What type of resource do you need to use?

• Books
• Reference Books as Sources
• Reference Books with Excerpts
• Reference Books as Indexes
• Articles in Databases
• Essays

Books- Use the library catalog to look up books, magazines, journals, and audio-visual materials that are OWNED by the library.  You can search for materials by author, title, subject or keyword. Select key words such as your author's last name or a distinct word from the title. Ex. Frost and mending.

Reference Books as Sources- Some general literature reference books are like encyclopedias and actually contain the information you seek and provide an abundance of background material to introduce you and your reader to your literary topic. These are usually found under general literary subjects such as American literature--History and criticism, or, English poetry.

Reference Books with Excerpts- Some books compile excerpts from other resources and make them available in one place. The original source is always cited and becomes part of your citation.

Reference Books as Indexes- Some specialized subject reference books are indexes that contain citations to original sources. For literary research these reference books may be the only way to locate obscure information about an author's work. Indexing sources may cite books or journal articles. Use our "publication name search" from our indexes & databases page.

Articles in Databases- Many literature resources are not available online. You may need to gather citations and then locate the printed resource.

Literature Subject Guide for call numbers, online resources with articles, and other resources.

Language & literature subject indexes and databases contain literature and literary topics. Search subject indexes as you would general indexes. You will notice that your citations usually identify literary magazines and journals, or books with essays about literary works.

For More Information:

• Introduction to literature research instructions.
• Library research instructions.