Reference Sources for Researching Printed Americana: An Introduction

Joel Silver

A three-part, live-only Zoom webinar series open to 20 participants scheduled for 10–11 a.m. ET, Monday, 20 July 2020, Wednesday, 22 July 2020, and Monday, 27 July 2020. 

Most seats have already been filled by students admitted to this summer’s iteration of L-25; to inquire about registering for the webinar series, please email RBS Programs at rbs-events@virginia.edu by 18 July 2020. 

The field of printed Americana has a particularly rich and interesting body of reference literature, and this webinar series will introduce students to several dozen of the most important and frequently used bibliographical reference sources on the subject. The sources to be discussed include the major bibliographies, catalogues, and guides usually covered in the Americana unit in Joel Silver’s RBS course L-25 “Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books,” along with some additional sources drawn from his course L-45 “Reference Sources for Researching Printed Americana.” In the three online webinar sessions, the instructor will cover details related to the compilation of each of the sources, and will provide information about their strengths and weaknesses, as well as strategies on how they can be used effectively.