Research Guides: ENGL 14: (Fall 2016) Introduction to Literary History and Interpretation (Garavel): Research Databases & Resources

Background Information

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and Other Reference Sources

Encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference sources are a great way to get started and to find background information on your topic from various perspectives. If you want to search for a specific topic or concept across various disciplines to get different perspectives try the following online collection of reference books.

For example: Try a search on your library genre in each of the reference databases below to see what literary scholars are writing about your genre which will spark your ideas and generate more keywords that you can use to search other databases.

Credo Reference
Includes key reference resources like The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature and The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English.
Oxford Reference Online
Includes key reference resources for studying literature, such as The Oxford Companion to English Literature and The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Use advanced search and scroll down to select subject area "literature" before you search - it will make sure your results will be more relevant to the study of literature.

Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Provides descriptions, author biographies, original works of literature, multimedia resources, and more. Also includes criticism. Covers authors from all times and places.

Videos Under 3 Minutes

Scholarly Articles can generally be found in scholarly journals. Not sure what a 'scholarly journal' is? Watch this video:

Not sure about the difference between primary and secondary sources? Watch this video:

Finding Primary Sources

To find original texts, such as works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, news sources, etc, start with some of these resources:

OSCAR - SCU Library Catalog This link opens in a new window

OneSearch
Search the library catalog plus the content of many library databases and electronic journals at once.
APS Online
A collection of full-text periodicals and primary source materials related to the American experience from the colonial days to 1900.
Google Books
Includes complete, scanned copies of hundreds of thousands of books that are out of copyright (i.e. published before 1923).
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that provides permanent access to historical collections that exist in digital format. It covers all time periods and is useful for finding digitized versions of Colonial and early American publications.
Early American Imprints (also known as: America's Historical Imprints)
A full-text collection of over 75,000 books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in America from 1639 to 1819.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Includes the full text of legal documents (and only legal documents) listed in the English Short Title Catalogue.
English Short Title Catalog
Lists over 460,000 items published between 1473 and 1800 published mainly in the British Isles and North America. SCU has access to the full-text of just the legal documents (i.e. not full access to everything) via Eighteenth Century Collections Online.
LINK+
The LINK+ catalog: Use this to find and request books and other materials from libraries across California to be delivered to you here at Santa Clara.
WorldCat
A combined library catalog for North American (and some European) libraries: Use this to find records for millions of books and other materials in libraries worldwide, representing 400 languages.

Finding Secondary Sources and Scholarship

To find scholarly books and articles about an author or original text, start with some of these resources:

MLA International Bibliography with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Indexes scholarly research published in journal articles, books, articles in books, and dissertations in the fields of modern languages and their literatures, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film. Includes the full text of more than 1,000 journals in these fields. Also includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals. 1926 - present.
Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Provides the full text of literary criticism and reviews, biographies, original works of literature, multimedia resources, and links to selected web resources on authors and their works. Covers authors from all times and places.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides full text for more than 4,600 journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. It covers a wide range of academic topics including business, education, social sciences, humanities, science, & engineering.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
This restricted link allows current University students, faculty, and staff to access the full text of licensed resources to which the University subscribes.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics and other fields of the humanities and social sciences.
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) This link opens in a new window
Index to scholarly materials published anywhere in the world on English language and literature topics from 1920-present.
America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covers articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present in more than 196 journals and books.

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ENGL 14: (Fall 2016) Introduction to Literary History and Interpretation (Garavel): Research Databases & Resources

Background Information

Videos Under 3 Minutes

Finding Primary Sources

Finding Secondary Sources and Scholarship