Finding Books
Search at Oberlin
You can access many books, ebooks, journal articles, and other sources at Oberlin. The resources below will help you to find everything we have at Oberlin and can access via other libraries in Ohio and worldwide.
- OBIS: Catalog of the Oberlin College Library This link opens in a new windowSearch for books, journals, databases, etc. at Oberlin College.
- Summon This link opens in a new windowSearches more than 300 million items - books, scholarly articles, newspaper articles, data, digital audio, digital video, digital images, government documents and more. It draws from the library catalog (OBIS), many of the full text and article indexing databases, as well as digital repositories from colleges, universities, research centers, and other open-access archives on the web.
Tip: Looking for book chapters? Search with Summon.
Academic Libraries in Ohio
- OhioLINK Library Catalog This link opens in a new windowOhioLINK Library Catalog is a combined catalog of over 7.8 million books and other library materials from many of Ohio's universities, colleges, community colleges and the State Library of Ohio. OhioLINK's design allows you to transfer a search from your local library catalog to the OhioLINK combined catalog with the touch of a button. The OhioLINK catalog provides immediate access to the library holdings of the whole system, including current availability status. Requested books and other materials are delivered to your library within a few days. Catalog entries for electronic books and journals link directly to those resources.
Tip: To request an item in OhioLINK, click "Request" and select Oberlin as your school. See our step-by-step guide for help.
Libraries Worldwide
- WorldCat: FirstSearch This link opens in a new windowSearch the combined catalog of thousands of libraries around the world. It includes books, films, journals, magazines, newspapers, scores, and many other sources. It does not include entries for individual article titles or stories in journals, magazines, newspapers, or book chapters.
Tip: When viewing a record, click "Search OhioLINK catalog" or "Find A Copy" to see if a copy is available. Use "Find A Copy" to receive a link to place an interlibrary loan request if needed.
Finding Books and Chapters in Edited Collections in OBIS
In addition to broad keyword searches related to specific texts, authors, theories, etc., making use of subject headings and browsing the collection via call numbers can save a significant amount of time.
Subject Headings
Note the subject headings when searching for literary criticism in a catalog like OBIS. For literary criticism, you'll see the author's name subdivided with "Criticism and Interpretation." This could indicate an entire work on an author and their works or an edited collection of essays (see this example OBIS record).
Call Numbers
For physical books, browsing the shelves can be another method for finding books on your topic. On a shelf, you'll see works by an author, which are then followed by literary criticism about the author's work.
Individual authors are grouped by time period under each "national literature" (PR for British Literature, PS for American Literature, PT for Germanic Literature, etc.), which you allows to find everything grouped together. For example:
American Literature: Individual Authors
- PS700-893 - Colonial period (17th and 18th centuries)
- PS866 .W5 (Phillis Wheatley)
- PS991-3390 - 19th century
- PS1294 .C63 (Kate Chopin)
- PS3500-3549 - 1900-1960
- PS3505 .A87 (Willa Cather)
- PS3550-3576 - 1961-2000
- PS3554 .I3 (Joan Didion)
Literary Theory and Research Guides
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and CriticismCall Number: Main Library - PN81 .J554 2005ISBN: 0801880106Publication Date: 2004
A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary TheoryCall Number: EbookISBN: 9781444333275Publication Date: 2013
Literary Research GuideCall Number: Main Library - Z2011 .H34 2008ISBN: 9780873528085Publication Date: 2008
Research Methods for English StudiesCall Number: Main Library - PR56 .R47 2005ISBN: 0748621555Publication Date: 2005
