American Popular Culture

Articles in scholarly encyclopedias usually present a good overview of the topic and identify the current issues, approaches, and scholarship relating to that topic. Knowing the issues can help you focus your research on a particular aspect of a topic.

Bibliographies are great for finding out what has been written/is available on a specific topic.

ComicsResearch.org

Annotated bibliographies, covering primarily "book-length works about comic books and comic strips, from "fannish" histories to academic monographs, providing detailed information and guidance on further research." Browse by a variety of subjects including genre and series.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture

Tom and Sara Pendergast, editors. Detroit, MI, St. James Press, 2000. 5 vols.

2700 signed entries with bibliographies on all aspects of 20th century U.S. popular culture. Rutgers-restricted Access

Dana Call Number: Ref. E169.1 .S764 2000

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History

New York, Macmillan, 1996. 5 vols plus Supplement (2001).

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History: The Black Experience in the Americas

2nd edition. Detroit, Macmillan, 2006. 6 vols.

Signed entries covering all aspects of African-American history and life. While the 2d edition expands the scope of the work beyond North America, it has only a little more than half of the number of entries found in the first edition. Many of the U.S.-centered articles (for example, entries on states and major cities) are not available in the 2d edition. About half of the articles that appear in both have been updated in the 2d edition. Bibliographic references. Together, a good starting point for research.

Dana Call Number: Ref. E185 .E54 1996.

Dana Call Number: Ref. E185 .E54 2006. Rutgers-restricted Access