Short fiction has been called "literature's most popular form" (Magill, 1981, p. v). Many authors whose work in other genres is regularly studied (e.g., Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway) may also be studied for their work in short fiction. Other authors and essayists may be known primarily for their work in this genre. The resources listed in this guide will help you to locate examples of short fiction and will also help you to identify items of interest for the critical study of the genre. For further information, see also the Guide to Literary Criticism.
To Find Books
Use the MERLIN Library Catalog and the MOBIUS Union Catalog to find resources relevant to your research. Relevant works can be found using subject headings (Library of Congress) such as:
- Short Story
- Short Stories
- Short Stories - American
- Short Stories - American Bibliography
- Short Stories - American 20th Century
- Short Stories - American - History and Criticism
Critical studies of the short fiction of a particular author can also be found by using subject headings such as:
- Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 - Criticism and Interpretation
- Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968 - Stories, Plots, etc.
To Find Short Fiction in Anthologies
| Short Story Index: An Index to 60,000 Stories in 4,320 Collections | Ref Z5917 .S5 C6 |
| Short
Story Index (1950- ) The annual update to the basic index (above). |
Ref Z5917 .S5 C63 |
| Essay
and General Literature Index - (1900- ) Entries in this work provide access not only to short fiction, but also to essays and other short-form, literary works (including literary criticism). |
Ref AI3 .E75 |
| The Afro-American Short Story: A Comprehensive, Annotated Index with Selected Commentaries | Ref PS153 .N5 Y36 |
To find the location of a book in Miller Nichols Library, see the Location Guide.
To Find Articles
Remote (off-campus) access to databases is available only to UMKC students, faculty, and staff. All other users must access online resources within the Libraries. Begin searching by selecting a database. After selection you will be prompted to provide a UMKC Single Sign-On user name and password OR a 9-digit UMKC ID number followed by the letter k (example: 0123456789k) and last name, as needed.
-
Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost) 1975 - present.
Save to del.icio.us
Selected full text 1975 - present.
This multidisciplinary database indexes and abstracts journals in a broad range of subjects. Full text is available for a large proportion of the titles. A high percentage of titles are peer-reviewed. Dates of coverage vary widely by title. All content of Academic Search Elite is included in this resource. - ISI Web of Science
Note: This database is no longer be available.
Permits multidisciplinary searching for articles from international academic journals in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. This combined database for the Science Citation Index, the Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index offers cited reference searching. Link to ISI Web of Science user's guide.For the print versions of this database and to gain access to literature in the humanities published prior to 1984, consult the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (Z5937 .A782), the Social Sciences Citation Index (Z7161 .S65), both found on the Fourth Floor Index Tables, and the Science Citation Index (located at the Health Sciences Library). - JSTOR 1838 - present. Save to del.icio.us
Full text. Coverage varies by title.
Contains fully searchable scanned articles from selected journals in a broad range of disciplines, including African-American studies, art, ecology, economics, education, history, law, literature, music, general science, sociology, and statistics. (To see a complete list of discipines and journal titles, link to the JSTOR browse list.) Covers the full run of journals from the first issue of volume one; however, the most recent three to five years of journals are not generally available. - MLA International Bibliography (Chadwyck-Healey) 1884 - present. Save to del.icio.usAn index to scholarship in literature, linguistics, film, folklore, and cultural
studies. The print version of this bibliography is available in the Miller Nichols
Library and
covers 1921 - 1999. The location and call number are Reference Index Wall Z7006
.M64. See the MLA
Directory of Periodicals for a list of periodicals indexed.
NOTE: To find the full text of articles or other information that you have identified using the databases and indexes above, visit the Libraries' Website on Resources for Finding Journals and Articles.
University Libraries Photocopying and Printing Services
Selected Journals
This list includes journals available in the University Libraries (check the MERLIN Library Catalog for holdings and location information). To identify additional related journals, search MERLIN by subject or keyword.
Print Journals Available at Miller Nichols Library:
(links to electronic versions, if available, are found on the MERLIN record site)
Reference Sources: Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Bibliographies
Reference sources are useful for locating background information, definitions, general descriptions, and basic facts. Use these books to help you select or focus your research topic.
All call numbers in this guide refer to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library, unless otherwise noted. Titles are linked to the corresponding MERLIN Library Catalog record.
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
| The American Short Story, 1900-1945: A Critical History | PS374 .S5 A366 |
| Down Home: A History of Afro-American Short Fiction from its Beginnings to the End of the Harlem Renaissance | PS374 . S5 B6 |
| Dictionary of Literary Biography (vol. 86): American Short-Story Writers, 1910-1945 (first series) | Ready Ref PN451 .D43 v.86 |
| Dictionary of Literary Biography (vol. 102): American Short-Story Writers, 1910-1945 (second series) | Ready Ref PN451 .D43 v.102 |
| Dictionary of Literary Biography (vol. 130): American Short-Story Writers Since World War II | Ready Ref PN451 .D43 v.130 |
| Short Story Criticism: Excerpts from the Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers (2 vols.) | Ref PN3321 .S5 |
| The American Short Story, 1945-1980: A Critical History | PS374.S5 A37 |
Handbooks
| Critical Survey of Short Fiction | PN3321 .C7 |
| Women Writers of the Short Story: A Collection of Critical Essays | PS374 .S5 W6 |
Bibliographies
| The American Indian in Short Fiction: An Annotated Bibliography | Ref Z1231 .F4 B44 |
| American Short-Fiction Criticism and Scholarship, 1959-1977: A Checklist | Ref Z1231.F4 W43 |
| The Latin American Short Story: An Annotated Guide to Anthologies and Criticism | Ref PQ7082 .S5 |
| Masterplots II. Short Story Series | Ref PN3326 .M27 |
| Reference Guide to Short Fiction | Ref PN3373 .R36 |
| Short Fiction Criticism: A Checklist of Interpretation Since 1925 of Stories and Novelettes (American, British, Continental) 1800-1958 | Ref Z5917 .S5 T5 |
| The Short Story Cycle: A Genre Companion and Reference Guide | Ref PS374.S5 M35 |
| Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication: Interpretations, 1900-1975, of Short Fiction since 1800 (with annual supplements and index) | Ref Z5917 .S5 W33 |
Web Resources
- The English Server Fiction
Collection
(eserver.org/fiction/short.html)
Use search engines linked on the Internet Search Tools page to identify additional Web resources.
For further assistance, please contact the
Miller Nichols Library Reference Desk at (816) 235-1534.
