Research Materials
Encyclopedia of Life Writing : Autobiographical and Biographical Forms
Call Number: PR756.B56 E53 2001Two-volume set.
The following research materials on autobiography are in the WWU Libraries:
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Literature: A Genre Guide
Call Number: PS153.G38 2008Check Chapter 16, "Life Stories: Biography, Autobiography, and Memoirs."- Women in Context: Two Hundred Years of British Women Autobiographers, A Reference Guide and ReaderCall Number: HQ1593.A3 K35 1997
Series/Collections
In the library catalog use the advanced keyword search to find topics in collections or series:
Example: "early english books" and "trials"
Example: "other voice in early modern europe" and "women"
Example: "i tatti renaissance library" and "art"
Finding Books
First check to see if what you need is in Western's Online Catalog. From the OneSearch drop-down menu, under "Books, Articles + More" choose "At WWU Only."
If it is not in the Western Libraries choose "WWU Libraries + Summit" from the drop-down menu. Summit materials you order will come in from Washington, Oregon or Idaho Libraries and will be available for pickup at the Circulation Desk.
If the item you need is not in Western Libraries or available from Summit libraries, you can order materials from outside the region using your ILLiad account, by choosing "Libraries Worldwide" from the drop-down menu.
Set up your ILLiad account once and it is your interlibrary loan account for your academic career at Western.
Search Terms and Subjects
Use the following terms to find historical documents. In a subject search these terms -- personal narrative, correspondence, diaries, early works to 1800, interviews, pamphlets, and blogs -- can be added to a person's name or a subject:
Subject Search: Jesus, Ursula de, 1604-1666 -- Diaries
Subject Search: Insurgency -- Iraq -- Blogs
Useful keywords include memoirs, letters, travel diaries, journals, autobiography, papers, portraits, autoethnography, and social networking.
Keyword Search: Heloise and letters
Digital storytelling and speeches can be searched as subjects or used in specifc keyword searches.
Keyword Search: Lincoln and speeches
Databases
- ArtstorA repository of artwork and images from around the world. Includes images relating to architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials [EBSCO]A database containing indexed citations and full-texts of journal articles, essays, and book reviews covering religious and theological literature. Produced by the American Theological Library Association.
- BHA and RILA [Getty Research Institute]An index of citations to European and American visual art-history texts and articles published between 1975 and 2007. A fusion of the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and the International Repertory of the Literature of Art (RILA).
- Cambridge Histories Online [Cambridge University Press]Full-text access to the Cambridge Histories series. Covers political, economic and social history, philosophy, and literature of selected countries and subjects.
- Historical Abstracts [EBSCO]A database of citations and abstracts from more than 2,300 journals in over 40 languages on world history (excluding the United States and Canada).
- JSTOR [ITHAKA]A multi-disciplinary full-text database of articles from many scholarly journals. Content available is usually 1-5 years behind the most recently published journal article. Also contains some current journals and books.
- Oxford English Dictionary [Oxford University Press]A historical dictionary describing the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over 600,000 words currently and formerly used in the English language.
Librarian Subject Team
Citation Guides
Google Scholar
Search Google Scholar for scholarly articles and books. You can see what item are in Western Libraries by setting Scholar Preference Library Links to Western Washington University.