Contemporary Authors
In this database on the Library’s web site, you will find biographical and critical information about O’Brien, especially in the “Sidelights” section. A list of further readings about O’Brien is included.

Literary Criticism on O’Brien:

For books about O’Brien’s work, use ALiCat. Type in the subject heading  “O’Brien, Tim—Criticism and Interpretation” and search by “Browse Subject.”

For briefer essays, try Contemporary Literary Criticism located in the reference section on 2^nd floor.

REF PN771 .C59
Volume 103
Here you will find essays and reviews of The Things They Carried and an interview with O’Brien.

If you want to find more articles about O’Brien and The Things They Carried, especially recent articles, you can look in the Library’s databases for articles in journals. Try Academic Search Elite (EBSCO)  (where you will find a mixture of popular and scholarly articles), JSTOR Journal Archive  (which archives the full text of scholarly articles) , or MLA Bibliography (which is an index to scholarly articles in the field of language and literature). Search for “O’Brien, Tim” as a subject, not as an author (unless you want to see if he wrote some articles himself).

Sources in the Reference Collection about the War (2^nd floor):

Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II
REF D843 .E46 1999
Includes a 12-page article on the Vietnam War and a short bibliography.

Historical Dictionary of Vietnam
REF DS556.25 .D85 1989
A historical dictionary that provides an introduction to the country. Includes terms that cover politics, history, culture, economics, society, events, and individuals. Also includes a bibliography of English-language books about Vietnam, an outline of its history, and a chronology of events.

Dictionary of the Vietnam War
REF DS557.7 .D53 1988
A ready reference to the people, legislation, military operations, and controversies important to American participation in the Vietnam War. Appendices include a glossary of acronyms and slang expressions, a bibliography, a map of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975, and a chronology of the war.

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War
REF DS557.7 .E53 1996
A one-volume encyclopedia with maps and pictures that informs the reader about the people and events of the war and its surrounding history. Long essays are interspersed with shorter ones. A synoptic outline provides an entry to the encyclopedia by concept; under the concept “countries and places,” for example, you will find the relevant articles listed.

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War
REF DS557.7 .E53 1998
A three-volume encyclopedia of the war that includes a glossary and chronology. Volume 3 reprints primary documents related to American involvement in the war.  

Writing About Vietnam: A Bibliography of the Literature of the Vietnam Conflict
REF DS557.7 .W5 1989
As of 1988, this book gathers together the most complete list of materials written about the Vietnam conflict, not including “histories, documents, and political science treatises.” It does include such materials as novels, poetry, and literary criticism.

The Vietnam Experience: A Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs, and Films
REF 557.73 .H55 1998
Provides a guide to the 44 “most notable” creative works about the Vietnam War, including The Things They Carried. An appendix lists 275 additional works that deal with the war.

Books about the Vietnam War:

Look for books in ALiCat by using these subject headings in “browse by subject:” Some of these headings might be useful in looking for articles in journals and magazines, too.

Other War Memoirs:

A quick way to find war memoirs is to do a Boolean search in ALiCat with these terms: “’personal narratives’ and war” or “’personal narratives’ and ‘vietnam war’”.

Slang of the Vietnam War:

Dictionary of the Vietnam War
REF DS557.7 .D53 1988
See the section on slang towards the back.

Words of the Vietnam War
REF PE3727 .S7 C57 1990
Persons, places, equipment, slang, graffiti, and much more in this comprehensive dictionary of the war.

Vietnam Veteran’s Terminology and Slang
http://grunt.space.swri.edu/glossary.htm

Glossary of Military Terms and Slang from the Vietnam War
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Glossary/Sixties_Term_Gloss_A_C.html

Folklore (Excluding Folksongs) of Americans in the Vietnam War
http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/fishlm/folksongs/vietfolk.htm
A list of books and articles.

Maps:

A World Atlas of Military History 1945-1984
REF D25 .A2 H3 1984
See pages 78 to 80.

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/maps.htm

http://www.nexus.net/~911gfx/sea-ao.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/maps/index.html

Primary Documents:

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War
REF DS557.7 .W5 1989
See volume 3.

Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy: Vietnam
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietnam.htm

The Wars For Viet Nam, 1945-1975
http://vietnam.vassar.edu/

The American Experience: Vietnam Online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/psources/index.html

A Different War: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/vietnam-war-index.html

On-Line Resources:

Studying the Vietnam War Online
http://www.refstar.com/vietnam/online_study.html
Put together by an amateur historian, this is a collection of online materials about the Vietnam War.

A Study Guide to the Vietnam War Using Books
http://www.refstar.com/vietnam/index.html
By the same historian as above who recommends books, rather than online sources, for in-depth study of the war.

The American Experience: Vietnam Online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/index.html
Here is some background material related to PBS’s 11-part film series about the history of the Vietnam War. Tredway Library owns this film (DS558 .V475 1996). Parts of the film may be on reserve.

Vietnam: Yesterday and Today
http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/
By a professor at Oakton Community College; includes a timeline, recommended books about the war, and links.

The Wars For Viet Nam, 1945-1975
http://vietnam.vassar.edu/
Developed by a professor of history at Vassar College, this site includes an overview of the war, primary documents, and links to more information.

Vietnam: A Teacher’s Guide
http://www.askasia.org/frclasrm/readings/r000189.htm
In 1983, the Asia Society devoted an entire issue of its journal Focus on Asian Studies to the War. Here is a reprint.

The History Net’s Vietnam Magazine
http://www.thehistorynet.com/vn/
You can find many articles here about the Vietnam War.

A Different War: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/vietnam-war-index.html
This is a collection of material from the Times that examines the war and is aftermath. The site includes coverage of the war, reflective essays, primary documents, a timeline, and discussions.

Compiled by Margi Rogal, Reference Librarian
Last updated: 8/25/05.