This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new windowThis Library Guide directs you to sources for information on the literature of the state of Alabama. The resources presented are selected and representative, not comprehensive, and are intended to provide a sampler of all the information sources available on Alabama literature accessible via the Houston Cole Library. Among these resources are print and electronic books, print reference books, electronic databases and print journals, and other information formats such as streaming video.
From the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
The boxes on the Subject Headings page do not tell the complete story with regards to Alabama literature. In terms of the number of volumes, the Alabama literaure collection of Houston Cole Library is not large. But the collection benefits from the "Russian nesting doll" effect, which means that scholarship on Alabama authors also will be found in works whose principal focus is Southern literature. This embedding is an example of "information scatter" as it applies to literature.
This information scatter is reflected in other ways as well. Material on Alabama authors can be found using an ethnic perspective (Black American writers/PS153.N5), a gender perspective (American women writers/PS147), or genre perspectives (poetry/PS303-325; fiction/PS371-379). In all these areas information on Alabama writers may be embedded within works whose scope is broader than just Alabama literature, and this principle applies to the library's circulating, eBook, and print reference collections, as well as the electronic databases.
Additionally, there is a section in the library's history collection (3rd floor) which complements Alabama literature.
American History, by state
Alabama F321-330.3
County F332
City F334
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Basic search in the Houston Cole Library catalog.