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ENGL 301: Critical Methods in the Study of Literature

Professor V. Valiavitcharska, 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
Background Research: Primary Documents
Background Research: Databases
Web Sites
Interlibrary Loan
Preparing Your Bibliography
Questions?

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

    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

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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.

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Literary Criticism: Books and Journal Articles

Books

    Catalog
    Resources available in the University System of Maryland Libraries

    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: barnes, julian.

    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: aphra behn 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.

    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.

Articles

When using the databases below, be sure to follow the 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.

If the database does not have the 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 1963 to the 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 1920 to the present

    Arts & Humanities Search
    Information on articles and book reviews on arts and humanities topics published from 1980 to the present.

    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.

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Background Research: Primary Documents

To find primary materials, begin with the guide to Research Using Primary Sources, created by the UM Libraries Special Collections. You can also consult the Web Guide to Primary Sources in Microform Collections or one of the following databases:

    19th Century Masterfile
    19th Century Masterfile is the largest resource for pre-1925 studies online, with more than 60 indexes to periodicals, books, newspapers, patents and US/UK Government Documents.

    American Periodicals Series
    Full text images of over 1,100 colonial and early American magazines and periodicals spanning from colonial times to the mid 20th century. Titles range from America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository, to popular magazines like Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal.

    Early English Books Online (EEBO)
    Database of most imprints (books, pamphlets, and broadsides) published in English anywhere or published in any language in English-speaking countries, appearing from 1473 to 1700. One can search the full ASCII text of *selected* documents and view both the text and the corresponding original page images.

    Eighteenth Century Collections Online: History & Geography Subset
    One of seven subsets of the Eighteenth Century Collections Online, a digital archive, which when completed will comprise more than 150,000 multi-disciplinary works published in the United Kingdom and the Americas between 1701 and 1800. The History & Geography subset includes a vast amount of primary source materials including biographies, memoirs, genealogical collections, gazetteers, chronologies, military information, maps, church documents and more. The database allows for full-text searching of these publications.

    New York Times Historical
    The New York Times Historical (1851-2001) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

    Washington Post Historical
    The Washington Post (1877-1988) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

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Background Research: Databases

The following databases may be helpful for locating background information, analysis, and other secondary sources on a particular place or historical period. Be sure to follow the link to find the full text of your article.

    America History and Life
    Information on articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations on U.S. and Canadian history from prehistory to the present. Covers more than 2000 international worldwide. Includes links to full text of selected journal articles.

    Historical Abstracts
    Information on articles, books, and dissertations about non-U.S. and non-Canadian history from 1450 to the present. Covers more than 2000 journals in 50 languages. Includes links to full text of selected journal articles.

    L'Annee Philologique
    Index to journal articles, books, articles in collections, and conference papers on multiple aspects of ancient Greek and Roman civilization.

    Perseus
    An interactive multi-media database for the study of the history, archaeology, art, and literature of archaic and classical Greece. Includes images of art and architecture, primary texts in Greek with English translation, a Greek-English lexicon, a world atlas, histories, articles and essays, and an extensive bibliography.

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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.

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Interlibrary Loan

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Preparing Your Bibliography

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Questions and Feedback

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Last modified: April 02, 2008

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