Literary Criticism Index: 2nd Ed.

by Alan R. Weiner, Spencer Means

Overview

Librarians are frequently asked to pull citations to criticism of specific works of literature. Numerous bibliographies and checklists provide quick and easy access to such references. Using these sources effectively, however, requires a knowledge of the work's genre, the period in which it was written, and/or the nationality of the author, as well as the criteria (and quirks) of individual compilers, who may treat a novel as a short story, a story as a novel, a verse drama as a poem, etc. Authors of doubtful or dual nationality further complicate the search for critical material.
The Literary Criticism Index is designed to increase the convenience and effectiveness of these useful bibliographic tools. One hundred and forty-six works are indexed in this second edition. Arrangement is by author, with poets, playwrights, novelists, and short story writers appearing in a single alphabet. Newer entries have been incorporated with all entries from the first edition. Each entry contains a list of the author's works, alphabetically arranged, and symbols directing the researcher to appropriate volumes containing citations to critical material.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810826656
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/28/2005
Edition description:	2nd ed
Pages:	580
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.34(h) x 1.67(d)

About the Author

Alan Weiner (M.L.S., Pratt Institute Graduate School of Library and Information Sciencee) is Head of the Reference Division, Baruch College Library. He has more than twenty-five years of experience as a reference librarian in academic and public libraries and is actively engaged in the work of college-wide and professional organizaitons.

Spencer Means (M.S.L.S., University of North Carolina) is a professor at Baruch College Library. He is also the Baruch Library Bibliographer for English and American Language and Literature and its Coordinator of Humanities Bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

...an invaluable work, because it increases the accessibility of these bibliographic tools.

Reference Reviews

...especially appropriate for medium and large public and academic libraries.

Booklist

A time-saving source...

Literary Research Guide

... very easy to use...

Choice Reviews

... very easy to use...

Choice

...especially appropriate for medium and large public and academic libraries.--Booklist

A time-saving source...--Literary Research Guide

... very easy to use...--CHOICE

From the Publisher

... very easy to use...

CHOICE

...especially appropriate for medium and large public and academic libraries.

Booklist

...an invaluable work, because it increases the accessibility of these bibliographic tools.

s

...an invaluable work, because it increases the accessibility of these bibliographic tools.

"American Reference Books Annual"

**** An index to the numerous bibliographies and checklists which provide access to criticism of specific works of literature. Works indexed include multiple author bibliographies in which criticism of individual works is separately listed or in which annotations make it possible to determine exactly which work or works are being discussed. This edition includes works published subsequent to the first edition of 1984 (which is cited in BCL3, Sheehy, and Walford) as well as works inadvertently omitted in the original publication. New entries have been incorporated with all entries from the first edition into a single alphabet. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Maintaining the same scope as the 1984 edition, this work indexes "multiple-author bibliographies in which criticism of individual works is separately listed or in which annotations make it possible to determine exactly which work or works are being discussed." In this new edition, Weiner and Means, librarians at Baruch College, combine indexing for the 86 works covered in the first edition with coverage of 60 additional works. Slightly more than half of the bibliographies added were published between 1984 and 1991; the others are earlier imprints that were omitted from the previous edition. Although the works indexed represent a variety of nationalities, time periods, and genres, the emphasis is on British and American writers. Included are such standards as Warren S. Walker's "Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication" and Floyd Eugene Eddleman's "American Drama Criticism". Among the newer works are the two-volume "Guide to American Poetry Explication" (G. K. Hall, 1989) and Harriet S. Alexander's "English Language Criticism on the Foreign Novel, 1965-1975" (Swallow, 1989). However, a number of multiple-author bibliographies that would have been appropriate for inclusion are not covered, for example, Brownell Salomon's "Critical Analyses in English Renaissance Drama" (rev. 3d ed., Garland, 1991) The index is arranged by author. References to sources listing general criticism about the author appear first, and then the arrangement is alphabetical by titles of individual works. Each citation provides an abbreviated code for the bibliography and a page reference. A key to the symbols appears near the beginning of the volume This work is particularly useful for locating criticism on authors for whom there is no separately published secondary bibliography. Obviously, it will be most valuable in libraries that own a substantial percentage of the bibliographies indexed. Therefore, it is especially appropriate for medium and large public and academic libraries.

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