Related Topics

Current Sourcepacks

Past Sourcepacks

MU Libraries: Your Connection to Knowledge


Ellis Library Sourcepack for English 2520
Creative Nonfiction

Instructor: Maureen Stanton
Librarian: Anne Barker

Background Sources via the MERLIN catalog
Browsing the MERLIN catalog can turn up a wide variety of background material: specialized encyclopedias, statistics, diaries, pictures, maps, recordings, government reports.

Keyword searching can be very specific.  Subject headings work more like a file-cabinet: broader categories, but more organization.

Combine your theme words with any of the following sub-headings to look for specific types of publications. 
For example: (solit* or lonel*) and aspects as a keyword search to look for materials on the psychological or social or religious aspects of loneliness or solitude.

If you don't like the results, try broader, narrower, or synonymous theme words.
personal narratives
sources
fiction
handbooks
encyclopedias
pictorial works
diaries		 dictionaries
statistics
in literature
in art
aspects
history
maps
correspondence
Statistics or Demographics
The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the first place to look for any U.S. statistics.
Lexis Nexis Statistical indexes many statistical publications.
Newspapers and Popular Magazines
Lexis-Nexis Academic
Provides the full text of many newspapers, generally from the mid-1980s to the present, although coverage varies depending on the newspaper. 
ProQuest Historical Newspapers contains the full text of the New York Times (1851-1999) and the Wall Street Journal (1889-1985)
You'll find many newspapers on microfilm in Special Collections in the NW corner of the 4th floor. Many are not indexed, so you'll need to browse by date to find things.  Here's a geographical listing of newspapers in Special Collections.
The State Historical Society's Newspaper Library also holds many Missouri newspapers, of which some are available online through The Historic Missouri Newspaper Project.
MasterFile Premier provides access to articles in popular magazines.
Academic Search Premier provides more research-based articles.
American Periodical Series  
Full text of American magazines and journals 1740-1900, when complete. Search your author and/or book title as keywords.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature Ready Ref. 12 AI3 .R48
Indexes journals and magazines from 1900-present.
Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature Ready Ref. 12 AI3.R496
Indexes journals and magazines 1890-1922.
Quotations, Allusions, Definitions

The Oxford English Dictionary Online
LION Reference Shelf  Includes Webster's Third International Dictionary, the King James Bible, and other sources.
LION: Literature Online Full text of English language literary texts from Beowulf to around 1920, to the present for poetry.
Encyclopedia Britannica NOTE: We don't subscribe to the online edition, but you can get some free content from this site. We have the Encyclopedia Britannica in print at the Reference Desk.
Wikipedia
Bartleby.com Provides online access to older editions of a variety of encyclopedias, dictionaries, quotation collections, and other reference works. We would generally have newer editions in print in the Reference collection.
This SOURCEPACK is a service of Ellis Library
Librarian/Webmaster