Course Research Guide
COMP 390: Capstone in English: Folktale Tellings, Retellings, and Revisions
Finding Background Information
Title |
Call Number |
| Curiosities of Popular Customs | REF GT 31 .W2 |
| Dictionary of British Folktales | REF GR 35 .B7 (4 vols.) |
| Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols | REF GR 35 .J6 (3 vols.) |
| An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures | REF GR549 .B74 1976b |
| Folklore : An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art | REF GR 35 .F63 (2 vols.) |
| Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend | REF GR 35 .F82 |
| Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales | REF PN3437 .O94 2000 |
| Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins : An Encyclopedia | REF GR 549 .R65 1998 |
| Vampire Encyclopedia | REF GR 830 .V3 R86 |
- Milne Library Catalog
- WorldCat
- This online union catalog is the world's most comprehensive database of materials owned by libraries world-wide. It indicates which libraries own a given book, journal, and audiovisual item. There is a link to WorldCat on the library page home page. Searching this database is often a good way to find what has been published on a topic. To get a copy of something not owned by SUNY COL AT ONEONTA, follow the link for
Request via Interlibrary Loan to get a copy through MyILLiad. - A few keywords for searching for materials related to folktales: folktales, folk literature, folk belief, folklore, fairy tales, fairies, ghosts, charms, signs and symbols, supernatural beings, mythology, legends, gods, tricksters, witches, monsters,
- Google Books
- Access to the full text of many books. Books published prior to 1923 will include the full book. Books still in copyright will offer selected text. Many folktales and stories can be accessed here. For example, all the Andrew Lang fairy books are in Google Books.
- Hartwick College Catalog
- SUNY Oneonta students may borrow materials from Hartwick College with a valid SUNY ID card.
- Multidisciplinary databases:
- Academic Search Complete
- Full text for over 4,000 serials including full text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed titles. Covers most academic disciplines. Coverage is from 1975 to the present.
- Google Scholar
- This Google tool searches for scholarly books and articles and includes links to some of the Milne Library databases. This does NOT search the same set of web pages as regular Google.
- JSTOR
- Provides access to the full text of over 300 scholarly journals across many subject areas, including philosophy. The objective of JSTOR is to provide all issues back to Volume 1, Issue 1 for all journals. (Due to copyright restrictions, the most recent 3-5 years are usually unavailable.)
- Periodicals Archive Online (PAO)
- Provides access to back files of over 550 complete full-image journals spanning 200 years in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
- Project Muse
- Full text of about 250 scholarly journals in fields including literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and economics.
- Subject specific databases:
- America: History and Life
- Bibliographic reference guide to the history of the
- GenderWatch
- A full text database of journals, newsletters and research reports on women. Two simultaneous users.
- Humanities International Complete
- Includes all data from Humanities International Index (indexing to more than 2,100 journals and 2 million records) as well as access to about 900 full-text journals
- Literature Resources from Gale
- Provides access to biographies, bibliographies and critical analysis of authors and lilterary works from every age and literary discipline, Includes the full text of selected literary works from LitFinder.
- MLA Bibliography
- Index to scholarly research in literature, linguistics, and folklore. Indexes material published since the 1920's including 4400 journals, books, proceedings, and bibliographies
- World Folklore and Folklife
- Online reference source for holidays, festivals, language, stories and fairy tales, proverbs, foodways, and folk remedies from Greenwood Press.
- Print indexes:
- Index to Fairy Tales (REF GR 550 .E27)
- Guide to locating copies of fairly tales in printed collections.
- 1. Place a phrase inside quotes:
- "beauty and the beast"
- 2. Add key words or phrases to the search:
- "primary documents" and "fairy tales"
- "harry potter" and folktale tradition
- 3. Use the advanced search feature of search engines:
- limit the domain to .edu to go for the more scholarly types of web materials
- limit "occurrences" to the title of the page if you find you're getting too much material
- Brewer's Phrase and Fable
- "Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable comprises over 18,000 entries that reveal the etymologies, trace the origins and otherwise catalog 'words with a tale to tell.'”
- Encylopedia Mythica
- "An online encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, and legends. It currently contains over 7,000 entries on gods and goddesses, heroes, legendary creatures and beings from all over the world."
- Folk and Fairy Tales
- A hefty list of retellings.
- Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
- Collection of texts of many folk and fairy tales.
- Free Public Domain's presentation of Fairy Tales
- "This site presently lists hundreds of tales from The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales, Arabian Nights Entertainments, Blue Fairy Book, Crimson Fairy Book, Red Fairy Book, Violet Fairy Book, and the Yellow Fairy Book."
- Legends
- "Links to primary source material, scholarship, essays, and historical surveys - romance, adventure, and panache" related to King Arthur.
- Sources for the Analysis and Interpretation of Folk and Fairy Tales
- Collected here are sources that deal with the analysis of fairy or folk tales, from literary as well as psychological traditions, ranging from feminist analysis to Marxist.
- SurLaLune Fairy Tales RECOMMENDED
- Full-text of fairy tales with annotations, history, and listings of similar tales from other cultures and/or countries.
Finding Books
.
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Locating Tale Types and Motifs
Title |
Call Number |
Motif-index of folk-literature A guide to this type of index: The Motif Index: What it is, and What it Does. |
REF GR 67.T52 (6 vols.) |
| Motif-index of Folk Literature CD-ROM edition | REF CD-ROM GR 67 T52 |
| The Types of the Irish Folktale | GR1 .F55 no. 188 |
| The Storyteller's Sourcebook : A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children | REF GR 74.6 .M3 |
Finding Articles
Finding the Full Text
Many databases have links to the full text of articles along with the bibliographic citation. PDF is often the best choice as it reproduces the text as it appeared in the original printed article. If the full text isn't there, look for the FindIt! link and follow that path. If the article is not available online, there will be a link to request the article via MyILLiad.
The Find Journals tab on the library home page allows you to search for electronic journals by title and indicates in which database they are included in. If you have a periodical citation, use this tab to search for the journal title, then follow the link to the database(s).
Using the Web
Recommended Web Sites
- Milne Library Guide: MLA Citation: "How-to..."
- Ask for a copy at the Milne Library Reference Desk. Written by Milne Librarians. Summary of the MLA guidelines.
- Citing Sources (from Owens Library, NW Missouri State)
- Includes color-coded examples and directions for Chicago, Turabian, MLA, and APA.
- MLA Citation Style Examples
- Excellent color-coded examples of citations for various databases (EBSCOhost, ERIC, JSTOR) from NW Missouri State.
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- Purdue University's guide to MLA Style created by the Online Writing Lab.
Citing Your Sources
- Contact Kay Benjamin: 436-2791 or benjamkd@oneonta.edu
- Contact the Milne Library Reference & Information Desk: 436-2722 or libweb@oneonta.edu
- Use Ask Us 24/7 for help with questions that don't involve extensive research.
- This guide can be found online at http://www.oneonta.edu/library/courseguides/fall2009/comp390.asp