Raymond Carver: an Example of Literary Criticism The following is meant to be used as support material related to a library instruction session conducted by a library instructor and an BHCC English Department course instructor.
Consider what you need in terms of information for this particular assignment
- Paper vs. electronic resources
- Primary, secondary or tertiary sources
- Books, magazines, journal, newspaper articles, world wide web sites or other materials available on the Internet like
Consider where you'll search
- Book catalog
- World Wide Web
- Online subscription services
Consider how you'll search
- Natural language searching
- Boolean search techniques
Finding Information on an Author and Using Literary Criticism Resources
Getting started . . .
A good place to begin your research on Raymond Carver (or any writer) is to use the BHCC Online Catalog where you can search for books by and about Raymond Carver. The Web catalog version http://catalog.noblenet.org/ is accessable from anywhere via the Internet using any World Wide Web browser . To see an example of how to do a search in the catalog, you can go to the Web page entitled How to use the online catalog
To start, use the Keyword search, unless you already know the author's name (Author), or the title of the book (Title) of a specific book.
Another place to find information on Raymond Carter is in the Reference Section of the library. Here, you will find both biographical and literary criticism materials.
Biographical Reference Sources in Print
- Contemporary Authors -- Print speciality series that compiles biographical and brief bibliographical information on authors, poets, playwrights and writers of other genres. (Read the Preface in Contemporary Authors to find out more details of criteria for selection of the writers and information.) Entries on Raymond Carver may be found in combined Vol. 33-36 and Vol. 126.
- Current Biography Yearbook -- Multi-volume set of short biographies on people from all different fields including literature. The series includes obituaries. Raymond Carver appears in the 1984 and 1988 volumes.
Literary Criticism Reference Sources
· Magill's Survey of American Literature -- A multi-volume on 190 writers that provides brief biographies, and analyses of selected works by each author. A chapter on Raymond Carver may be found in Volume I.
· Contemporary Literary Criticism -- Print series that focuses on literary criticism and also provides short biographical information on authors and their works into multi-volumes. Some entries in this series can be quite extensive since CLC compiles primary material. When you look at what works of Raymond Carver are analyzed, also notice which publications the articles come from and who are the authors.
· -- An abridged version of Contemporary Literary Criticism is also available in an electronic format on InfoTrac. Contemporary writers from 1960 through the present are included.
Electronic Resources & Web
- InfoTrac Web -- From ON Campus you can access an electronic version of Contemporary Authors through InfoTrac Web.
- InfoTrac Web -- You can also access InfoTrac Web using this link from OFF Campus. (Enter 14-digit BHCC Library barcode number.)
- Biography.com -- General biographical information Web site.
- -- EBSCOhost from On Campus
- -- EBSCOhost from Off Campus (Requires 14 digit BHCC library barcode number) -- Similar to InfoTrac Web EBSCOhost is an electronic subscription service that inlcudes general and field-specific databases. Use EBSCOhost to find articles on Raymond Carver and his work. Suggested database to use: Academic Search Elite -- Using this database try a keyword search on Raymond Carver and take a look at what resulting citations, abstracts, and full-text articles you find.
Use search engine Google at http://www.google.com to find web sites for Raymond Carver.
Research on the Internet, Citations, and Evaluating Internet Sources
MLA format:
If you need a quick refresher, use the NoodleBib site -- Use the drop down menu to practice creating MLA format bibliographic citations.
Evaluating WWW sites
Useful online tutorial from the Writing Lab at Purdue University. Use its search tools and general reference materials link to help you get started with searching the Web.
Keep In Mind when using print or electronic resources-- Consider the resource you're using. Where did it come from, who is offering the information and for what purposes, how does the search tool work, and other basic information evaluation questions that will serve you and your task at hand.
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Last reviewed October 23, 2003
Last updated February 1, 2007