. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. The reference sources cataloged in this guide cover philosophy and religion, including general works, Bahá’í faith, Bible studies, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Native American religions, occultism and witchcraft, Shinto, Sihkism, and Taoism. In spite of its title, the work is primarily dedicated to religion reference sources. Author/title and subject indexes are provided. Johnston, William M. Recent Reference Books in Religion: A Guide for Students, Scholars, Researchers, Buyers, and Readers. Rev. ed. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. This resource directs scholars to 318 reference books on world religions, Christianity, other prophetic religions (Judaism and Islam), Asian religions, and alternative approaches. Appendixes—“Favorite Reference Books” and “Reference Books that Cry Out to Be Written”—and indexes to titles, authors, topics, persons, and places conclude the guide. Entries are annotated. Indexes and Bibliographies ATLA Religion Database. Chicago: American Theological Library Association. Available online via various vendors.

This is the major index of book reviews, essay collections, and journal articles in religious studies from 1949 onward. It includes citations and abstracts for scholarship on the Bible, archaeology, and antiquities; church history, missions, and ecumenism; human culture and society; pastoral ministry; theology, philosophy, and ethics; and world religions and religious studies. Index Islamicus. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. Available online via various vendors. This is a classified bibliography of books, book reviews, conference proceedings, and journal articles on all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world. It includes publications in all European languages from 1906 to the present. SCIENCE AND MEDICINE Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Bynum, William F., and Roy Porter, eds. Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine. 2 vols. New York: Routledge, 1993. The seventy-two essays in this companion cover the place of medicine; body systems; theories of life, health, and disease; understanding disease; clinical medicine; medicine in society; and medicine, ideas, and culture. The index should be particularly useful for identifying information relevant to Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Hessenbruch, Arne, ed. Reader’s Guide to the History of Science. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001. This is a guide to the scholarship on five hundred history of science topics relating to individuals, institutions and disciplines, and broad themes. A thematic list, booklist index, general index, and cross-references are included alongside the volume’s alphabetical arrangement to aid researchers in finding relevant contents. With an emphasis on secondary rather than primary source materials, most entries highlight books, but some cover seminal journal articles. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 9th ed. 20 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Also available online at www.accessscience.com. This standard encyclopedia covers every field of science and technology in 170,000 entries. Articles cross-reference to one another, and the lengthier ones include brief bibliographies. Volume 20 comprises scientific notation, study guides to fifteen disciplines, a topical index, and an analytical index. Selen, Helaine, ed. Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2008. Now in its second edition, this encyclopedia provides in-depth essays complete with crossreferences and bibliographic citations for all aspects of the history and development of nonWestern medicine, science, and technology. The second volume also has an index.

Guides Hurt, Charlie Deuel. Information Sources in Science and Technology. 3rd ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. This volume comprises an annotated list of more than 1,500 reference sources in the biological sciences, the physical sciences and mathematics, engineering, and health and veterinary sciences. Each of those broad areas is divided into specific disciplines; for example, the biological sciences break down into biology, botany, and zoology. A separate section for multidisciplinary sources is also included. Author/title and subject indexes conclude the volume. Indexes and Bibliographies The History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 1975–. Available online at www.oclc.com. This database indexes books, conference proceedings, dissertations, journal articles, maps, and other resources published from 1975 onward on the history of science, technology, and medicine. Its contents are international in scope and address the development of these fields from prehistory to the present. Scopus. New York: Elsevier. Available online at www.scopus.com. Covering content from 1966 to the present, this database indexes and abstracts peer-reviewed journal literature, trade publications, and book series for the sciences, technology, medicine, the social sciences, and, to a lesser extent, the arts and humanities. Web of Science. New York: Thomson Reuters. Available online at www.thomsonreuters.com. This database provides citations for more than 12,000 of the “highest impact journals worldwide” for the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Coverage extends from 1900 to the present. See also volume 1 of The New Walford: Guide to Reference Resources (see above). SOCIAL SCIENCES Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Darity, William A., ed. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2nd ed. 9 vols. Detroit: MacMillan Reference USA, 2008. This multivolume encyclopedia covers all aspects of the social sciences. The roughly three thousand entries include cross-references to aid scholars in finding relevant content and have bibliographies. An index and a thematic outline aid scholars in locating relevant content, while the annotated bibliography directs them to additional resources for anthropology and archaeology; arts, media, and popular culture; demography; econometrics and statistics; economic development; economics; education; geography; history and historiography; international relations, organization, and law; linguistics; methodology; philosophy of science;

political science; psychology; social issues and policy; and sociology. Smelser, Neil J., and Paul B. Baltes, eds. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 26 vols. New York: Elsevier, 2001. Also available online at www.sciencedirect.com. The twenty-six volumes that comprise this encyclopedia cover anthropology; archaeology; demography; economics; education; geography; history; law; linguistics; philosophy; political science; clinical and applied psychology; cognitive psychology and cognitive science; developmental, social, personality, and motivational psychology; and sociology, along with overarching history and research methods topics, intersecting fields, and applications. Lists of articles and contributors, a name index, a classified list of entries, and a subject index are all included to aid scholars in accessing the encyclopedia’s contents. Entries are in-depth, with cross-references and bibliographies. Guides Herron, Nancy L., ed. The Social Sciences: A Cross-Disciplinary Guide to Selected Sources. 3rd ed. Greenwood Village, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2002. This guide directs scholars to the reference literature of the general social sciences, political science, economics, business, history, law and justice, anthropology, sociology, education, psychology, geography, and communication. Author, title, and subject indexes conclude the volume. Each citation is annotated. Li, Tze-chung. Social Science Reference Sources: A Practical Guide. 3rd ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. This guide introduces major reference works for all disciplines in the social sciences. The contents are arranged in two sections. The first covers reference sources and methods employed generally in the social sciences, including access to sources, statistical sources, periodicals, and government publications. The second covers particular subdisciplines: cultural anthropology, business, economics, education, geography, history, law, political science, psychology, and sociology. Each entry is annotated. Additional elements of this work are an appendix to cited URLs, a name and title index, and a subject index. Indexes and Bibliographies Scopus. New York: Elsevier. Available online at www.scopus.com. Covering content from 1966 to the present, this database indexes and abstracts peer-reviewed journal literature, trade publications, and book series for the sciences, technology, medicine, the social sciences, and, to a lesser extent, the arts and humanities. Web of Science. New York: Thomson Reuters. Available online at www.thomsonreuters.com. This database provides citations for more than twelve thousand of the “highest impact journals worldwide” for the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Coverage extends from 1900 to the present.

Social Sciences Index Retrospective: 1907–1983. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Available online at www.ebscohost.com. This source indexes journals from 1907 to 1983 in the social sciences, including addiction studies, anthropology, area studies, communications and mass media, community health and medical care, criminal justice, environmental studies, ethics, gender studies, geography, gerontology, international relations, law, minority studies, planning and public administration, policy sciences, political science, psychiatry and psychology, public welfare, social work, and urban studies. THEATER Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks Banham, Martin, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. New ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Updating the 1998 Cambridge Guide to World Theatre, this guide offers a comprehensive survey of theater’s history and development around the globe. Entries include cross-references, may have bibliographies, and vary in length from a brief paragraph to a twenty-page essay. Theatrical traditions of specific countries and selected topics such as censorship, criticism, and theater buildings are covered in greater detail than theater terms and individual actors, playwrights, producers, and other individuals associated with the theater world. There is no index for this work. Banham, Martin, Errol Hill, and George Woodyard, eds. The Cambridge Guide to African and Caribbean Theatre. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. This volume revises and updates the relevant entries from Banham’s The Cambridge Guide to Theatre (see entry above) on the theatrical traditions of African and Caribbean nations. Entries cross-reference to one another and include bibliographies. An index concludes this work. Brandon, James R., ed. The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Like The Cambridge Guide to African and Caribbean Theatre, Brandon’s guide comprises revised entries on Asian theatrical traditions that were previously published in The Cambridge Guide to Theatre (see entries above). It also has an index to artists and genres. Kennedy, Dennis, ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. In two volumes, Kennedy covers theater and performance through entries on concepts and theories; styles and movements; other historical themes; cities, regions, and linguistic traditions; organizations and institutions; buildings and material elements; media issues; and biographies. The thematic table of contents is particularly useful for identifying entries relevant to Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. The entries themselves include cross-references and may provide brief bibliographies. The set has a timeline, a list of further reading, and a

selective index of dramatic titles. Trapido, Joel, ed. An International Dictionary of Theatre Language. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. This dictionary defines 15,000 English- and foreign-language terms used in the theater worldwide, from the sixth century BC through the late twentieth century AD. Although it is international in coverage, it is most comprehensive for vocabulary used in English-language theater traditions. Entries are organized alphabetically and may comprise a headword, language of origin other than English, definitions, and citations to examples and definitions. Additional materials included in this volume are a bibliography and brief history of theater glossaries and dictionaries. Guides Simons, Linda Keir. The Performing Arts: A Guide to the Reference Literature. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1994. This guide directs scholars to reference works for theater and dance. Sources are organized into bibliographic guides; bibliographies; catalogs; indexes; dictionaries, encyclopedias, and companions; biographical sources; handbooks and yearbooks; directories; review sources; chronologies and histories; electronic discussion groups; core periodicals; libraries and archives; and professional organizations and societies. Author/title and subject indexes conclude this work. Indexes and Bibliographies International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Available online at www.ebscohost.com. Covers publications from 1984 onward for all aspects of theater, dance, and the performing arts. This resource indexes scholarly journals as well as books. International Index of Performing Arts. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Available online at www.proquest.com. This index covers more than 260 journals from all aspects of the performing arts, including areas such as dance, theater, film, mime, opera, puppetry, radio, television, storytelling, and video, from 1864 to the present.

Bibliography Abrash, Barbara. Black African Literature in English Since 1952: Works and Criticism. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1967. Adey, David, and Ridley Beeton. Companion to South African English Literature. Craighall, South Africa: A. D. Donker, 1986. Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies. New York: Routledge, 1998. Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds. The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 1995. Benson, Eugene, and L.W. Conolly, eds. Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. 2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Routledge, 2005. Boehmer, Elleke. Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: Migrant Metaphors. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Case, Margaret H. South Asian History, 1750–1950: A Guide to Periodicals, Dissertations, and Newspapers. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press 1968. Chamberlain, Muriel E. The Longman Companion to European Decolonisation in the Twentieth Century. New York: Longman, 1998. Comitas, Lambros. The Complete Caribbeana 1900–1975: A Bibliographic Guide to the Scholarly Literature. New York: KTO Press, 1977. Conover, Helen F. Serials for African Studies. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1961. Covington, Paula H. Latin America and the Caribbean: A Critical Guide to Research Sources. New York: Greenwood, 1992. De Benko, Eugene, and Patricia L. Butts. Research Sources for African Studies: A Checklist of Relevant Serial Publications Based on Library Collections at Michigan State University. Lansing: Michigan State University, 1969. Dirlik, Arif. “Postcoloniality and History.” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association/Revue de la Societé historique du Canada 17, no. 2 (2006): 80–88. Dutt, K. C., ed. Indian Literary Index: A Documentation List of Creative and Critical Writings and Literary News. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1989. Easterbrook, David L. Africana Book Reviews 1885–1945: An Index to Books Reviewed in Selected English-Language Publications. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1979. Ghosh, Amitav.“Amitav Ghosh’s Letter to the Commonwealth Foundation.” Iaclals Newsletter (July 2001). iaclals.8m.com/nl/01jul/01jul08.htm (accessed January 9, 2012). Hawley, John C., ed. Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2001. Herdeck, Donald E., ed. Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Encyclopedia. Washington DC: Three Continents Press, 1979. Hogan, Patrick Colm. Colonialism and Cultural Identity: Crises of Tradition in the Anglophone Literatures of India, Africa, and the Caribbean. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. Jay, Paul. Global Matters: The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010. Kennedy, Dane. “Imperial History and Post-Colonial Theory.” The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 24, no. 3 (1996): 345–363. Killam, Douglas, and Ruth Rowe. The Companion to African Literatures. Oxford: James Currey, 2000. King, Bruce. The Internationalization of English Literature. The Oxford English Literary History 13. Edited by Jonathan Bate. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Lazarus, Neil, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Lincoln, Robert. South Asian Serials: A Union List of Titles in Humanities and Social Sciences. Winnipeg, MB: Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, 1981. López, Alfred J., and Robert P. Marzec.“Postcolonial Studies at the Twenty-Five Year Mark.” (Special issue). Modern Fiction Studies 56, no. 4 (2010): 677–688. McIlwaine, John. Africa: A Guide to Reference Material. Lochcarron, Scotland: Hans Zelll, 2007.

McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. 2nd ed. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 2010. Mohanram, Radhika, and Gita Rajan, eds. English Postcoloniality: Literatures from Around the World. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1996. Mukherjee, Sadhan. Media Handbook for South Asia. New Delhi: Allied Publishers; Praha, Czechoslovakia: International Organisation of Journalists 1990. Musiker, Reuben, and Naomi Musiker. Guide to South African Reference Books. 6th ed. London: Mansell, 1997. Nayer, Pramod K. Postcolonialism: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum, 2010. Nigerian Periodicals & Newspapers, 1950–1955. The Library: University College, Ibadan, 1956. Schwarz, Henry, and Sangeeta Ray, eds. A Companion of Postcolonial Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004. Shaffer, Brian W. Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Thieme, John. The Essential Glossary of Post-Colonial Studies. London: Arnold, 2003. Twenty Years of Latin American Librarianship. Austin, TX: SALALM, 1978. Wicomb, Zoë. “Setting, Intertextuality and the Resurrection of the Postcolonial Author.” Journal of Postcolonial Writing 41, no. 2 (2005): 144–155. doi: 10.1080/17449850500252268. Zimmerman, Irene. A Guide to Current Latin American Periodicals: Humanities and Social Sciences. Gainesville, FL: Kallman Publishing, 1961.

About the Authors H. Faye Christenberry is the English studies librarian at the University of Washington Libraries in Seattle, Washington. She is the coauthor of Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand, part of the Scarecrow Press Literary Research: Strategies and Sources series, and has compiled the annual Antipodes “Bibliography of Australian Literature and Criticism Published in North America” since 1992. Angela Courtney is head of the Arts and Humanities Department at the Indiana UniversityBloomington Libraries, where she is also the librarian for English literatures, film studies, theatre and drama, communication and culture, and comparative literature. She is the author of Literary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and Romanticism, part of the Scarecrow Press Literary Research: Strategies and Sources series. She also edited Nineteenth-Century British Dramatists, a volume in the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Current research interests include the outdoor picture gardens of Western Australia, magic lantern slides, and the digital humanities. Liorah Golomb is assistant professor and humanities librarian at the University of Oklahoma. She has published on a variety of subjects, including playwrights David Hare and Peter Barnes, novelist Will Self, the MLA Bibliography, and collecting graphic novels and poetry for academic libraries. Her current research interests include underground comics by women and plays that focus on a scientific event. Melissa S. Van Vuuren is an associate professor and English librarian at James Madison University. She is the author of Literary Research and the Victorian and Edwardian Ages, 1830–1910, part of the Scarecrow Press Literary Research: Strategies and Sources series. Her research interests lie in Victorian and Edwardian literature, learning and memory in print and digital cultures, and the digital humanities.