ENGL:4723 Advanced Writing Seminar: Nonfiction
General Research Tips
- Generate a list of your search terms and any synonyms.
- Search for each term in InfoHawk+ and our databases. Look at the subjects that are listed with interesting resources.
- Pro Tip: Once you are in InfoHawk+, click on the "Sign In" link in the upper right corner. Sign in with your HawkID and password and you will be able to pin resources, request items more easily, and save searches.
- If searching for a phrase, insert quotation marks around the phrase.
- Limit your search by a date range if you only want results from certain years.
- If you need a peer-reviewed, scholarly, or academic article (lots of words for the same idea!), select "Peer-reviewed journal" from the left side of InfoHawk+. (Some databases have a peer-reviewed filter as well!)
- Try your search terms in multiple databases.
- You can also search in WorldCat to find resources not held by the University of Iowa and then request through ILL.
- Look at the footnotes and bibliography of scholarly articles and dissertations - they can lead you to related sources!
- The first sources that you find may not be the best. Keep looking!
Search Terms
You can search InfoHawk+ with the name of your selected writer or visual artist, just like you would in an internet search engine. In fact, for things like popular press or interviews, that is a familiar and effective way to find them.
Because InfoHawk+ uses Library of Congress subject headings, it may not seem as natural to search and get the best results, so here are some suggested search terms to help. The format of the phrases are what can help your search - things like "-- criticism and interpretation" aren't the way we usually search online.
- Varda, Agnes, 1928-2019 -- criticism and interpretation
- Jonas Mekas
- Heidi Julavits
- Woolf, Virginia 1882-1941 -- diaries
- Diary of Virginia Woolf themes
- Audre Lorde diary
- "Jonathan Caouette"
- "Carl Elsaesser"
- "experimental film" AND diary
Databases about Writers
The University's databases on English and American Literature can be found here.
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Literature Online (LION) This link opens in a new windowA fully searchable library of over 350,000 works of English and American literature, overseen by an academic advisory board.
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MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO Version) This link opens in a new window
The MLA International Bibliography is a subject index for books, articles and websites published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. It is produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), an organization dedicated to the study and teaching of language and literature. The electronic version of the Bibliography dates back to 1925 and contains over 2 million citations from more than 4,400 periodicals (including peer-reviewed e-journals) and 1,000 book publishers.
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Contemporary Authors This link opens in a new windowA bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television and other fields.
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Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new windowProvides more than 16,000 biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.Comprised of Dictionary of literary biography series, Dictionary of literary biography yearbook, and Dictionary of literary biography. Documentary series.
Databases about Visual Artists
The University of Iowa's databases focused on film can be found here.
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FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals This link opens in a new windowFIAF Index to Film Periodicals is a bibliographical index offering in-depth coverage of the world's foremost academic and popular film journals from 1972 to the present day.
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Film and Television Literature Index This link opens in a new windowCovers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film and television theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Some full text is available.
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Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive (EIMA) This link opens in a new windowAn archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to 2000. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are all included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles.
