HOW TO FIND POEMS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
By David Kresh, Reference Specialist Humanities and Social Sciences
Division Arts and Humanities Team
Research Guides No. 13
December, 1993
This is a list of sources most likely to be useful in tracking
down a poem, but it is not exhaustive. Most of these reference
works are available in the Main Reading Room reference
collection. If you need assistance, ask a librarian.
The type of indexing included in each publication is indicated by
letter:
A=Author; T=Title; F=First line; S=Subject; K=Key word; L=Last
line.
CONTENTS
INDEXES TO ANTHOLOGIES AND COLLECTIONS -- GENERAL
INDEXES TO ANTHOLOGIES AND COLLECTIONS--SPECIALIZED
INDEXES TO PERIODICALS
INDEXES TO OTHER FORMATS
OTHER SOURCES
Index to this Guide
INDEXES TO ANTHOLOGIES AND COLLECTIONS -- GENERAL
1. American poetry index, 1981-86 (A, T, F, S) PS586.8.A45
2. Chicorel index to poetry in anthologies and collections in
print, 1974-77 (A, T) PN1022.C55
3. Chicorel index to poetry in anthologies and collections--
retrospective, 1975 (A, T) PN1022.C54
4. Columbia Granger's world of poetry (CD-ROM) (A, T, F, S,
K) MRCRR
5. Contemporary poets in American anthologies, 1960-1977 (A;
does not list titles of individual poems) Z1231.P7 C65
6. Granger's index to poetry, 1904- (A, T, F, S) PN1021.G7,
PN1022.G7, PN4321.G8
Call numbers of anthologies indexed in Granger's 1904-
78 can be found in A Compilation of Works Listed in
Granger's...,
PN1022.G7 Index, MRR Ref Desk.
7. Last lines, 1991 (A, T, K, L) PN1022.K55 1992
8. Master index to poetry, 1992 (A, T, F) PN1022.M37 1992
9. Poem finder on disc (CD-ROM) (A, T, F, K) (indexes books
by individual poets as well as anthologies; also indexes
periodicals) MRCRR
10. Poetry index annual, 1982- (A, T, S; also F, 1984- )
PN1022.P63
11. Roth's American poetry annual, 1988-89 (A, T) (indexes
books by individual poets; also indexes periodicals)
PS580.R68
12. Subject index to poetry, 1940 (S) PN1021.B7
INDEXES TO ANTHOLOGIES AND COLLECTIONS--SPECIALIZED
13. Bibliography of African women writers and journalists, 1985
(A, under "Poetry") (also indexes periodicals)
Z3508.L5 B47 1985
14. Bibliography of Anglo-Welsh literature, 1900-65
(A) (also indexes periodicals) Z2013.3.J64
15. Chicano anthology index, 1990 (A, under "Poems")
Z1361.M4 G37 1990
16. Childhood in poetry, 1967- (A, K) Z1037.S513
17. Children's poetry index, 1938 (A, T, S) PN1023.M25
18. Contemporary Native American literature, 1977 (A; also T or
F) (also indexes periodicals) Z1229.I52 J32
19. Hoffman's index to poetry: European and Latin American
poetry in anthologies, 1985 (A, T, F) (in original
languages) PN1022.H627 1985
20. Index to Black American literary anthologies, 1979 (A,
T) Z1229.N39 K34
21. Index to Black poetry, 1974 (A, T, F, S) PS153.N5 C45
22. Index to children's poetry, 1942- (A, T, F, S) PN1023.B7
23. Index to poetry by Black American women, 1986 (A, T, F,
S) Z1229.N39 C45 1986
24. Subject index to poetry for children and young people, 1957
(S) PN1023.A5, PN1023.S6
25. Where's that poem?, 1974 (A, S) (for children and young
people) PN1023.M6 1974
26. Women's poetry index, 1985 (A, T, F) PN1024.G89 1985
27. Writers of the Caribbean and Central America, 1992 (A; does
not list titles of individual poems) (also indexes
periodicals) Z1595.F46 1992
INDEXES TO PERIODICALS
(See also items 9, 11, 13, 14, 18, 27 above)
28. Access: the index to little magazines, 1976-78 (A, T)
AI3.A24
29. American humanities index, 1975- (A; also T, under
"Poems") AI3.A278
30. Annual index to poetry in periodicals, 1984-86 (A, T,
F) PN1022.A56
31. Comprehensive index to English-language little magazines,
1890-1970 (A) Z6944.L5 S23
32. Early American periodicals index to 1850 (A, T, F)
Microopaque 84/8 MicRR
33. Humanities index, 1974- (A; also T, under "Poems") AI3.H85
34. Index of American periodical verse, 1971- (A; also T, 1971-
74 only) Z1231.P7 I47
35. Index to American little magazines, 1900-67 (A)AI3.I54
36. Index to Commonwealth little magazines, 1964- (A; also T,
1974- under "Poems") AI3.I48
37. Index to poetry in periodicals, 1915-1919 (A) Z1231.P7 I48
38. Index to poetry in periodicals, 1920-1924 (A)
Z1231.P7 I478 1983
39. Index to poetry in periodicals, 1925-1929 (A)
Z1231.P7 I479 1984
40. Index to poetry in popular periodicals, 1955-1959 (A, T, F,
S) Z1231.P7 C37 1984
41. Index to poetry in popular periodicals, 1960-1964 (A, T, F,
S) Z1231.P7 C372 1988
42. International index to periodicals, 1907-65 (A; also T,
1920-65, under "Poems") AI3.R49
43. Literary index to American magazines, 1815-1865 (A; does
not list titles of individual poems) Z6513.W44
44. Literary writings in America (1850-1940) (A) Z1225.L58
45. Magazine index, 1980- (A, T) Microform and Electronic Resources Center (LJ-139, the former Computer Catalog Center)
46. Nineteenth century readers' guide to periodical literature,
1890-99 (A; also T, under "Poems") AI3.R48
47. Poole's index to periodical literature, 1802-1906 (A, T)
AI3.P7, AI3.W3
48. Reader's guide to periodical literature, 1900- (A; also T,
1919-57 and 1982-, under "Poems") AI3.R45
49. Social sciences and humanities index, 1965-74 (A; also T,
under "Poems") AI3.R49
Indexes to many individual periodicals have been published.
These can be found in the Library's catalogs under the
titles of the individual periodicals.
INDEXES TO OTHER FORMATS
50. Catalog of broadsides of American verse in the Harris
Collection of American Poetry and Plays, 1986 (A, T, F, S).
Z1231.P7 B72 1986
51. Chicorel index to poetry ... on discs and tapes, 1972 (A,
T) PR1175.8.C451
52. International index to recorded poetry, 1983 (A, T, F)
PN1022.H63 1983
53. Literary recordings, 1981 (A) Z663.341.L57 1981
54. Musical settings of American poetry, 1986 (A, T, composer)
ML128.V7 H67 1986
OTHER SOURCES
55. Concordances to the works of individual poets (PR1800+,
PS700+)
Some concordances are located in the Main Reading Room;
others are in the stacks and can be requested by call slip.
They are entered in the Library's catalogs under [AUTHOR'S
NAME]--CONCORDANCES. Indexing is by key words and may be
especially useful if you know lines of a poem other than the
first line.
56. Quotation dictionaries (PN6080+)
Many quotation dictionaries are located in the reference
assistance area. Indexing is by author and/or subject and/or
key words. These dictionaries may be especially useful if
you know lines of a poem other than the first line.
57. Collections of poems by individual authors
These are entered in the Library's catalogs under the
individual author's name. Request them from the stacks by
call slip.
58. Collections of poems on particular subjects
These are entered in the Library's catalogs under [SUBJECT]-
-POETRY. Poetry Themes (PN1022.M3) is a bibliography of
anthologies devoted to specific subjects.
59. Congressional Record
Poems appearing in the Congressional Record since 1947 are
listed in its annual index by title under the heading POETRY
or POEMS and, beginning in 1948, by author.
English translations of poems from other languages are
covered by many of the sources listed above. Other sources
for locating translations are listed in a reference guide
entitled How to Search for Translations at the Library of
Congress.
If all else fails, your local librarian can send your
inquiry to a column called "The Exchange" in RQ, a
periodical for librarians, and a reader may be able to
provide assistance. (Questions for "The Exchange" must come
from your librarian; you should not write directly to RQ
yourself.)
INDEX TO THIS GUIDE
(by entry number)
Author: 1-11, 13-23, 25-57, 59
Title: 1-4, 6-11, 17-23, 26, 28-30, 32-34, 36, 40-42, 45-52, 54-
55, 59
First line: 1, 4, 6, 8-10, 18-19, 21-23, 26, 30, 32, 40-41, 50,
52, 55-56
Subject: 1, 4, 6, 10, 12, 17, 21-25, 40-41, 50, 56, 58
Key words: 4, 7, 9, 16, 55-56
Last line: 7, 55-56 Washington, Library of Congress, 1994
***Last update 5/20/94 (lk)***
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