Scope

According to the Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature, urban legends are defined as "apocryphal contemporary stories, told as true and usually attributed to a friend of a friend (FOAF)." Other terms used to describe these stories are contemporary legends, modern legends, and modern urban legends. The "Overview" section of this Research Guide focuses on background information of contemporary urban folklore. Under "Recommended Databases" you will find a selective list of journal indexes, but also a brief list of core journals dealing with the topic of Urban Legends. The "Internet Sites" section focuses more extensively on the topic, covering contemporary Urban Legends, Internet hoaxes, viruses, and fraud.

Overview

Contemporary Legend: A Reader
College Library Main Book Collection: GR 78 C665 1996

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 1992 (updated daily)
Britannica Online is a searchable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest encyclopedia articles. Basic instructions for Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PN 41 E48 1998
Refer to "Urban Legends," pages 676-680

Encyclopedia of Urban Legends
College Library Open Book Entertainment: GR105.34 B78 2002

The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained.
College Library Reference Collection: BF 1025 S79 2003 v.1-3
Refer to "urban legends and beliefs" and "hoaxes" in the index of any volume.

Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends
College Library Main Book Collection: GR 105 B715 1999

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

folklore and United States
urban legend* and meaning
urban and folklore
urban and myth and United States
urban storytelling
contemporary legend*

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Humanities Full Text 1984 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 400 scholarly journals on archaeology, classical studies, art, film, folklore, history, journalism, linguistics, literature, music, performing arts, philosophy and religion. Basic instructions for Humanities Full Text

MLA Bibliography (Literature) 1963 - to date (quarterly)
The Modern Language Association International Bibliography indexes 3,000 English language and foreign periodicals as well as books, book chapters, and dissertations. Its subject matter includes critical works on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Reviews of literary and scholarly works are not included. There are no abstracts. Basic instructions for MLA Bibliography

PsycINFO 1872 - to date (updated weekly)
Indexes 1,300 scholarly journals along with books and book chapters in psychology, educational psychology, and behavioral sciences. Basic instructions for PsycINFO

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

Core Journal List

Australian Folklore
Contemporary Legend
Folklore
Journal of American Folklore
Journal of Folklore Research
Journal of American Culture
Journal of Popular Culture
Mid-America Folklore
Midwestern Folklore
Southern Folklore
Western Folklore

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on urban legends can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"urban legends" and "United States"
hoax? and "United States"
"urban myths"
"urban folklore" and "United States"
rumor and "United States"

Internet Sites

CDC Health Related Hoaxes and Rumors
http://www.cdc.gov/hoax%5frumors.htm
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recognized as the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people." This page from their Web site identifies health related hoaxes.

Hoaxbusters
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org
Hoaxbusters concentrates mostly on exposing Internet and email chain letter hoaxes. The site is hosted by the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, a subgroup of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Museum of Hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com
The author of this site is Alex Boese, also author of the book by the same name. Here you will find hoax Web sites, photographs, April Fool's Day hoaxes, College pranks, tall tale creatures, and birth hoaxes. You can also browse through a historical timeline of hoaxes.

Ostension.org
http://www.ostension.org
"This site attempts to describe what ostension is and explain what it has to do with contemporary / urban legends. Ostension encompasses a wide range of subjects including crop circles, AIDS, mind control, ghosts, satanism, alien abductions, cults, etc."

Purportal.com
http://www.purportal.com
This site is a search engine that searches well known hoax and computer virus sites. E-Scribe runs the Purportal.com hoax-and-scam research service.

Quackwatch
http://www.quackwatch.org
"Quackwatch, Inc., a member of Consumer Federation of America, is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies." The site's author is Stephen Barrett, M.D., a retired psychiatrist.

Scambusters.org
http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters22.html
A Web site that provides an online newsletter, information about urban legends, computer viruses, credit card fraud, and spam email.

Urban Legend Combat Kit
http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit
"The Urban Legend Combat Kit is a free collection of canned responses to help you combat Internet myths and urban legends."

Urban Legends and Folklore
http://urbanlegends.about.com
This site is authored by David Emery, a freelance writer and an avid chronicler of urban folklore. Use the navigation on the left side to choose topics such as celebrities, virus hoaxes, horrors, and weird news.

Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp
Sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society, this site includes such categories as "cokelore" and "rumors of war." Each category has a list of statements, they are identified as true or false, and further detailed information is provided by clicking on the link to the story. Each explanation has a list of cited references at the bottom of the page. Beware of pop-up ads.

Vmyths.com
http://vmyths.com/hoax.cfm?id=18&page=1&cat=Myths%20and%20urban%20legends
"Learn about computer virus myths, hoaxes, urban legends, hysteria, and the implications if you believe in them. You can also search a list of computer virus hoaxes & virus hysteria from A to Z."

Virus Hoaxes and Netlore
http://hoaxinfo.com
This site if devoted exclusively to debunking email hoaxes.

Organizations

Break the Chain
http://www.breakthechain.org
"The Mission of BreakTheChain.org is to educate people about the shortcomings of e-mail chain letters as a means to distribute information and to empower them to make informed, logical decisions about the information they distribute."

The International Society for Contemporary Legend Research
http://www.panam.edu/faculty/mglazer/isclr/isclr.htm
This organization "encourages study of so-called "modern" and "urban" legends, and also of any legend that circulates actively. Members are especially concerned with ways in which legends merge with life: real-life analogs to legend plots, social crusades that use legends or legend-like horror stories, and search for evidence behind claims of alien abductions and mystery cats."