4663 Creative Nonfiction
Autobiography
Finding Sources
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Books – What is available for my use in the
library?
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Reference Collection
Literary Criticism
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Keywords for searching
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Author’s name
Criticism
http://swosu.edu/library/
Finding Sources
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Timelines – How does what has happened in
literature or in other people’s lives relate to
my experiences?
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Books
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Examples from Reference Collection
Databases
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Literary Reference Center (EBSCOhost)
Search for Scholarly Articles
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Initial Step
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Create an EBSCO folder for LRC sources
LION, JSTOR, and Project Muse sources can be
archived
Database Resources
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Literary Reference Center (EBSCOhost)
LION: Literature Online Complete
JSTOR Journal Archive
Project Muse
Oral Tradition
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Other ways to record autobiographical
information
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StoryCorps – the opportunity to record family
stories
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http://www.storycorps.net/
Since 2003, over 35,000 people have shared life stories
with family and friends through StoryCorps. Each
conversation is recorded on a free CD to share. The
conversation is preserved at the Library of Congress.
StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of
its kind.
WPA Collections
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During the Great Depression (October 1929 to around
1939 and the beginning of World War II), President
Franklin D. Roosevelt developed the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) to employ as many people as
possible on projects that would provide long-term
benefit to local communities. One of these projects
was the Federal Writers’ Project. Through this
project, many American stories were recorded and are
available to us today.
More WPA Information
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American Memory from the Library of Congress:
American Life Histories of the Common People
 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.html
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American Folklife Center Collections are
available to us online.
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http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Here is Zora Neale Hurston:
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http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/S?ammem/flwpabib:@field(AUTHOR+@od
1(Hurston,+Zora+Neale))
More from the Library of Congress
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Link to Webcasts
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http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/webcasts/j-r.html
See and hear Joyce Carol Oates
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http://www.blinkx.com/video/joyce-carol-oatespreview-clip/3SqE2jz-qrKtJUlQg5kW-A
Oklahoma Connections
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Oklahoma Historical Society:
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Oklahoma Journeys via podcast
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http://www.okhistory.org/podcasts.html
This source includes many stories related to the
people of Oklahoma and their relationships to the
history of the state.
A Western Oklahoma Voice
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Born in Lawton, Kiowa Pulitzer Prizewinning author and English professor N. Scott
Momaday discusses the importance of telling
our stories
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Momaday says, “‘My father was a great
storyteller and he knew many stories from the
Kiowa oral tradition. He told me many of these
stories over and over because I loved them. But it
was only after I became an adult that I understood
how fragile they are, because they exist only by
word of mouth, always just one generation away
from extinction. That’s when I began to write
down the tales my father and others had told
me.’”
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Here is a link to listen to Dr. Momaday at the
2007 National Book Festival
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http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/2007/authors/Moma
day.html
It is important to keep our stories alive, so
autobiography—in both oral and written
forms–is a significant way for this to be
accomplished.
Questions??
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Please contact me:
Jane Long
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jane.long@swosu.edu
774-3030
Have fun with your research and your
autobiographical writing