Literature of the American West - LPC Library Research Guide

Reference Encyclopedias
Books and Audiovisuals
Periodicals and Electronic Print Resources
Internet Resources
Citation of Sources

Please ask a reference librarian for assistance at any time. We will be glad to help!

REFERENCE SOURCES

Use reference sources for background information, broad overviews and summaries. The reference collection includes general and subject dictionaries and encyclopedias, biographies, directories, almanacs, atlases, etc. Many also contain bibliographies for further research. Reference books cannot be checked out from the library but may be photocopied.

Dictionary of Native American literature Ref PM155 .D53 1994
Dictionary of Native American mythology Ref E98.R3 G46 1992
Japanese American internment during World War II : a history and reference guide Ref D769.8.A6 N4 2002
Encyclopedia of American Indian History Ref E77.E48 2008
Encyclopedia of the American West Ref F591.E485 1996
The Encyclopedia of North American Indians Ref E76.2.E53 1997
Encyclopedia Latina : history, culture, and society in the United States Ref E184.S75 E587 2005
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature Ref PS153.N5 G73 2005
Native American writers of the United States Ref PS153.I52 N39 1997
Native North American literature Ref PS508.I5 N38 1994
The New Encyclopedia of the American West Ref F591.N46 1998
The Oxford Companion to African American Literature Ref PS153.N5 O96 1997
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States Ref E184.S75 O97 2005

BOOKS & AUDIOVISUALS

Use the library catalog to find materials in the library. The catalog will show all the books and audiovisual materials both LPC Library and Chabot library own. You can search for a book or video by the author, title, subject, or keyword. A subject search allows you to find books about a topic or a person. In power search you may also LIMIT your search in many ways, for instance by type, “DVD" or type, “video” to find only DVDs or videos.

Examples of keywords to use when searching the online catalog:

African American Cowboys
African American Literature
Americanization
Aztlan
Black Cowboys
Calamity Jane
California Missions
Curanderismo
Japanese Internment WWII
Literature American West
La Raza
Western Heroines

Useful Browsing Areas (Call Numbers):

D769 History (General) World War II

F590-596 History of America (The West)

PS153 American Literature (Ethnic Studies)

PS561 American Literature (Western)

PS591 American Poetry

Selected Resource Titles at LPC: General Resources

African American literary criticism, 1773 to 2000 by Hazel Arnett Ervin PS153.N5.A33 1999

New immigrant literature in the United States: a source book to our multicultural literary PS153.M56 N475 1996

heritage by Alpana Sharma Knippling

The world next door: South Asian American literature and the idea of America PS153.S68 S73 2004

by Rajini Srikanth

Circle of women: an anthology of contemporary western women writers by Kim Barnes PS561.C57 2001

Crazy Woman Creek: women rewrite the American West by Gaydell M. Collier PS561.C83 2004

The first west: writing from the American frontier 1776-1860 PS561.F57 2002

Ed. Edward Watts & David Rachels

Literature of the American West: a cultural approach by Greg Lyons PS561.L59 2003

Asian American poetry: the next generation Ed. Victoria Chang PS591.A76 A83 2004

Every shut eye ain’t asleep: an anthology of poetry by African Americans since 1945 PS591.N4 E94 1994

Ed. Michael S. Harper

Selected Resource Titles at LPC: Calamity Jane; Western Heroine

Calamity Jane : the woman and the legend by James D. McLaird. F594.C2 M34 2005

By grit & grace : eleven women who shaped the American West F596.B99 1997

Ed. Glenda Riley & Richard W. Etulain

Cowgirls by Candace Sherk Savage F596.S234 1996

Wild women of the Old West Ed. Glenda Riley & Richard W. Etulain F596.W5798 2003

Pioneer women: the lives of women on the frontier by Linda S. Peavy HQ1438.W4 P43 1996

Women of the West by Silvia Anne Sheafer HQ1412.S52 1996

Buffalo Girls by Larry McMurtry PS3563.A319 B84 1991

The best of the real west DVD F591 B47 2000

Selected Resource Titles at LPC: Ramona and the California Missions

Ramona : a story by Helen Jackson PS2107.R2

Glimpses of California and the missions by Helen Hunt Jackson PS2107.R3 1912

Selected Resource Titles at LPC & Chabot: Aztlan, La Raza, Resistance to Americanization

Fiesta in Aztlan : anthology of Chicano poetry PS591.M49 F5

After Aztlan : Latino poets of the nineties PS591.H58 A69 1992

Viva la raza; readings on Mexican Americans by Julian Nava (Chabot) E184.M5 .N32

Viva la raza! The struggle of the Mexican-American people by Elizabeth Sutherland Martinez

and Enriqueta Longeaux y Vasquez (Chabot) E184.M5 M378

Hispanics in the American West by Jorge Iber and Arnoldo De León F596.3 .S75 I24 2006

Selected Resource Titles at LPC & Chabot: Black Cowboys and Black Seminoles

The Black Cowboys by Gina DeAngelis (Chabot) F596.D36 1997

The Black West [videorecording] MV 22090

The Black West : a documentary and pictorial history of the African American role in the
westward expansion of the United States by William Loren Katz (Chabot) E185.925 .K37 1996

Guts : legendary black rodeo cowboy Bill Picket : a biography by Cecil Johnson GV1833.6.P5 J64 1994

The Negro cowboys by Philip Durham and Everett L. Jones (Chabot) F596.D8

Selected Resource Titles at LPC: Japanese Internment WWII

In good conscience : supporting Japanese Americans during the internment by Shizue Seigel D769.8 .A6 S45 2006

Judgment without trial : Japanese American imprisonment during World War II
by Tetsuden Kashima D769.8.A6 K37 2004

What did the internment of Japanese Americans mean? By Alice Yang Murray D769.83A6 W53 2000

Also check out the Japanese American Evacuation and Relocation (1942-1945) Materials library guide available on the LPC Library website.

Selected Resource Titles at LPC & Chabot: Curandera in Latino Culture

Curanderismo, Mexican American folk healing by Robert T. Trotter GR111.M49 T76 1997

The Latina / Latino reference materials noted at the top of the page provide information on this topic.

Additional resources are available on this topic through other sources. See “Other Resources” below.

PERIODICALS & ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

Periodicals provide in-depth analyses of events and trends, research studies on particular subjects, and professional literature. Las Positas College subscribes to several excellent journals as well as some popular magazines that may report on research that is of interest to you. Use the LPC Library Catalog to find the appropriate magazines available in the Library.

Suggestion: Use Power Search. For example: American History as "word or phrase." Limit your search in the drop down list for "library" to Las Positas College and in "Type" to Periodical.

In addition, you may want to find articles by using an electronic print resource. These databases can be accessed in the LPC Library or from home at LPC Library Homepage. Select either “Academic Search Premier” or “Literature Resource Center” to access the databases listed below:

History Reference Center (EBSCO) – contains thousands of citations and full-text articles on history. The database features cover-to-cover full text for more than 650 historical encyclopedias and other non-fiction books. The database also includes full text for more than 50 leading history periodicals.

Suggestion: Do a keyword search for "Calamity Jane" or type in one of the topics from “Examples of keywords” above.

Literature Resource Center – contains thousands of citations and full-text articles of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press.

Suggestion: Do a keyword search for "Aztlan" or type in one of the topics from Examples of keywords above or an author.

OTHER RESOURCES

Other libraries often carry additional materials on your topic not available through the Las Positas or Chabot libraries. You may need a library card for the participating library to access these resources. Library cards are easy to obtain and some libraries allow you to apply for a card online (https://www.livermore.lib.ca.us/selfreg~S7 ). Here are a few resources located in other libraries:

African Americans on the western frontier (E-Book available through the Livermore Public Library (http://www.livermore.lib.ca.us/ ). You will need a Livermore Public Library card to access this resource online.)

Titles available through Link+: http://csul.iii.com/
Link+ is a consortium of libraries throughout the State of California that loan their books to participating libraries. Local libraries that participate in Link+ are Livermore, Pleasanton, and Alameda County (Dublin). The following titles may be requested through Link+

Cowboys by Robert H. Miller. Examines the contributions Black cowboys have made to this country and to the legacy of the West, focusing on the lives of Nat Love “Dead Wood Dick”, Mary Fields, Cherokee Bill, Willie Kennard, and Bill Pickett.

Curandera by Carmen Tafolla; Rolando Hinojosa. Spanish poetry

The folk healer : the Mexican-American tradition of curanderismo by Eliseo Torres

Spirituality and curanderismo in Mexican-American culture : a psychospiritual model of conjoint treatment by Kimberly A. Guajardo.

Woman who glows in the dark : a curandera reveals traditional Aztec secrets of physical and spiritual health by Elena Avila with Joy Parker.

INTERNET RESOURCES

You may want to explore some Internet resources to supplement or enhance your research. Always be cautious of information you find on the Web since the quality of sources varies tremendously on the Internet. It is always a good idea to check the information against another source. As with all information resources, whether in print or on the Internet, you evaluate its quality based on the following criteria:

Accuracy.......................... Is it free from mistakes and errors?

Authority......................... What are the qualifications of the author?

Objectivity....................... Is there any strong bias?

Currency .......................... Is the information up-to-date?

Coverage ......................... To what extent is the topic explored?

Use the Librarians’ Internet Index (http://www.lii.org ).

Suggestion: Do a keyword search for “Literature American West” or other pertinent terms. Once you find a good site listed, try the subject headings listed below the annotated citation for more information.

Other Internet resources:

Wild West History Association: http://www.wildwesthistory.org/
Curanderismo: Folk healing in the Mexican American community (a bibliography from University of Texas): http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/bibnot/bn-101.html
California Missions Resource Center: http://www.missionscalifornia.com/
Learn California.Org: http://www.learncalifornia.org/default.asp (search on “Ramona”)

CITATION OF SOURCES

Suggestion: keep printed copies of your sources, or write out all pertinent information on author, title, publisher, date, or Internet address to identify where you got the information. Follow the format recommended by your instructor or ask a librarian to show you a “style manual.” NoodleBib, available from the library website, provides an accurate composer for ALA or MLA citations. There is also a link to instructions for MLA or APA citations on the LPC Library Homepage: Citation Style Guides.

Please ask a reference librarian for help!

Donna Scanlon, LPC Reference Librarian

Email a Librarian

Library Telephone: 925.424.1150
Library Fax: 925.606.7249