Literature
From Library Reference
Contents |
Print and Electronic Reference books
Handbooks and Encyclopedias
American Writers Ref PS 129 .A55
More historical than current. Provides biographical information, a selected bibliography of an author’s work, a bibliography of books and articles about the author, and a critical evaluation of the author’s works.
The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature Hundreds of articles on all aspects of English literature.
Beacham’s Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction Ref PN 56 .P55 B4 The first three volumes of this eleven volume set contain biographies while the remainder present analyses of individual works with commentary on characters, social concerns, techniques, and literary precedents. Intended to cover significant writers who have not yet received critical attention beyond book reviews.
British Writers Ref PR 85 .B688 Covers writers from the fourteenth century to the mid-twentieth. Arranged in chronological order by author’s birth date. Provides biographical information, surveys the author’s principle works, and assesses the importance of that work. Includes bibliographies of works by and about the author.
The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English Articles on authors, genres, and literary movements.
Cambridge History of English Literature Ref PR 83 .C22 Authoritative general history covering English literature from the earliest times to the end of the nineteenth century. Each chapter is written by an expert in the field.
The Companion to Southern Literature Ref PS 261. C55 Organized into twenty-one categories including author, title, locale, and themes. Also includes explanations of cultural influences such a Quadroon Balls, the Scope Trial, Patriarchy, and Demagogues.
Contemporary Novelists Ref PR 881 .C69 Latest edition of standard work. Critical biographies arranged by name of author, each with listing of separately published works.
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters Ref PN 44 .M3 Covers characters on 3,300 selected titles arranged alphabetically by the title of the work and subdivided by order of importance
Dictionary of British Literary Characters Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Ref PR 830 .C47 D5
Dictionary of British Literary Characters Twentieth Century Ref PR 888 .C47 D53 Covers one thousand novels and over twenty thousand characters with a brief discussion of each and the role played.
Dictionary of Fictional Characters Ref PR 19 .F7
Dictionary of Literary Terms Ref PN 41 .G72 Defines and explains all literary terms, references, and allusions ( Accentual verse to Zeugma) likely to be encountered by today’s reader.
Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs Ref PN 43 .D48 Entries begin with brief description of word or term (e.g. Afterlife, Demonic Musician, Labyrinth) and its historical background followed by a brief discussion of the works in which the theme or motif is developed.
Dictionary of Shakespeare, Peter Collin Publishing
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the Twentieth Century Ref PN 771. E5 Includes entries for individual writers, literary movements, genres, and surveys of national literatures.
Fifty Western Writers: A Biographical Sourcebook Ref PS 271 .F5 Provides brief biographies, details of major themes in the author’s work, critical evaluations of the author, and a bibliography of work by and about the author.
Literary History of the United States Ref PS 88 .L522 Surveys American literature from colonial times to the present. Each chapter written by an authority in the field.
Oxford companion to African American Literature Ref PS 153 .N5 O96 Emphasizes fiction with the largest number of entries being devoted to biographies of writers, including the lesser known. Covers literary characters, customs (e.g. Conjuring), cultural expressions (e.g. Blues), and ethnically specific experiences (e.g. Blue Vein Societies). Also provides extensive overview of African American literature from colonial times to the present.
Oxford Companion to American Literature Ref PS 21 .H3 Includes short biographies and bibliographies of American authors, provides descriptions and summaries of important American works, gives definitions and outlines of literary schools and movements, as well as information on literary societies, magazines, anthologies, and awards.
Oxford Companion to English Literature Ref PR 19 .O94 Brief articles on authors, literary works, literary allusions, and characters in fiction, drama, and poetry.
Writing African American Women : an Encyclopedia of Literature by and About Women of Color, 2 Volumes Ref. PS153.N5 W756 2006
Literary Criticism
American Literary Scholarship PS 3 .A47
Narrative bibliography published annually since 1963 by Duke University to record and evaluate scholarly writing on American literature with major emphasis on the time between Emerson and the 1960’s.
Contemporary Authors Ref Z 1224 .C590 / .C6 Covers over 100,000 writers active in 1962 or later. Each volume is A-Z with Ongoing work with over 210 volumes; cumulative index issued twice yearly.
Contemporary Literary Criticism Ref PN 771 .C59 Excerpts criticism of novels, poetry, plays, short stories, scripts, and other creative writing by living authors or by those who have died since January 1, 1960.
Dictionary of Literary Biography Ref PS 221 .D5 Ongoing publication of over seventy volumes, each devoted to a specific topic such as “Chicano Writers” and the “Harlem Renaissance.” Each volume is arranged alphabetically by author with entries providing a critical biography along with a bibliography of publications and a list of references.
Magill’s Literary Annual Ref PN 44 .M35 Provides critical evaluation of two hundred outstanding books published each year from 1972 to the present. Books are arranged in twenty-two categories such as Fiction, Biography, Nature, and Fine Arts.
Masterplots Ref PN 44 .M33
Masterplots II American Fiction Ref PN 846 .M37
Masterplots II Nonfiction Ref PN 44 .M345 Extensive ongoing publication providing summaries and criticism of novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and literary philosophy. The several series have a master index.
New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature Ref Z 2011 .N45 Covers English literature from 600 to 1950. Arranged chronologically; periods are subdivided by literary forms which are further subdivided by special topics and individual authors.
Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism Ref PN 761 .N5 Excerpts from criticism of the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and other creative writers who died between 1800 and 1900. Ranges from first critical appraisals to current evaluations.
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism Ref PN 94 .T83 Ongoing series with over 170 volumes containing excerpts from criticism of the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and other creative writers who died between 1900 and 1999. Ranges from first published appraisals to current evaluations.
Years Work In English Studies PE 58 .E6 Narrative bibliography published annually since 1946 to record and evaluate scholarly writing on English language and literature. Emphasis is on British literature but there is some coverage of American.
Short Stories
Critical Survey of Short Fiction Ref PN 3321 .C7
Seven volume set covering 480 world authors and a period of three centuries. Cross-indexed by country and category (e.g. Absurdism, Domestic Realism, Horror). Provides biography, bibliography, and critical analysis.
Short Story Criticism Ref PN 3373 .S386 Currently consists of over sixty volumes covering major writers of all eras and nationalities. Summarizes major criticism and provides bibliographies.
Short Story Index Ref PN 3373 .C6 Covers the period from 1952 to 2002 and indexes short stories of all periods by author, title, and subject.
Journal Indexes & Databases
Langugage and Literature
NOTE: These are subscription databases and require Bradley login and password for off-campus access.
MLA International Bibliography. 1926+. A bibliography of scholarship in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. About 75% are language and literature journal articles.
Academic Search Premier Full Text*. General journal index with nearly 1,560 journals in full text.
Arts & Humanities Search. 1980+. Arts and Humanities Citation Index.
Clase and Periodica. 1975+. General index of Latin American journals of all disciplines in Spanish, Portuguese, French and English languages.
ERIC. Access to ERIC via different sites: FirstSearch, EBSCO. 1966+. Journal articles and reports on education topics including language and literature education. Bradley has most of the documents which have the ERIC number prefixed with ED.
JSTOR Full Text. Archive of scholarly journals. Oxford English Dictionary. Full Text. Project MUSE. Full Text. Mid or late 1990s to current. Over 200 electronic journals, with emphasis on humanities and social sciences.
Literature Resource Center. Provides full-text access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analysis of authors and their works from every age and literary discipline. It covers thousands of novelists, poets, essayists, journalists and other writers. Searchable fields include: Author Name, Title, Genre, Literary Movement, and Literary Themes.
NovelistA readers' advisory database providing details about works of fiction.
Internet Resources
CCBC: cooperative children's book center
Center for Applied Linguistics
Contemporary Postcolonial & Postiperial Literature in English
The English Short Title Catalog "provides bibliographic records for all surviving letter press material in the British Isles and North America before 1801, held by the British Library and over 2000 other institutions worldwide."
Eserver.org: accessible writing
In the First Person: An Index to Letters, Diaries, Oral Histories, and Other Personal Narratives
The Paris Review--The DNA of Literature
Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database
African & Middle Eastern Literature
African Literature and Writers on the Internet
Reading Women Writers and African Literatures
Classical
Aesopica.net: Aesop's Fables Online
APIS: Advanced Papyrological Information System
Greek Grammar on the Web: the electronic gateway to the study of ancient Greek, by Mark Huys
English & American
Mr. William Shakespeare on the Web by Terry A. Gray
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature
Storytellers: Native American Authors Online
Victorian Women Writers Project by John Walsh
Germanic
Fruchtbringende Gessellschaft by James Spohrer
German Studies by James Spohrer
Romance Languages
Slavic Languages
Russian Language Mentor by Bogdan Sagatov
Audio Books & Electronic Books
My Media Mall My Media Mall E Books (including digital audio books in the OverDrive Media Console™ format, eBooks in the Adobe® Reader® format and Mobipocket Reader format ). When checking out an E book, Bradley users should choose "Alliance Library System--CARLI" as the home library and use BU card bar code number as the library card number.
NetLibrary Electronic books, also linked from the Library Catalog.
TumbleBooks collection of TumbleBooks (animated, talking picture books) TumblePuzzles, and TumbleQuizzes, as well as TumbleResources for teachers. When checking out an E book, Bradley users should choose "Alliance Library System--CARLI" as the home library and use BU card bar code number as the library card number.
Library Online Resources
NOTE: These are subscription databases and require Bradley login and password for off-campus access.
Literature Resource Center. Provides full-text access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analysis of authors and their works from every age and literary discipline. It covers thousands of novelists, poets, essayists, journalists and other writers. Searchable fields include: Author Name, Title, Genre, Literary Movement, and Literary Themes.
NovelistA readers' advisory database providing details about works of fiction.
Worldcat Worldcat contains the catalog records for all of the books and other materials cataloged in libraries worldwide (OCLC Member Libraries), including millions of bibliographic records in more than 400 languages.
Library Print-on-Paper Resources
Book Review Digest REF. Z1219 .C96 1905-2005 Annual compilation of book reviews with brief quotations from review articles.
The New York Review of Books Current issues are in the Periodicals Browsing area, where they are kept until the microfilm arrives. Microfilm is on the first floor in the Reference Room.
The New York Times Book Review The NYTBR is a section of the Sunday New York Times, and is available with the print-on-paper edition in the Periodicals Browsing Area on the 2nd floor of the Library. Electronic versions are available in Lexis-Nexis & The New York Times Historical Backfile
The Publishers Weekly Current year in the Periodicals area on the 2nd Floor.
Internet Resources
Addall Addall is a meta search site for finding books for sale, both new and out-of-print.
Amazon Online bookseller--a good place to find reader reviews and pictures of the the books along with ISBN numbers, publication date, etc.
Arts & Letters Daily is a site from the Chronicle of Higher Education that includes book news and many links to book-related sites.
Barnes & Noble Online site for popular bookstore.
Bookfinder Bookfinder is another search site for purchasing new and used books.
Bookslut Online book reviews and chat.
The English Short Title Catalog "provides bibliographic records for all surviving letter press material in the British Isles and North America before 1801, held by the British Library and over 2000 other institutions worldwide."
Independent Online Booksellers Association
Internet Speculative Fiction Data Base
Don't See What You're Looking For?
If you didn't find the help you were looking for on this page, please call, e-mail, or append a comment to let us know what kind of research assistance you were seeking. We are here to help, and we want to know if our services could be made more useful. Thank you for helping us build a better Reference Service. == Don't See What You're Looking For? ==
If you didn't find the help you were looking for on this page, please call, e-mail, or append a comment to let us know what kind of research assistance you were seeking. We are here to help, and we want to know if our services could be made more useful. Thank you for helping us build a better Reference Service. For a list of who to contact, go to: http://library.bradley.edu/staff/liaison.shtml
You can access many of the Library's research resources from the Library's home page, at: http://library.bradley.edu/
--updated by Bryan Clark, baclark@bradley.edu, 9:32, 18 August 2009 (CDT)
You can access many of the Library's research resources from the Library's home page, at:
http://library.bradley.edu/
--updated by Bryan Clark, baclark@bradley.edu, 1:34, 19 August 2009 (CDT)
