Arts & Literature Resources
by Kee Malesky, National Public Radio

• Turner, J. GROVE DICTIONARY OF ART. Grove's Dictionaries, 1996. 34v. $8800
  Definitely in the "luxury" category. Contains more than 45,000 entries on all aspects of visual art. More info than any news library is likely to need.

• Chilvers, I. OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ART. OUP, 2^nd ed, 1997. $34.97
• Osborne, H. OXFORD COMPANION TO ART. OUP, 1983. $60
• Osborne, H. OXFORD COMPANION TO 20^TH CENTURY ART. OUP, 1984. Out of Print.
  These three volumes could form your entire collection on Western art. Excellent information and some good illustrations. Combine with one of the titles below for best coverage.

• Gardner's ART THROUGH THE AGES. HBJ, 10^th ed, 1996. $85.50
• Janson, H.W. HISTORY OF ART. Abrams, 5^th ed, 1995. 2v. $75
  Either of these would give very good coverage of primarily Western visual arts. Fabulous illustrations.

• Fletcher, B. HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE. Butterworth-Heinemann, 20^th ed, 1996. $149
• CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTS. St. James, 3^rd ed, 1994. $160 (4^th edition coming soon)
  If you need resources in this area, Fletcher's is the classic for historic information and CA provides good bios and overviews of work in architecture and planning.

• Artlex (www.artlex.com)
  Excellent dictionary of art terms with many illustrations and quotations, and links to additional images. Plus longer articles on genres, etc. Better than any print resource I know for this type of info!

• Worldwide Arts Resources (wwar.com)
  Great links to agencies, museums, individual artists and publications. Also good: opera, dance, theater info.

• Art Source from the University of Kentucky library (www.uky.edu/Artsource/)
  Nicely organized links to libraries, museums, organizations and other resources.

• Mother of All Art History Links Pages (www.umich.edu/~hartspc/histart/mother/)
  Excellent links to art history departments, research resources, museums, etc.

• Museum & Gallery News (www.excalendar.net/index.asp) or (www.gallery-guide.com/content/current)
  These are Susan Stamberg's favorite sites for keeping track of exhibitions and events at museums around the country and the world.

• Architecture Resources on the Internet (www.vt.edu:10021/H/hmock/arch/arch3.html)
  Good information on a small group of significant architects, plus resource links (some of which need updating).

• Slonimsky, N. BAKER'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS. Schirmer, 8^th ed, 1992. $167.25 (Concise edition published in 1993, $50)
  The classic in the field; extremely opinionated views from this self-described "failed wunderkind" of the classical music world. Slonimsky was himself a composer and performer, but primarily an acid-tongued critic.

• NEW GROVE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN MUSIC. Grove's Dictionaries, 1986. 4v. $725
  If you can't afford the full 20v set of GROVE DICTIONARY OF MUSIC (about $2000) this spin-off will cover American classical and popular music in great detail, from authoritative contributors. It includes Johnny Cash and Irving Berlin, but you will need other titles to cover popular music more comprehensively.

• Randel, D. NEW HARVARD DICTIONARY OF MUSIC. Belknap Press, 1986. $39.95
  An excellent source for non-biographical info -- definitions of music terminology and genres. Considered the standard in "Western art music."

• Arnold, D. NEW OXFORD COMPANION TO MUSIC. OUP, 1983. 2v. $175
  Rather expensive for Oxford, but essential if you need a resource for "serious" music. Covers composers, individual works, theory. This edition has expanded coverage of jazz and non-Western music, and shows more acceptance of 20^th century innovations.

• CONTEMPORARY MUSICIANS. Gale series, 24 volumes so far, about $75 each.
  Good descriptions of individuals and groups, mostly in rock and pop genres.

• Morton, B. CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS. St. James, 1992. $189
  In-depth info on about 500 composers working today in classical music around the world. New edition was planned for this year, but has been postponed.

• Larkin, C. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC. Grove's Dictionaries, 3rd ed, 1998. 8v. $750
  Excellent coverage of "popular" music - George Gershwin to Lauryn Hill. Entries cover individual performers, groups, significant albums and record companies Formerly called the GUINNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA, this edition has 3500 new entries plus many revisions and updates; supplements are planned.

• Bloom, K. AMERICAN SONG: THE COMPLETE MUSICAL THEATER COMPANION. Macmillan, 2^nd ed, 1996. 2v. $110
  Good info on tens of thousands of songs that have appeared in musical theater on Broadway and elsewhere.

• Cohen, S. INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DANCE. OUP, 1998. 6v. $1250.
  Probably not high on your list of needs and definitely a luxury item, this set has been in preparation for more than 20 years, and the arts library world has been waiting patiently for an up-to-date resource that covers all types and aspect of dance.

• Worldwide Internet Music Resources University of Indiana (www.music.indiana.edu/music_resources/)
  No-frills collection of links to sites on all types of music; huge number of links, so some will be out of date.

• Lyrics Server (www.lyrics.ch/)
  Shut down by the Swiss police in January, Lyrics Server is working out agreements with the licensing agencies and has reappeared in partnership with Songfile.com (a company that sells sheet music and recordings). Access to lyrics will be restored, and there are also good links to music industry info.

• Creative Music (www.creativemusic.com/features/dictionary.html)
  Another company that sells sheet music, Creative Music has a very good Dictionary of Music Terms; also musician and composer bios, forums, and a guide to classical music.

• NYPL Performing Arts Collections (www.nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html)
  The New York Public Library collection is divided into sections (music, dance, theater) and each includes a link to a list of resources on the web.

• Gassner, J. READER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD DRAMA. 1969. Out of print.
  Very good background on drama as literature since the ancient world. Should be available from OP dealers.

• CONTEMPORARY THEATER, FILM & TELEVISION. Gale series, 22 volumes so far, about $146 each.
  Another excellent biographical source from Gale, covering actors, directors, writers, etc. Includes contact info.

• Banham, M. CAMBRIDGE GUIDE TO THEATRE. CUP, 1995. $49.95
• Wilmeth, D. CAMBRIDGE GUIDE TO AMERICAN THEATRE. CUP, 1993. $59.95
• Hartnoll, P. OXFORD COMPANION TO THE THEATRE. OUP, 4^th ed, 1983. $60
• Bordman, G. OXFORD COMPANION TO AMERICAN THEATRE. OUP, 1992.$60
• Facts on File DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE. 1988. Out of print.
• CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS. St. James, 5^th ed, 1998. $140
  Depending on your reference needs in this area, any of these would provide excellent coverage. CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS focuses only on writers; the other books also have entries for performers and other individuals, terms, places, etc. (but not all of them have entries for Titles of dramatic works).

• Bawden, L. OXFORD COMPANION TO FILM. OUP, 1976. Out of print.
  Excellent overview of film - names, terms, history, genres, titles, countries, etc.

• Halliwell's FILM & VIDEO GUIDE. Harper, 1999. $22.50
  Essential resource for brief descriptions of films; answers many ready-reference questions about movies.

• Magill's SURVEY OF CINEMA. First Series. Salem Press, 1980. 4v. $200. (Second Series, $300; also series covering Foreign and Silent Films) or Magill's AMERICAN FILM GUIDE. Salem Press, 1983. 5v. Out of Print.
  Excellent plot summaries and critical evaluations, with more detail than other film books.

• Newcomb, H. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TELEVISION. Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. 3v. $300
  Detailed coverage of actors, directors, writers, TV shows, terms, issues, etc., mostly in the English-speaking world.

• Brooks, T. COMPLETE DIRECTORY TO PRIME TIME NETWORK & CABLE TV SHOWS. Ballantine, 6^th ed, 1995. $23
  "The Encyclopedia Britannica of Television." Essential information on TV shows, issued every three years. Includes program grids for every year since 1946, Emmy winners, etc.

• Web Resources in Drama and Theater UC Santa Barbara (humanitas.ucsb.edu/shuttle/english2.html)
  A large list of literary sites, some a little weird, but some good stuff ranging from Middle English lyric poetry to the Tony Awards.

• Internet Movie Database (us.imdb.com)
  Movie industry news, detailed film info (plot summaries, detailed credits, bios, photos) which you can search by name or title.

• BENET'S READER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA. Harper Collins, 5^th ed, 1996. $50
  If you can afford only one book to cover literature, this is it. Excellent, brief entries that identify writers, titles, genres, and historic figures and terms that have literary associations.

• WORLD AUTHORS. 1900-50. Wilson, 1996. 4v. $395. Followed by WORLD AUTHORS 1950-70; 1970-75; 1975-80, etc. ($85 each)
  In-depth articles on major authors for the twentieth century. Part of the Wilson Author Series.

• CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS. Gale. $145/volume (171 volumes)
• CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS NEW REVISION SERIES. Gale. $145/volume (75 volumes)
  These two are the classic continuing series for information on writers (literary and non-fiction). Complete biographical and bibliographical information, overview of work, contact information.

• CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS. St. James, 6^th ed, 1995. $160
• CONTEMPORARY POETS. St. James, 6^th ed, 1995. $195
  These two, and others in the St. James Press "Contemporary Writers of the English Language" series, provide good detail on a selective list of writers. A good substitute if you can't afford to subscribe to the Gale series.

• OXFORD COMPANION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE. OUP, revised ed, 1998. $60
• OXFORD COMPANION TO AMERICAN LITERATURE. OUP, 6^th ed, 1995. $60
• OXFORD COMPANION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE. OUP, 1997. $55
• OXFORD COMPANION TO CANADIAN LITERATURE. OUP, 2^nd ed, 1997. $65
  You can put together an excellent collection for American literary history with these inexpensive titles which will answer many ready-reference questions.

• ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE. Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. $160
  Excellent resource for current information on the full range of writing throughout Latin America.

• DICTIONARY OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY. Gale series, more than 190 volumes thus far. $150-200/volume.
  This series covers various genres, regions, eras of world literature. You can select the titles that fit your needs: Modern American Poets, 19^th Century American Western Writers, Women Prose Writers, American Newspaper Publishers, etc.

• Manguel, A. DICTIONARY OF IMAGINARY PLACES. Harcourt Brace, 1989. Out of stock.
  Not essential, but a fun resource that identifies Atlantis, Baskerville Hall, Middle Earth, Oz, and other unreal locations, with maps and illustrations.

• Sobczak, A. CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERARY CHARACTERS. Salem Press, 1998.
  This replaces and updates the excellent 1963 and 1990 Magill sets which identify and describe thousands of characters from hundreds of well-known works of fiction.

• Arts and Letters Daily (cybereditions.com/aldaily)
  "An updated report of news and reviews." Links to the text of articles from many sources, and to newspaper and journal sites.

• American Authors on the Web (www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/AmeLit.html)
  Maintained by an associate professor at Nagoya University in Japan, this is a huge list of links to various resources in American literature.

Note: If you want to do more serious collection-building in these areas, please email me and I can send you additional recommended titles or point you to useful bibliographies. My email address is kmalesky@npr.org.