English: Researching an Author
Researching an Author
When you research the author of your book, you may first want to take note of what information you are required to have, and what information you may like to have in addition to that. Starting with these questions in mind before getting into the resources will help you identify which sources and which pieces of information are more valuable.
Remember, as you gather information from the sources below, to gather and keep citation information for anything you plan you use.
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Maya Angelou
Biographical Sources
These sources focus on the history of the person. While they will undoubtedly make mention of the literary works they published, the information from these sources will will be on their personal experience.
- Biography: Gale in Context This link opens in a new window
Includes authoritative reference information alongside magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day news-makers. Search or browse to find people based on occupation, role, or historical period, or search based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender.
- Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
Search for individuals based on any combination of occupation, activity, gender, place of origin, birthday and lifespan. Limit by source type, and searchable indexes can be used to browse by biography name, document type, geographic terms and more. Original content supplemented with new biographies and updated versions of preexisting articles.
- Bloom's Literary Reference Online This link opens in a new window
A resource for the study of literature. Edited and curated by Yale University professor Harold Bloom. Includes thousands of critical essays and discussion questions, author biographies, character analyses, full-length poems, and the full text of hundreds of reference books. Also contains full-length videos of classic plays and films, and more.
Literature Sources
This group of sources includes both biographical information and short descriptions of the literary works of prominent authors.
- Literature: Gale This link opens in a new window
Offers broad and representative range of authors and their works, including full-text critical and literary analysis for literary studies. Researchers can find up-to-date analysis, biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism, and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods, and from around the world.
- Literary Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Full-text literary database covering all genres and time-frames. It includes thousands of synopses, critical essays, book reviews, literary journals and author biographies, plus full-text classic novels, short stories and poems. Also includes the Masterplots series and "Critical Insights" volumes.
- Contemporary Authors: Gale in Context This link opens in a new window
Biographical and critical surveys of twentieth-century and current authors, both literary and general nonfiction. Provides access to current biographical and bibliographical data on thousands of modern authors. You can easily search for an author by name, title of work, subject/genre, nationality, date and place of birth, honors, awards and much more.