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English 618
| Journals | Book Reviews | Criticism and Articles |
| Websites | Stuff Beyond the Library | Manuscripts |
| Biographies | Bibliographies | Old School but Still Fabulous |
Finding Journal Descriptions
- MLA Directory of Periodicals: a guide to journals and series in languages and literature
WCU REFERENCE PN 4731.M553 1999
UNCA PER INDEX AI .L199 - Ulrich's Periodicals Directory
WCU REF DESK (rear side) Z6941.U4 2005
UNCA REFERENCE Z6941 .U5 (Ready Ref: 2006) - Magazines for Libraries - gives review-like descriptions of the periodicals.
Reviews are now full text in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. Be sure to read these when they are available.
WCU REF DESK PN 4832.Z9 K2
UNCA REF DESK PN4832.B1 M23 - Serials Directory
Contains bibliographic information and pricing for over 182,500 US and international periodicals.
Finding Websites
Evaluating websites - Read this before you choose websites for your paper!!
Other resources and tips for finding quality websites from English Research Guide
Finding Biographical Information
Biographies of Major Writers
- Library Catalog - http://wncln.wncln.org/
Subject search: enter your chosen author, last name, first name. example: Dickinson, Emily. - Literature Resource Center
A collection of online encyclopedias. A great place to start! - Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB)*
Also available online via Literature Resource Center - search for your author, then look for Dictionary of Literary Biography in the list of citations. The print version seems to have better lists for further reading, which may come in handy for that treasure hunt!
WCU GENERAL PN451 .D5 - use index to find author
UNCA REFERENCE PN451 .D5 (Library use only; if you want to check out a particular item, order it from WCU via ABC Express). - American National Biography
Must be American (or important to American history) and dead to be in this database! - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB)
Must be dead and be from the British Isles (or important to British history) to be included in this impressive, authoritative collection of biographies. Great place for finding selected bibliographies too!
WCU REFERENCE DA28 .O95 2004 - Oxford Reference Online: Premium Collection
Provides authoritative information from over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. This includes titles such as the Oxford Companion to English Literature (and several others in the Companions series) and A Dictionary of Writers and their Works. A great alternative to Wikipedia!
Biographies of the Scholars Who Write about Major Writers
- Contemporary Authors
Also available online via Literature Resource Center - this is an excellent source for finding information about the author of the biography as well.
WCU REFERENCE PN 771.C582
UNCA REFERENCE PN771 .C6x - Directory of American Scholars
A biographical directory, good for finding information about the author of the biography.
WCU REFERENCE CT 3990.D3
UNCA REFERENCE LA2311 .D37 - Marquis Who's Who
A database of over one million biographies from 20 of the Who's Who titles published since 1985. - Biography and Genealogy Master Index
This database will give you titles of biographical reference works that mention your author. - Google
Find scholar's websites, CVs, etc.
Finding Book Reviews
For book reviews (both scholarly and non-scholarly) of books published in last 10 years:
- Academic Search Premier
Searches for book reviews in magazines and journals. - Book Review Digest
Indexes book reviews from a variety of places, (most are from popular magazines)
WCU REF INDX TABLE - Print only - Lexis Nexis Academic
Searches for articles in newspapers and news sources all over the world. Go to "Guided News Search," Select "General News," "Major Papers." - JSTOR
Use "Search" function. Be sure to select "reviews" at the bottom of page. Does not usually cover the most recent volumes of a journal. - Project Muse
Provides online access to the full text of over 200 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
For book reviews (both scholarly and non-scholarly) of books published before 1990's:
- JSTOR
Use "Search" function. Be sure to select "reviews" at the bottom of page. - New York Times Historical Database
Provides full-text and full-image articles for newspapers dating back to the 19th century. - Book Review Index
WCU REF INDX TABLE
UNCA PER INDEX AI .B42 - Book Review Digest
WCU REF INDX TABLE
UNCA PER INDEX AI .B41 - Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals (1886-1974)
WCU REF INDX TABLE
UNCA PER INDEX AI .B425 - Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals (1802-1974)
WCU REF INDX TABLE - An Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (1960-1990)
WCU REF INDX SHELF
UNCA PER INDEX AI .B44
Searching Beyond the Library's Physical Collection
- WorldCat
Records of books, media, manuscripts cataloged by libraries throughout the world. Includes manuscripts written as early as the 12th century. - Books In Print
Records describe in-print, out-of-print, and forthcoming books, audios, and videos from North American publishers and U.S. distributors and wholesalers. - Use Interlibrary Loan to obtain items that are not in the Library Catalog (ASU, UNCA, WCU)
Finding Bibliographies
- Library Catalog
Subject search for author - http://library.wcu.edu/ - Reader's Guide to Literature in English
WCU REFERENCE PR 85.R32 1996 - MLA International Bibliography - The Queen! Goes back to 1920's. Also available in print.
- Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL)
Print version: WCU REF GROUND FLOOR - Z 2011.M5 covers 1966-1985.
Online version: ABELL- via Literature online: the home of English and American literature on the World Wide Web
VIEW WEB VERSION (UNCA ONLY) - American Literary Scholarship
- Year's Work in English Studies
Online, some issues in print
WCU GENERAL PE 58.E5
UNCA GENERAL PE58 .E6 - Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory
Online, some issues in print
WCU GENERAL PN80 .Y43
UNCA GENERAL PN80 .Y43 - Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
WCU Index Tables
UNCA PER INDEX AI .G56
For Selected Bibliographies – sometimes you just want a few of the best books! - American Writers
WCU REFERENCE PS 15.M52
UNCA REFERENCE PS129 .A55 - British Writers
WCU REFERENCE PR 85.B688
UNCA REFERENCE PR85 .B688 - Reader's Guide to Literature in English
WCU REFERENCE PR85 .R32 1996
UNCA REFERENCE PR85 .R42 1996 - Dictionary of Literary Biography
The print version seems to have better lists for further reading.
WCU GENERAL PN451 .D5 - use index to find author
UNCA REFERENCE PN451 .D5 (Library use only; if you want to check out a particular item, order it from WCU via ABC Express). - Literature Resource Center
Online encyclopedias of criticism, biography, and more. Entries contain wonderful bibliographies.
Finding Criticism/Articles
You must use databases and indexes to find articles in journals and magazines. The Library Catalog does not index articles. Print indexes (for older materials) are available in the Reference section on the Index Tables and Index Shelves.
- MLA International Bibliography
The Queen Mum of literature databases. - Guide to finding articles - from English Research Guide
- Magill's Bibliography of Literary Criticism
WCU REF DESK (Rear Side) PN 500.Z9
UNCA REFERENCE PN523 .M25 - Literary Criticism Index
See also, the list of article databases above.
WCU REF DESK (Rear Side) PN 523.Z9 W - Sets of Criticism
Contain excerpts of criticism from multiple sources and multiple time periods. Selections of these series are now available online via Literature Resource Center. - Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
WCU REFERENCE PN 777.C59
UNCA REFERENCE PN771 .C65x - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC)
WCU REFERENCE PN 771.G27
UNCA REFERENCE PN771 .T85x - Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (NCLC)
WCU REFERENCE PN 761.N56
UNCA REFERENCE PN761 .N5 - Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
Great database for linguistics, language, and TESOL topics. Links to available full text. - ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)
Great for finding any information related to Education including scholarly journal articles, conference proceedings, lesson plans, and more.Database contains many full-text articles. - Subject List of Databases – Hunter has over 130 databases! Choose one appropriate for your topic. Not sure which one to use? Contact a librarian!
- Resources only available at UNCA
UNCA’s Library has two databases that you may want to use while you are in the building: Literature Online (LION) and Humanities Full Text.
Manuscripts and Special Collections
- Subject collections: a guide to special book collections and subject emphases as reported by university, college, public, and special libraries and museums in the United States and Canada*
UNCA REFERENCE Z731 .A78 1993
WCU REFERENCE Z688.S9 - National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
From the Library of Congress, free online. - British Library Manuscripts Catalogue
Free online via the British Library. - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Often cites archives or manuscripts in bibliography of entry.
WCU REFERENCE DA28 .O95 2004
UNCA REFERENCE DA28 .O95 2004 - Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB)
Also available online via Literature Resource Center - search for your author, then look for Dictionary of Literary Biography in the list of citations. The print version seems to have better lists for further reading. Often lists authors' papers in the bibliography.
WCU GENERAL PN451 .D5 - use index to find author
UNCA REFERENCE PN451 .D5 (Library use only; if you want to check out a particular item, order it from WCU via ABC Express). - American National Biography
Often cites archives or manuscripts in bibliography of entry. - Short Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640, Pollard and Redgrave. According to Harner’s Literary Research Guide, the STC is a “bibliography of extant editions, impressions, issues . . . published or printed in the British Isles and of books in English, Irish, or Welsh printed abroad from c. 1473 through 1640. . .not a bibliography of all works printed during the period” (228).
This work was continued by Donald Wing’s STC, which covers 1641-1700.
Confused? Don’t worry! Both Pollard and Redgrave, STC I and Wing, STC II are contained in the database Early English Books Online (EEBO) – with full facsimile images of the text! It’s good to live in the 21st century! - Early English Books Online (EEBO) 1473 - 1700
This amazing collection contains reproductions, dating from 1473-1700, of the original printing of more than 100,000 works, from the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare. Subject areas represented include English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science. - Early American Imprints - Series I: Evans 1638 - 1800
Full-text primary sources from 17th and 18th-century America. Includes allegories, ballads, bibliographies, plays, poems, sermons, songs, speeches, travel literature, writing books, and more. Search by keyword or browse by genre, subjects, author, history of printing, place of publication, or language. This collection is based on the renowned bibliography by Charles Evans. - Early American Imprints - Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker 1801 - 1819
Full-text primary sources published in the early part of the 19th century. Includes ballads, biographies, diaries, letters, maxims, memoirs, playbills, primers, sermons, slave narratives, songs, travel literature. Also includes works of many European authors reprinted for the American public. Search by keyword or browse by genre, subjects, author, history of printing, place of publication, or language. The collection is based on the distinguished bibliography by Ralph B. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker. - Google
For finding online collections (not very chic, but it often works!) Even if the library hasn't digitized their collections, they might have an online index or finding aid to their holdings. - WorldCat
Interdisciplinary. Records of books, media, manuscripts cataloged by libraries throughout the world. Includes manuscripts written as early as the 12th century. - Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies
This book and your textbook, The Art of Literary Research, give good tips and some other titles for finding manuscript collections.
WCU REFERENCE PR 83.Z9 H34 1998
UNCA REFERENCE PR83.B1 H34 2002
Old School but Still Fabulous
- These will help you get a historical perspective of your author
- Literary History of the United States.
UNCA REFERENCE PS88 .L522 1974 (earlier editions at WCU) - Cambridge History of English Literature (there are several sets of these so it is a good idea to browse the area).
WCU GENERAL PR83 .C1 1932
UNCA GENERAL PR83 .C224 - Literary Reviews in British Periodicals, 1789-1797 : A Bibliography : With a Supplementary List of General (non-review) Articles on Literary Subjects
For finding articles like "Which is the Best Poet, Lord Byron or Walter Scott, Esq.?" from the April 1814 issue of the Reasoner.
WCU REFERENCE PR442.Z9 W37 1979
UNCA REFERENCE PR442.B1 W36 1979 - The Romantics Reviewed: Contemporary Reviews of British Romantic Writers
“Contemporary” meaning the authors' contemporaries (in the Romantic era), not modern.
WCU GENERAL PR590 .R43 Pt. A v.1 - The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature 1800-1900
WCU GENERAL PR83 .C35 1999
UNCA REFERENCE PR83.B1 B38 - Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900
Search by publication and year. There is also a section of "bibliographies of contributors."
WCU REF INDEX TABLE - Comprehensive Index to English-language Little Magazines, 1890-1970
Indexes things like Fire!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists and Black Mountain Review, as well as some scholarly journals.
WCU REF INDEX TABLE