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Reference Sources (Background)
The following list gives some representative reference titles relating to literature and literary criticism and is not exhaustive.
American Writers (1974, 4 volumes plus supplements)
Ref PS129 .A55
Critical and biographical essays on American authors since the 17th century.
British Writers (1979, 8 volumes plus supplements)
Ref PR85 .B688
Scholarly essays on the life and work of significant British, Irish, and Commonwealth writers since the 14th century.
Contemporary Literary Criticism (1973 to present, 102 volumes)
Ref PN 771 .C59 and selected articles in Literature Resource Center
Critical essays excerpted from books and journals on contemporary authors.
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (1998, 5 volumes)
Ref PN44 .M3 1998
Arranged alphabetically by title of the work, with short descriptions of major characters.
Dictionary of Literary Biography (1978 to 1996, 163 volumes)
Ref PS129 .D48 and in Literature Resource Center
A guide to writers from all periods, including biographical information and selective bibliographies of works and other resources.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (current, full text)
15 key reference encyclopedias in biology and medicine, literature, and the social sciences. Includes Contemporary Novelists, Contemporary Poets, Nonfiction Classics for Students, and St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.
Literature Resource Center
Provides access to critical analyses and biographical information on more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, and other writers from around the world. Includes the full text of several reference sources.
Magill Index to Masterplots (1993)
PN44 .M334 1994
Guide to several different series containing summaries and criticism of various works. Some articles also have brief bibliographies.
Oxford English Dictionary (1989, 20 volumes)
PE1625 .O87 1989
Premier dictionary of the English language, including definitions, illustrative quotations, and etymology.
Oxford Reference Online: Literature (current, full text)
Search reference books published by Oxford University Press. Includes The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, The Oxford Companion to Chaucer, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States, and A Dictionary of Shakespeare, among others.
Poetry Criticism (1991 to present, 71 volumes)
Ref PN1010 .P6
Excerpts from criticism of the works of the most significant and widely studied poets of world literature.
Locating Books
The Library of Congress Classification for Languages and Literature is P:
| PN |
Literature (General) |
| PQ |
Romance Literature |
| PR |
English Literature |
| PS |
American Literature |
| PT |
Germanic Literature |
| PZ |
Juvenile Literature (all languages) |
MaconCat
The library's online catalog, providing access to books, journals, music, and movies in the library. To search for information about an author, enter the author's name and search as subject.
WorldCat
A catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide.
Books and articles not owned by our library can be obtained from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan. Allow sufficient time for processing. Average turnaround time is 3-5 days for articles and 3-14 days for books, excluding holidays and weekends. Submit ILL requests well in advance of deadlines.
Locating Articles (Databases & Indexes)
MLA International Bibliography (1926 to present, citation only)
The premier database for literature research. Provides a comprehensive international listing of scholarly books, articles, and dissertations.
JSTOR (dates vary by journal, full text)
An archive of over 400 journals in many disciplines.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (1980 to present, citation only)
Articles in the arts and humanities fields.
Project MUSE (late 1990s to present, full text)
Coves over 300 journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
Academic Search Complete
You may also want to browse through the current and bound periodicals in the library. A list of journals relating to language and literature is available at the circulation desk.
Websites
A Celebration of Women Writers (University of Pennsylvania)
Digital library of works by and about women authors as well as other links.
Contemporary Writers (British Council: Arts)
Database of living British and Commonwealth authors. Information for each author includes a biographical sketch, bibliography of works, and list of awards. Some entries also feature a brief signed critical essay.
Introductory Guide to Critical Theory (Purdue University)
Includes sections on Gender & Sex, Marxism, Narratology, New Historicism, Postmodernism, and Psychoanalysis. Each section includes an introduction, modules on major theorists, a glossary of terms, and more.
Literary Criticism (Internet Public Library)
Portal to websites categorized by author and title. Users can also browse by period and language.
Literary Resources on the Net (Rutgers University)
Portal to annotated links in a variety of categories. Emphasis is on British and American literature.
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature (California State University)
Includes author information grouped alphabetically and by time period, as well as "appendices" on various topics and themes relating to American literature. All pages include a bibliography of print sources.
Representative Poetry Online (University of Toronto)
Online texts and biographical information from 1400 years of English-language poetry, particularly the 19th Century. Poems are annotated, and the site also has a timeline, calendar, glossary, links to criticism, and a bibliography. A special section highlights Canadian poetry.
Authors and Works
Geoffrey Chaucer (Harvard University)
A wealth of sources related to Chaucer and his works, including a guide to pronunciation, articles on topics related to Chaucer's time, a chronology, texts of the works, a bibliography, and more.
Links to Chaucer Resources (The New Chaucer Society)
Has a wide variety of links for both Chaucer and Medieval studies.
The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (University of Michigan)
Search for a particular word or browse through the titles. Also includes a concordance.
The Jack London Collection (Sonoma State University)
Includes basic biographical information in addition to images, writings, audio files, and other resources related to the author.
Open Source Shakespeare
The full text of Shakespeare's plays and poems, fully searchable and easy to read and print.
Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture: A Multi-media Archive (UVa)
Browse or search through primary sources, historical documents, and sound and film clips related to Stowe's book.
Periods and Movements
Middle English Texts (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages)
Online edition of Middle English works, with annotations and lengthy introductions.
Penny Illustrated Paper (British Library)
Complete 52-year run of the Victorian weekly, completely searchable and browseable.
The Poetess Tradition: 1750–1900 (Miami University)
Searchable database of primary and secondary sources related to the "sentimental" poets. Some full text is available.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database (Texas A&M)
Citations to scholarly and fan writing on science fiction, fantasy, and horror from 1878–present.
Evaluating Sources
Evaluating Sources (R-MC)
Is it POPULAR or is it SCHOLARLY? (R-MC)
Critical Evaluation of Resources on the Internet (University of Alberta Libraries)
Citing Sources
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (2003)
Ref Desk LB 2369 .G53 2003
Citing in MLA Style (R-MC)
Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style(MLA)
Citing Full-Text from Library Databases (R-MC)
Citation Styles Online! (Bedford St. Martin's)
Includes examples of citations of various online sources in MLA, APA, Chicago and other styles.
KnightCite (Calvin College)
Automatically formats citation information according to MLA, APA, or Chicago styles.