Databases
- Literary Reference Source This link opens in a new window
Information on thousands of authors and works, including: plot summaries, synopses and work overviews; literary criticism; author biographies, interviews and images; and book reviews.
- Gale Literature This link opens in a new windowFull-text database that includes author biographies and work overviews, literary criticism, and indexed books, essays, and articles on world literature, and well as full-text of poems, short stories, novels, essays, speeches and plays.
- Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new windowOxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is a guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books. The OED covers words from across the English-speaking world, from North America to South Africa, from Australia and New Zealand to the Caribbean. It also offers the best in etymological analysis, listings of variant spellings, and shows pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet.The online OED corresponds to the Second Edition (20 volumes in print).
- Searchable Sea Literature This link opens in a new windowDevoted to works by American authors, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and plays. "Literature of the sea" or "maritime literature" is here loosely defined as works in which oceans, large rivers, or expansive lakes are critical to the story.
What is a background source?
Background sources are written for a general audience and are intended to give an overview of a topic, fill gaps in the reader’s knowledge, and provide context for deeper understanding. Examples include Wikipedia, introductory textbooks, and reference works such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks.
They can be a useful place to start your research and assist in selecting a topic for a research project, locating basic information and key facts, defining important words and concepts, and getting suggestions for additional sources to consult.
Typical characteristics of background sources:
- intended to be informative
- provide context, background, or summary information
- present shared information and established facts; information is uncontested
- offer suggestions for additional sources of information on the topic
Dictionaries & Thesauri
Dictionary of American Regional English by ISBN: 9780674205116Publication Date: 2013Includes thousands of words and phrases not found in conventional dictionaries, and out-of-the-way meanings for common terms.
Green's Dictionary of Slang by ISBN: 9780550104403Publication Date: 2017-07-01Covers slang from the past five centuries right up to the present day, from all the different English-speaking countries and regions. Every word and phrase is authenticated by genuine and fully-referenced citations of its use.
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th CenturyCall Number: Main Ref PN771 .E5 1999ISBN: 1558623736Publication Date: 1998-12-11Covering aspects of literature of the 20th century, this reference title includes more than 2000 entries on authors, 50 national surveys that review the literature of countries around the world and 50 additional entries that discuss topics, such as genres, movements and trends.
Feminist in Literature by ISBN: 0787675733Publication Date: 2004-11-05Explores the history of women and feminism throughout literature, from classical antiquity to modern times.
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by ISBN: 0801880106Publication Date: 2004-11-03While concentrating on the explosion of contemporary critical and theoretical works, the Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of ideas and individuals ranging from Plato and Aristotle to twentieth-century scholars.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature by ISBN: 9780195156539Publication Date: 2004-01-29Well-known critics and scholars essays that reflect the latest scholarship on a given topic, as well as original thinking on the part of the critic. The essays examine authors, literary movements, periods, and themes and provide critical assessments of major American works.
The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies by Call Number: Main Ref PN1022 .H39 2002ISBN: 0231124481Publication Date: 2002-04-16Includes title, first line, last line, author, and subject indexes for approximately 400 poetry anthologies on library shelves.
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics by Call Number: Main Ref PN1021 .N39 2012ISBN: 9780691133348Publication Date: 2012-08-26Covers history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more.
The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition by ISBN: 9780199591152Publication Date: 2016-12-27This single illustrated volume frames the surviving original versions of Shakespeare's plays, poems, and early musical scores around the latest literary, textual, and theatrical scholarship to date.
