The largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the English language as it is currently used today.
The famous unabridged is the latest in the long line of dictionaries directly descended from Noah Websters original English-language dictionary of 1828. It is updated on a continuing basis.
A team of librarians available to help you with library resources and search for information, every day at any time. The chat is interactive and always with a live person.
Get Help 24/7
JavaScript disabled or chat unavailable.
Our chat service is offline.
Literary Research Databases
INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY HISTORY AND INTERPRETATION
ONLINE DATABASES FOR DOING LITERARY RESEARCH
These online databases are excellent sources to use to find critical analysis of works of literature in scholarly books and articles.
This database lists books and articles written since 1926 on modern languages and their literatures. To find secondary sources about an author, type the author's surname first (for example -- Kipling, Rudyard) in the first search box, then select "Subject Terms" from the drop-down list in the box to its right. To find discussions of a specific work by this author, add its title in the second search box. You can learn more about how to use the MLA International Bibliography by watching this short video:
This database includes the full text of more than 1,000 journals in the fields covered. It also includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals, which provides detailed information about all the periodicals and book series indexed in the MLA International Bibliography.
A useful complement to the MLA International Bibliography, this database lists books, articles, and some book reviews written since 1920 about works of literature written in English. To find sources about an author, type the author's name (surname first) in the first search box, then select "Author as subject -- SAU" from the drop-down list in the box to its right. To find discussions of a specific work by this author, add its title in the second search box.
This database contains the full text of over 190,000 essays providing criticism of literature from around the world, in all genres, and from all time periods from antiquity to contemporary emerging authors. The essays discuss individual authors and their works, as well as literary movements and topics. This is an excellent source to survey some of the most important criticism about an author and to observe how critical assessments have changed over time.
The critical essays and primary source documents reprinted in this database discuss individual authors and their works, literary movements and topics, and the social, political, and historical background that provides contextual perspective for the study of literature.
Containing the full text online of criticism, articles from reference books, and reviews of authors and their works, this is a helpful database to get started on your research. If you are looking for critical analysis of a particular literary work, type its title in the "Name of Work" search box, then type the author's name with the surname first (for example -- Kipling, Rudyard) in the "Person - By or About" search box.
This database provides in-depth, richly illustrated encyclopedia articles on over 200,000 authors from all times and places worldwide, discussing their lives and works, as well as the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which they lived and wrote. To find articles about an author, type the author's name with the surname first (for example -- Kipling, Rudyard) in the "Person - By or About" search box.
This database is an excellent source for starting research on poems and their authors. It provides the full text online of over 250,000 poems, critical commentaries on 1,000 well-known poems, biographies of approximately 500 poets, and a "Listening Room" featuring notable contemporary poets reading aloud a selection of poems by many authors. It also can be used to find copies of poems published elsewhere, as it supplies over 450,000 citations to where poems may be found in printed books. In addition to poems written originally in English, it also provides information about and access to a wide range of poetry from all times and places, written in many other languages.
This database also provides critical commentaries on well-known poems, biographies of leading poets, and a Listening Room featuring notable contemporary poets reading aloud a selection of poems by many authors.
Many literary essays and scholarly articles about literature are published in anthologies and collections of essays. This database tells where to find over 330,000 essays published in these books in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain from 1900 to the present.
This database provides access to the full text of journals in the humanities and social sciences published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses. It is a good source in which to find recent scholarly articles that provide critical analysis of works of literature.
This database provides online access to the full text of articles published in back issues of scholarly journals in many fields of study. It is a good source in which to find scholarly articles that provide critical analysis of works of literature.
Consult the online tables of contents for the years available, as coverage varies for each title.