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- Andrew Patterson, Reference Librarian (BMC)
- Arleen Zimmerle, Media & Reference Librarian (BMC)
- Melissa Kramer, Head, Library Access Services (BMC)
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ENGL 398 : Senior Seminar (BMC)
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Getting Background Information:
Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory & criticism
A full-text searchable database of articles on individual critics and theorists, critical and theoretical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods.
Literature resource center
Good source for biographies of authors from every age and literary discipline. Contains text from the Dictionary of Literary Biography.
Literature On-line (Chadwyck-Healey)
Provider: Chadwyck-Healey
Cross-search full-text journal articles, bibliographic citations from the MLA International Bibliography and ABELL (the MHRA's Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature), biographies, reference works and web sites.
- Once connected, Select Criticism and Reference
Best Places to Start:
Tripod library catalog.
Start with a general Keyword search, e.g. "transnational culture", then convert to a Subject search. You can do this for topics, authors, or key works.
Subject searches can include:- author names: "Poe, Edgar Allan",
- regional literature: "English Literature"
- genres and categories: "feminist literary criticism"
Subdivisions of subjects can be very valuable.
- criticism & interpretation
- bibliography
WorldCat
Provider: OCLC
A catalog of the holdings of books, journals, and other materials held by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) member libraries. Includes manuscripts, maps, films and sound recordings. Obtain materials not owned by the Tri-Colleges through EZ-Borrow/Interlibrary Loan.
MLA international bibliography
Provider: ProQuest
The core database for finding journal articles in literature; wide ranging scope includes many small and foreign publications. Also provides citations to books, working papers, conference proceedings, bibliographies, and other materials. Other areas covered include language, linguistics, film, theatre and folklore. Covers 1926-present.
More Databases & Resources:
JSTOR
Provides full-text and page images from many of the top journals in most academic disciplines. Coverage is from the inception of the journal through three to five years ago.
Project Muse
Provides access to journals published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. Disciplines covered are humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
ProQuest Research Library
Provider: ProQuest
Provides citations and full-text magazine and journal articles in a wide variety of disciplines, both scholarly and popular in scope. Covers 1971-present.
Arts & humanities citation index
Provider: FirstSearch
Provides access to current and retrospective information and cited references found in arts and humanities journals and social science and science journals. Records include articles, bibliographies, editorials and reviews. Covers 1980-present.
- Allows for citation searching
Dissertation abstracts online
Provides citations to approximately 99 percent of all American dissertations accepted at an accredited institution since 1861. Masters theses selectively included since 1962.
- Request dissertations through Interlibrary Loan
- Dissertation bibliographies can be useful.
Contemporary Materials for Assorted Topics:
Use these databases to find articles and reviews written at the time that the literary work was originally published. Covers 1770 - 1924.
19th century masterfile
Provider: Paratext
Offers millions of citations to periodicals, newspapers, books, patents and government documents published prior to 1925.
Periodicals index online (Chadwyck)
Index to journal articles in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, including some published as far back as 1770. Includes periodicals in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, and other Western languages.
Readers' guide retrospective
Provides indexing of general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
Sources for Online Texts:
Useful for searching for a specific subject, idea or keyword in texts from the time period covered.
Literature On-line (Chadwyck-Healey)
Provider: Chadwyck-Healey
A fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose.
- Once connected, select Texts
American verse project
Assembles an electronic archive of already-published volumes of American poetry prior to 1920, without any additional critical materials. The selection includes a number of works by African-American and women poets. The online volumes are coded in SGML using the TEI guidelines.
Early English books online.
Contains digital images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. Includes books, pamphlets, manuscripts and newspapers.
Eighteenth Century collections online.
Offers full-text access to English-language titles and editions published between 1701 and 1800 including books, pamphlets, almanacs, Bibles and treatises. Subjects covered include history, geography, fine arts, medicine, science, literature, language, religion, philosophy and law. Significant collections of women writers, collections on the French Revolution, and numerous eighteenth-century editions of the works of Shakespeare are also included.
Modern English Collection
Offers access to modern English language literature collections. Contains fiction,nonfiction, poetry, drama, letters,newspapers, manuscripts and illustrations from 1500 to the present. Covers publications from 1950-present.
Women writers online.
Offers a full-text collection of works in English by pre-victorian women writers. Covers 1400-1850.
Databases in other disciplines:
Databases in other disciplines
explore databases in disciplines such as history, political science, theater, film, classics...
Feminae
Provides abstracts and/or citation information to journal articles, book reviews and essays about women, sexuality and gender in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, from 450 C.E. to 1500 C.E. Covers materials published since 1990.
Film indexes online
Provider: ProQuest
Provides detailed information on films from around the world, including production and cast information, plot summaries, background notes, awards listings, and citations to reviews and other secondary literature. Offers simultaneous searching of the American Film Institute Catalog and the British Film Institute's Film Index International. Covers 1893 - present.
Finding Book Reviews:
Suggestions for finding book reviews
Citing References:
Citation and Style Guides
See this page for guidance on properly referencing the others who have influenced your work. Includes a help guide on creating an annotated bibliography.