Research Guides: Arts and Communication : Reference Sources

What are reference materials?

Reference resources are items such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, almanacs, and handbooks that can provide you with background information about your research topic. Reference resources are a great place to begin if you are researching an unfamiliar topic.

Get Encyclopedia and Dictionary Articles Online

Credo Reference
Full-text of electronic dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books that can be searched using keywords. Also included are short videos, high resolution images, sound files, animations, etc.
Gale eBooks
An online library of encyclopedias and specialized ebooks series for multidisciplinary research. Subjects include Art; Business; Government and Law; History; Language and Literature; Science; Social Sciences; and Technology.

Art

Print books are located on the fourth floor of Evans Library. If you want to search for print books, try using the Library Catalog.

Library Catalog
Information about the print and electronic books, journals, government documents, and multimedia owned by the Evans Library.
Smithsonian Digital Collections
OPEN ACCESS. An online catalog containing most of the Smithsonian major collections from their museums, archives, libraries, and research units. There are 9.9 million catalog records relating to areas for Art & Design, History & Culture, and Science & Technology with over 1.6 million images, videos, audio files, podcasts, blog posts, and electronic journals.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
OPEN ACCESS. Includes documents, photos, audio recordings, video, and digital records.

Music

Harvard Dictionary of Music
Call Number: ML100 .A64 2003
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicans
Call Number: ML100 .N48 2001
Oxford History of Western Music
Call Number: ML160 .T18 2005

Literature

Contemporary Authors Online
Provides biographical details on thousands of modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists and scriptwriters. Includes current writers as well as the most-studied literary figures of the early 20th century and authors from around the world. Information is provided by the authors themselves or drawn from published interviews, feature stories, book reviews and other materials provided by the authors/publishers

Magill's Survey of World Literature
Offers profiles of major writers outside the United States from all time periods, accompanied by analysis of their significant titles of fiction, drama, poetry, and nonfiction.

Masterplots II: American Fiction Series
Call Number: PN 846 M37 1986
Masterplots II: World Fiction Series
Call Number: PN 3326 M28 1987
Short Story Writers by Charles E. May; Salem Press Editors
Call Number: PN3373.S398 2008
ISBN: 9781587653896
Publication Date: 2007-10-01
this three-volume set has 146 articles on the most frequently taught, most frequently read, and most often researched short fiction writers studied in American schools and colleges.

Technical Writing

Guide to Techincal Editing
Call Number: T11.4 E38 1992

Key Databases for Statistics & Data

Statista
Statistics and data sets related to business & consumers, media, the environment, sports, communications, transportation, education, health care, and country and city-level economic and political information. In addition to tables and charts, Statista provides infographics and complete dossiers on selected industries and topics, analyst insights and case studies. Includes primary sources, unlimited downloads, and export of results in PowerPoint, Excel PDF and Graphic (PNG) formats.

International Statistical Agencies
‘Statistical Science for a Better World”.
UNdata
UNdata is a web-based data service for the global user community. Users can search and download a variety of statistical resources compiled by the United Nations (UN) statistical system and other international agencies. The numerous databases or tables collectively known as "datamarts" contain over 60 million data points and cover a wide range of statistical themes including agriculture, crime, communication, development assistance, education, energy, environment, finance, gender, health, labour market, manufacturing, national accounts, population and migration, science and technology, tourism, transport and trade.

World Bank Open Data
OPEN ACCESS. Comprehensive statistics from global statistical programs, including large multi-country time series with hundreds of variables

International Monetary Fund

data.census.gov
OPEN ACCESS. A platform with access to data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Arts and Communication

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