Last revised: August 2008
Short Stories: How to Find a Specific Short Story
Scope: This guide provides a quick start for finding a specific short story. Email the subject area specialist at thackman@umd.edu or call 301-314-8521 for more information.
- Search the Libraries' Catalog. Choose the word/s anywhere search option and type in the author's last name and keywords from the title of the short story. EXAMPLES: mcmillan quilting rebound or carver cathedral.
The box below will open the Catalog and launch your search in a new window.
Examine your search results for books that may include the short story as part of a collection. The title of the short story may appear as part of the title of the work or it may appear in the table of contents. You may also find videos or DVDs based on the short story.
- Search the Libraries' Catalog. Choose the author beginning with... search option and type in the author's name (last name, first name). EXAMPLE: wharton, edith.
The box below will open the Catalog and launch your search in a new window.
Click on "View Titles" and examine the list for books that mention "collected works of...", "complete works of...", "complete short stories of...", "collected short stories of...", etc.
To find videos or DVDs based on your short story, use the Catalog's Advanced Search feature. Search for the author's name or part of the short story title in all fields, then choose "Videos/Films (All)" in the format field.
- Search WorldCat for books that may include the short story as part of a collection. Try one or both of the following searches.
- Search Short Story Index. Check each volume by your author's name for collections that may include the short story. Then check the Libraries Catalog to see if the library owns any of these collections.
Short Story Index
LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
CALL NUMBER: Z5917.S5S5
Or try these other indexes to short stories:
- The Afro-American Short Story: A Comprehensive, Annotated Index with Selected Commentaries (1950-1982)
- Index to American Short Story Award Collections, 1970-90
- Index to Best American Short Stories and O. Henry Prize Stories
- Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication. (New Series) (1989-2000)
- Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication (1961-1991)
- Check the following databases and websites for full text electronic versions of short stories.
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A. In the first box, type in the author's last name and keywords from the title of the short story and choose the Keyword search option. EXAMPLE: morrison behind shade.
B. Type the author's last name in the first box and choose the Author search option. In the second box, type in the keywords from the title of the short story and select the Keyword option.
Examine your search results for books that may include the short story as part of a collection. The title of the short story may appear as part of the title of the work or it may appear in the table of contents.
If your search is successful, click on the "Find It" link to see if the UM Libraries own the book(s) that contain the short story. If not, then you may also use "Find It" to request the book(s) through Interlibrary Loan.
Databases:
Literature Online (LION): A full text collection of over 350,000 works of poetry, drama, and prose written in the English language from the 8th century to the present with complementary criticism and reference resources. Includes English poetry from the 8th century to the present, American, African-American and Canadian poetry from 1603 to the present, The Faber Poetry Library, English fiction from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, American fiction from 1789-1875, non-fictional literary prose in English from the 16th to the early 20th centuries, English drama from 1280 to 1915, and American drama from 1762 to 1860.
Websites:
ALEX Catalogue of Electronic Texts: A collection of public domain documents from American and English literature as well as Western philosophy. Search by keyword or browse by author or title.
Bartleby.com: Click on the tab for "Fiction." You can search by keyword, browse collections by author, or browse anthologies including the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction.
Bibliomania: 2,000 classic texts online, with short stories listed alphabetically by title.
Classic Reader: Offers "a large collection of free classic books, plays, and short stories by authors such as Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare and many others. You can read, search and even add your own annotations to any of the classic books."
East of the Web: Short Stories: New works and classics in nine genres: children's, crime, fiction, horror, humor, non-fiction, romance, sci-fi and "hyperfiction."
The English Server Fiction Collection: A relatively small collection, listed alphabetically by author.
Google Book Search: Searches a growing collection of online books from publishers and libraries. Due to copyright restrictions, full-text may not be available for many books.
The Online Books Page: Index includes more than 25,000 English works in various formats that are freely available for personal, noncommercial use. You can search or browse by author or title, or browse by subject.
