This research guide relays some basic information on library and information resources pertaining to the concerns of this department, as provided by University Libraries and/or sites on the World Wide Web.

1. To Shelf-Browse for Books (using main Library of Congress Subject Divisions)

Books on subjects associated with this field are shelved under the call number ranges listed below. Use TOPCAT to search for specific items in the collection, or more narrowly-defined subjects.

Folklore (general, including folktales, legends), GR72-GR79 ------- Folk Beliefs, Superstitions, GR81 ------- By Region or Country, GR100-GR390 ------- Folklore Relating to Private Life (including dreams, love, children, nursery rhymes), GR430-GR487 ------- Supernatural Beings (Demonology, Fairies, Ghosts, Charms), GR500-GR615 ------- Cosmic Phenomena, GR620-GR690 ------- Geographical Topics, GR650-GR690 ------- Animals, Plants, Minerals, GR700-GR860 ------- Transportation, Travel, Commerce, GR865-GR874 ------- Medicine, Folk Medicine, GR880 ------- Occupations, GR890-GR910 ------- Signs and Symbols, GR931-GR940

2. To Find Journal and Magazine Articles (using indexing/abstracting/full-text services)

The following services are recommended for use by first-year students and non-majors:

• Academic Search Premier and MasterFILE Premier: These two all-subject WWW-based services (they are part of the EBSCOhost system) feature indexing and abstracting of many journals and magazines WKU Libraries receives in hardcopy, plus a large selection of articles in full-text.
• Alt-Press Watch has full text of over 170 alternative and independent newspapers, magazines and journals.
• Google Scholar: A free Web-based Google service that restricts searches to the scholarly literature. Now features linking to full-text of articles held by WKU.
• MLA (Modern Language Association): A WWW-based database available through Literature Online which exhaustively indexes all literature of the field of Literature, Languages, Linguistics, and Folklore.
• Literature Online: Contains full text of over 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, along with literature journals and other key criticism and reference resources. Also Indexes scholarly books and articles on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. Includes a combined search with the MLA International Bibliography.
• Tales Online: Full Text database of folktales, fairytales, myths of indigenous peoples, legends, sagas, and fables of world cultures in collections.

The following services are recommended for use by advanced students and researchers:

• JSTOR: Provides the full text/full image web access of the complete archival collections of some humanities journals, up to the most recent three to five years.
• Project Muse: "Provides online, worldwide, institutional subscription access to the full text of over 100 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences and mathematics."

• Art & Humanities Citation Index (AH Search)
• Alt-Press Index: FirstSearch database available to faculty and graduate students (and to undergraduate students by special permission). Indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change.
• WilsonSelectPlus: Full-text articles in science, humanities, education and business.
• PerAbs: Periodical abstracts from general and academic journals, many including full-text.

Special resource:  TDNet Electronic Journal Finder [use to access Libraries' electronic journals, magazines, and newspapers, as well as some indexes and databases containing full-text articles; includes a comprehensive A-Z listing of titles]
Special resource:  KenCat [A searchable catalog of the collections at the Kentucky Library & Museum. KenCat includes manuscripts, letters, sheet music, photographs, museum exhibits, images, journals, and books.]

3. Reference Materials in the Helm Library and Elsewhere

The following are recommended for use:

• In Helm Library:  A dictionary of English folklore GR141 .S57 2000 ------- Folklore: an encyclopedia of beliefs, customs, tales, music, and art GR35 .F63 1997 ------- Popular beliefs and superstitions: a compendium of American folklore GR110 .O48 P82 ------- Medieval Folklore: an encyclopedia of myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs GR35 .M43 2000 ------- Folklife sourcebook: a directory of folklife resources in the United States and Canada GR37 .B37 1986 ------- Encyclopedia of folklore and literature PN41 .E48 1998 ------- Sidewalks of America: folklore, legends, sagas, traditions, customs, songs, stories, and sayings of city folk GR105 .B57 ------- Tidbits of Kentucky folklore GR110 .K4 W542x
• Extensive Kentucky Library and Museum holdings of a variety of kinds of materials

4. Folk Studies Faculty Web Pages

Folk Studies Faculty: http://www.wku.edu/folkstudies/pages06/faculty.php

5. Related Professional Societies (for professional news, careers/jobs, memberships, etc.)

• American Folklore Society http://www.afsnet.org/
• British Columbia Folklore Society http://www.folklore.bc.ca/
• Folk Alliance: North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance http://www.folk.org/
• Folklore Society (Great Britian) http://www.folklore-society.com/
• Folklore Studies Association of Canada http://www.celat.ulaval.ca/acef/
• New York Folklore Society http://www.nyfolklore.org/
• Society for Ethnomusicology http://www.indiana.edu/~ethmusic/
• Virginia Folklore Society http://faculty.virginia.edu/vafolk/

6. Websites Recommended by Folk Studies Faculty

Myths, Legends & Folklore

• Brewer's Phrase & Fable http://www.bibliomania.com/2/3/255/frameset.html
• Center for Southern Folklore http://www.southernfolklore.com/
• Encyclopedia Mythica [mythology, folklore & legend] http://www.pantheon.org/
• Folklore & Mythology Electronic Texts http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html
• Legends http://bestoflegends.org/index.html
• Myths & Legends http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/myth.html

Music

• Bluegrass World [gateway for bluegrass music] http://www.bluegrassworld.com/
• Folk Music of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales & America http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html
• FolkLib Index: A Library of Folk Music Links http://www.folklib.net/
• SouthEastern Bluegrass Association http://www.sebabluegrass.org/
• World Folk Music Association http://www.wfma.net/
• World Music Links (Center for World Music & Related Arts) http://centerforworldmusic.org/links.html
• Yahoo Directory: Music, Folk & Traditional http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Genres/Folk_and_Traditional/

General & Miscellaneou

• The Alternative Medicine HomePage http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html
• American Folklife Center (Library of Congress) http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/
• Appalshop (Whitesburg, KY) [crafts/arts-related media projects] http://www.appalshop.org/
• Baltic Institute of Folklore (BIF) http://haldjas.folklore.ee/BIF/
• CARTS (Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students) http://www.carts.org/index.html
• Folk & Traditional Arts Resources (NEA) http://www.nea.gov/resources/disciplines/folk/resources.html
• Folk Medicine (The Open Directory Project) http://dmoz.org/Health/Alternative/Folk_Medicine/
• Kentuckiana Digital Library (KYVL) http://kdl.kyvl.org/
• Kentucky Folk Art Center (Morehead State Univ.) http://www.kyfolkart.org/
• Kentucky Folk Dance [directory & links] http://www.folkdancing.org/kentucky.html
• Kentucky FolkWeb http://www.wku.edu/kentuckyfolkweb/
• Kentucky Heritage Council [historic preservation] http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/khc/khchome.htm
• Louisiana Folklife Program http://www.louisianafolklife.org/
• National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) http://www.ncta.net/
• National Trust for Historic Preservation http://www.nthp.org/
• Resources in Ethnographic Studies (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/folklife/other.html
• StoryNet (National Storytelling Network) http://www.storynet.org/
• TAPNET (Resources for Traditional Arts Programs) http://afsnet.org/tapnet/
• Texas Folklife Resources http://www.texasfolklife.org/
• Traditional Arts Program (Calif. Academy of Sciences) http://www.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/tap/index.htm