ENGL 301: Critical Methods in the Study of Literature
Professor Kari Kraus, Spring 2008
Web page created by Timothy Hackman, UM Libraries
This guide will assist you in locating resources for English 301. E-mail Tim Hackman, the subject area specialist, or call 301-314-8521 for more information.
For a complete list of electronic resources available to University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students, as well as information about the full range of library materials and services, consult Research Port and the UM Libraries' home page.
Contents
Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Biographies
Literary Criticism: Books and Journal Articles
Web Sites
Interlibrary Loan
Preparing Your Bibliography
Questions?
Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
These sources are an excellent starting point for information on literary terms, critics, movements, theories and more. In addition to detailed information on these topics they often include lists of sources that can help you start on your research.
Oxford English Dictionary
Comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Traces the development of English words from approximately 1150 AD up to the present day.
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
McKeldin Reference PN81.J55 1994
Dictionary of Concepts in Literary Criticism and
Theory
McKeldin Reference PN41.H36 1992
A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
McKeldin Reference PN41.C83 1998
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory:
Approaches, Scholars, Terms
McKeldin Reference PN81.E43 1993
Encyclopedia of Literary Critics and Criticism
McKeldin Reference PN86.E53 1999 2 volumes
A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory, 4th ed.
McKeldin Reference PN44.5.H37 2000
A
Glossary of Rhetorical Terms
A Handbook to Literature, 10th ed.
McKeldin Reference PN41.H355 2006
Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources for the Study of Literatures in English and Related Topics. 2nd ed.
McKeldin Stacks PR83.H37 1993
Books
Searching Tips:
To locate books by and about an author use the word/s anywhere search option and type in the author's name. This type of search works well for authors for which there is not much material available: EX: julian barnes.
To locate books by an author use the author beginning with... search option and type in the author's last name, first name: EX: woolf, virginia.
To locate books of criticism on an author use the subject word/s anywhere or the word/s anywhere search option and type in the author's and the word "criticism": EX: virginia woolf criticism.
For information about authors for which there is a large body of criticial work try the subject beginning with search option and type in the author's last name, first name: EX: shakespeare, william. Browse the list of subject headings and select relevant categories.
The subject headings found in all Catalog records are incredibly useful for all types of searches. Below is a brief list of headings that might be helpful for this course. Note that some may be combined with other sub-headings; for example, "Book Industries and Trade" can be narrowed down by adding "U.S." or "England," then "History," "19th Century," etc.
Cut and paste one of the headings above into the search box below to open the Catalog and launch your search in a new window.
When using the databases below, be sure to follow the If the database does not have the
This list is not comprehensive. For additional resources in these and other subject areas, please consult the list of Databases by Subject Category in Research Port.
Please help us improve our library instruction sessions by filling out the following Feedback Form. Be sure to fill in your course and section number, your instructor's name and (if you would like a response) your email address in the correct boxes. Thank you!
Biographies
Literature
Resource Center
Full-text database of author biographies, criticism and reviews of authors' works.
Catalog
Find book-length biographies available in the UM libraries
Use the Subject Word/s search option or the Word/s anywhere search option and type in the author's name and the word "biography": EX: aphra behn biography.
Literary Criticism: Books and Journal Articles
Use the CATALOG
to search for resources available in the University System of Maryland Libraries.
Art in Literature
Art and Literature
Music in Literature
Music and Literature
Cognition in Literature
Cognitive Science
Psychoanalysis and Literature
Memory in Literature
Publishers and Publishing
Literature Publishing
Book Industries and Trade
Booksellers and Bookselling
Film and Video Adaptations
Motion Pictures and Literature
Literature and Photography
Literature and Technology
Hypertext Systems
Literature and the Internet
Humanities -- Data Processing
Information Storage and Retrieval Systems -- Humanities
WorldCat
This huge catalog will lead you to resources available in major libraries around the world. Books not owned by UM can be requested via Interlibrary Loan.
link. This will direct you to the available full text, the catalog, or Interlibrary Loan if full text is not available and if the Libraries do not subscribe to the journal or needed volume and issue.
link go to the Journals subset of the Catalog and search for the title of the journal. If you are able to locate an entry for the journal, use the link to determine if an electronic, paper, or microform version of it is available. If the Libraries do not own the journal or the specific volume and issue you need, you can request it through Interlibrary
Loan
MLA International
Bibliography
Information on articles, books, essays, and dissertations on language and literature topics published from the 1920s to present.
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL Plus)
Information about articles, essays, books, dissertations, and book reviews on language and literature topics from the 1920s to present.
Arts & Humanities Search
Information on articles and book reviews on arts and humanities topics published from 1980 to the present. An excellent source for film-related articles, as well as for tracing citations in humanities journals.
Literature
Resource Center
Full-text database of author biographies, criticism and reviews of authors' works.
Literary Index
Indexes the Gale Literary Criticism Series. This series contains excerpts of important criticism from hundreds of magazines, scholarly journals, and books. The database will identify the titles, volumes, and page numbers within the series that include entries on your author and/or text. Much of the material in this series can also be found in Literature
Resource Center.
Electronic Journal Collections: JSTOR and Project Muse
are collections of electronic journals, not databases. You can search them for full-text articles on your topic but your results may not represent all (or even the best) of the available scholarship. Search the MLA International Bibliography and ABELL instead, and use the links to connect to the full-text articles wherever they are available.
If your topic is multi-disciplinary, you should also consider databases from other disciplines. For example:
America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts
Art Abstracts or ArtBibliographies Modern
Computer & Info Systems or INSPEC
Film Literature Index
Music Index or RILM Music
PsycInfo or Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Web Sites
Evaluating Web Sites
American Authors on the Web
[http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/AmeLit.html]
This site links to hundreds of Internet sites on American authors and is arranged chronologically
by author's birth date.
English Literature on the Web
[http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/EngLit.html]
This site links to hundreds of Internet sites related to English literature and is arranged by literary
time period, from medieval times through the 20th century.
The eserver.org [http://eserver.org/]
This site links to Internet resources in the humanities, including many full text documents, in the following areas: art, architecture, drama, fiction, poetry, cultural theory, feminism, film &
television, gender & sexuality, history, music, and philosophy.
Intute: Arts and Humanities [http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/]
An extensive catalog of online humanities resources for education and research, selected and evaluated by a network of subject specialists.
Literary Resources on the Net
[http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit]
Links to sites dealing with literature. The following areas are covered: classical & biblical, medieval, renaissance, restoration & eighteenth century, romantic, Victorian British, 20th-century British & Irish, American, and other national literatures, theater and drama, and literary theory.
The Voice of the Shuttle
[http://vos.ucsb.edu]
This page links to Web sites in the humanities including American Studies, cultural studies, history, literature, literary theory, linguistics, media studies, and more.
Interlibrary Loan
Material not held in our libraries can be requested through Interlibrary Loan.
Preparing Your Bibliography
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Resources for students on academic integrity and plagiarism.
How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
Citing Sources Using the MLA Handbook
A Guide for Writing Research papers based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation
Using MLA Style to Cite and Document Sources
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
Location: McKeldin Quick Reference Shelf
Call Number: PN147.G53 2003
Questions and Feedback
If you have any questions about these or other library resources,
contact Patricia Herron or Tim Hackman.
return to top
