The library catalog of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges. Depending on the topic you choose, you should find most of the books you need in Tripod. However, if Tripod does not meet your every need, there are plenty of ways to track down the books we don't already own. Try searching the following catalogs to get a sense of the scope and strengths (or limitations) of Tripod.

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. Covers works published before 1,000 BC-present.

Publicly available version of Worldcat, WorldCat.org is the new beta-catalog that allows you to search the catalog and then link directly to your local library. Worth checking out, but it's only been available for a month or so. Expect bugs.

Although you may have heard differently, we actually CAN get material from the Library of Congress on Interlibrary Loan. As long as it isn't a video, a manuscript, or a rare book.

The MLA is the best place to go if you're looking for journal articles or essays in books about literature.  Like Tripod, you can do a basic keyword search, or you can narrow your searches down by using some more advanced techniques.

Using the standard search for MLA.  From here you can do a keyword search, such as "bluest eye" and "morrison."  The results will tell you every time the combination of those two search terms appeared in the database.  Beware the "Title Keyword" search: this searches keywords in the titles of critical works, not literary works.

Use the button to find out if we have the cited reference in the Trico.  A separate window will open up and either take you directly to an electronic version of the article, give you a link to check Tripod for a print copy, or tell you we don't have a copy.  If we don't have a copy, don't worry!  You can request most things from Interlibrary Loan by clicking on the ILL link, entering your name and barcode and submitting the request.

There are other ways of searching MLA that come in handy.  Try searching for "author as subject" or "author's work."  But watch out!  Not all titles are indexed in MLA (for instance, Maus).

"Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include over 70 important new terms and usages from this volatile and fast-changing field. A substantial number of the new entries come from the increasingly influential area of gender politics, Queer Theory and Masculinity Studies. New terms in this edition include 'camp', 'closet criticism', 'deghettoization', 'femaling', 'faghag/fagstag character', 'lavender language', 'cross dressing', 'outing', 'code switching' and 'transgender'. In addition, many existing entries have been revised, often substantially, and the guide to further reading has been updated."--BOOK JACKET.

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. It also treats related persons and fields that have been shaped by or have themselves shaped literary theory and criticism. Each entry includes a selective primary and secondary bibliography.

Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors.

A guide from the Cornell University Library for using the MLA style to format your paper.

An encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer culture.

The history section from a Russian gay association site.