English Literature: Print & Web Resources
Begin by running a Subject search on your author. For example, a Subject search on Woolf, Virginia in the IC Library catalog retrieves--
# Titles Headings
37 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941
10 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Criticism and interpretation
1 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Family.
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Knowledge and learning
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941. Mrs. Dalloway
5 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Political and social views
3 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941. To the lighthouse
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Views on feminism
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Views on race
Note that general criticism will be assigned the subheading "History and Criticism." Also note that critical studies of a single work will take the title as a subheading.
# Titles Headings
37 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941
10 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Criticism and interpretation
1 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Family.
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Knowledge and learning
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941. Mrs. Dalloway
5 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Political and social views
3 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941. To the lighthouse
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Views on feminism
2 Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Views on race
Note that general criticism will be assigned the subheading "History and Criticism." Also note that critical studies of a single work will take the title as a subheading.
Since you will already have the texts you are writing about, running an Author search might seem unnecessary. But Author searches often uncover collections of letters, essays, and non-fiction works that shed light on both the writer and the work. An Author search on Woolf, Virginia retrieves--
Woolf, Virgina. Collected Essays.
Woolf, Virgina. Flush, a biography by Virginia Woolf
Woolf, Virgina. Freshwater : a comedy / Virginia Woolf [her only play--a farce]
Woolf, Virgina. A haunted house, and other short stories
Woolf, Virgina. Letters: Virginia Woolf & Lytton Strachey
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway [DVD].
Woolf, Virginia. Orlando [DVD].
Woolf, Virginia. The second Common reader [literary criticism]
Woolf, Virginia. A writer’s diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf
Woolf, Virgina. Collected Essays.
Woolf, Virgina. Flush, a biography by Virginia Woolf
Woolf, Virgina. Freshwater : a comedy / Virginia Woolf [her only play--a farce]
Woolf, Virgina. A haunted house, and other short stories
Woolf, Virgina. Letters: Virginia Woolf & Lytton Strachey
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway [DVD].
Woolf, Virginia. Orlando [DVD].
Woolf, Virginia. The second Common reader [literary criticism]
Woolf, Virginia. A writer’s diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf
- By Period
English literature--Old English, ca. 450-1100--History and criticism
Literature, Medieval--History and criticism
English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and criticism
English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism
English literature--18th century--History and criticism
English literature--19th century--History and criticism
English literature--20th century--History and criticism
- By Genre
English poetry--Old English, ca. 450-1100--History and criticism
English poetry--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and Criticism
English poetry--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism
English poetry--18th century--History and criticism
English poetry--19th century--History and criticism
English poetry--20th century--History and criticism
Epic poetry, English--History and criticism
Arthurian romances--History and criticism.
English drama--To 1500--History and criticism
English drama--Medieval--History and criticism
English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism
English drama--17th century--History and criticism
English drama--Restoration, 1660-1700--History and criticism
English drama--18th century--History and criticism
English drama--19th century--History and criticism
English drama--20th century--History and criticism
English fiction--History and criticism
English fiction--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism
English fiction--18th century--History and criticism
English fiction--19th century--History and criticism
English fiction--20th century--History and criticism
English fiction--21st century--History and criticism
Short stories, English--History and criticism
English essays--History and criticism
Sermons, English--History and criticism
Christian literature, English--History and criticism
English prose literature--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and criticism
English prose literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism
English prose literature--18th century--History and criticism
English prose literature--19th century--History and criticism
English prose literature--20th century--History and criticism
[Note: "prose literature" includes journalism, autobiography, biography, and travel writing]
Detective and mystery stories, English--History and criticism
Horror tales, English--History and criticism
Science fiction, English--History and criticism
Fantasy fiction, English--History and criticism
Children\'s literature, English--History and criticism
Satire, English--History and criticism
English periodicals--History
- By Category of Author
English literature--Black authors--History and criticism
English literature--Jewish authors--History and criticism
English literature--Minority authors--History and criticism
English literature--Women authors--History and criticism
- By Country
English literature--Irish authors--History and criticism
Scottish literature--History and criticism
English literature--Scottish authors--History and criticism
Welsh literature--To 1550--History and criticism
African literature (English)--History and criticism
South African literature (English)--History and criticism
Australian literature--History and criticism
New Zealand literature--History and criticism
Canadian literature--History and criticism
Caribbean literature (English)--History and criticism
Indic literature (English)--History and criticism
Commonwealth literature (English)--History and criticism
- By Subject
National characteristics, English, in literature
Great Britain--In literature
Kings and rulers in literature
Imperialism in literature
Colonies in literature
Ireland--In literature
Northern Ireland--In literature
Scotland--In literature
Ethnicity in literature
Race in literature
Religion in literature
Jews in literature
Economics in literature
Social classes in literature
Men in literature
Women in literature
Sex role in literature
Gender identity in literature
Love in literature
Marriage in literature
Memory in literature
Death in literature
War in literature
- By Literary Theory and Literary Movement
Criticism--History
Criticism, Textual
Literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.
Literature--Philosophy
Literature--Aesthetics
Puritan movements in literature
Romanticism--England
Gothic revival (Literature)--Great Britain
Oxford movement
Pre-Raphaelitism
Pre-Raphaelitism--England
Aestheticism (Literature)
Art for art\'s sake (Movement)
Decadence (Literary movement)
Symbolism (Literary movement)
Imagist poetry--History and criticism
Realism in literature
Naturalism in literature
Regionalism in literature
Local color in literature
Psychoanalysis and literature
Marxist criticism
Formalism (Literary analysis)
Modernism (Literature)
Modernism (Literature)--Great Britain
Bloomsbury group
New Criticism
Absurd (Philosophy) in literature
Existentialism in literature
Popular culture--Philosophy
Popular culture in literature
Feminist criticism
Reader-response criticism
Structuralism (Literary analysis)
Semiotics and literature
Culture--Philosophy
Deconstruction
Historicism [includes New Historicism]
Materialism in literature [Cultural Materialism]
Magic realism (Literature)
Queer theory
Postmodernism (Literature)
Postmodernism (Literature)--Great Britain
Postcolonialism in literature
Ecocriticism
Below are some standard Subject searches and a sampling of the particular topics you can target.
Note that both Great Britain and England are used in Subject headings and that Great Britain is the broader term, comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
National characteristics, British--History
National characteristics, British, in literature
National characteristics, English
Great Britain--Civilization [subdivided by period]
England--Civilization [subdivided by period]
Great Britain--Intellectual life [subdivided by period]
England--Intellectual life [subdivided by period]
Philosophy, English [subdivided by period]
Education--Great Britain--History
Great Britain--Politics and government [subdivided by period]
Great Britain--Kings and rulers
Great Britain--Court and Courtiers
Great Britain. Parliament--History
Great Britain--Church history [subdivided by period]
Reformation--England
Church of England--History
Great Britain--Social conditions [subdivided by period]
England--Social conditions
Great Britain--Social life and customs [subdivided by period]
England--Social life and customs
Feminism--Great Britain
Great Britain--History
Great Britain--History--Roman period, 55 B.C.-449 A.D.
Great Britain--History--Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066
Great Britain--History--Norman period, 1066-1154
Great Britain--History--13th century
Great Britain--History--14th century
Great Britain--History--Richard II, 1377-1399
Great Britain--History--Lancaster and York, 1399-1485
Great Britain--History--Tudors, 1485-1603
Great Britain--History--Henry VIII, 1509-1547
Great Britain--History--Elizabeth, 1558-1603
Great Britain--History--Stuarts, 1603-1714
Great Britain--History--James I, 1603-1625
Great Britain--History--Puritan Revolution, 1642-1660
Great Britain--History--Civil War, 1642-1649
Great Britain--History--Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660
Great Britain--History--Restoration, 1660-1688
Great Britain--History--Revolution of 1688
Great Britain--History--18th century
Great Britain--History--George III, 1760-1820
Great Britain--History--19th century
Great Britain--History--Victoria, 1837-1901
Great Britain--History--20th century
World War, 1914-1918--Great Britain
World War, 1939-1945--Great Britain
Art, British
Art, English
Painting, British
Architecture--Great Britain
Music--England [subdivided by period]
Popular music--Great Britain--History and criticism
Popular music--England--History and criticism
Popular culture--Great Britain
Note that both Great Britain and England are used in Subject headings and that Great Britain is the broader term, comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
National characteristics, British--History
National characteristics, British, in literature
National characteristics, English
Great Britain--Civilization [subdivided by period]
England--Civilization [subdivided by period]
Great Britain--Intellectual life [subdivided by period]
England--Intellectual life [subdivided by period]
Philosophy, English [subdivided by period]
Education--Great Britain--History
Great Britain--Politics and government [subdivided by period]
Great Britain--Kings and rulers
Great Britain--Court and Courtiers
Great Britain. Parliament--History
Great Britain--Church history [subdivided by period]
Reformation--England
Church of England--History
Great Britain--Social conditions [subdivided by period]
England--Social conditions
Great Britain--Social life and customs [subdivided by period]
England--Social life and customs
Feminism--Great Britain
Great Britain--History
Great Britain--History--Roman period, 55 B.C.-449 A.D.
Great Britain--History--Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066
Great Britain--History--Norman period, 1066-1154
Great Britain--History--13th century
Great Britain--History--14th century
Great Britain--History--Richard II, 1377-1399
Great Britain--History--Lancaster and York, 1399-1485
Great Britain--History--Tudors, 1485-1603
Great Britain--History--Henry VIII, 1509-1547
Great Britain--History--Elizabeth, 1558-1603
Great Britain--History--Stuarts, 1603-1714
Great Britain--History--James I, 1603-1625
Great Britain--History--Puritan Revolution, 1642-1660
Great Britain--History--Civil War, 1642-1649
Great Britain--History--Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660
Great Britain--History--Restoration, 1660-1688
Great Britain--History--Revolution of 1688
Great Britain--History--18th century
Great Britain--History--George III, 1760-1820
Great Britain--History--19th century
Great Britain--History--Victoria, 1837-1901
Great Britain--History--20th century
World War, 1914-1918--Great Britain
World War, 1939-1945--Great Britain
Art, British
Art, English
Painting, British
Architecture--Great Britain
Music--England [subdivided by period]
Popular music--Great Britain--History and criticism
Popular music--England--History and criticism
Popular culture--Great Britain
WorldCat via FirstSearch is a "union catalog" that allows you to search the holdings of over 10,000 libraries from accross the country and around the world. Check WorldCat to discover what the entire universe of possible resources looks like for your topic.
User Advisory:
User Advisory:
- Because this is such an enormous database you need to choose a "Limit Type to" before you begin. Most commonly you will be looking for "Books," "Visual Materials" (for example DVDs), or "Sound Recordings."
- I recommend you avoid the "Author phrase," "Title phrase," and "Subject phrase" search fields and use "Author," "Title," or "Subject" instead. The "phrase" searches must be exact and are unforgiving.
- If your topic is time-sensitive, try focusing on a recent time span under Year.
- When you find an item you want you can request an interlibrary loan by opening the WorldCat record and clicking on "ILL (order via interlibrary loan)," which you'll find toward the top of the record under "External Resources." This will connect you to Ithaca College Library interlibrary loan, where you log in using your usual Netpass name and password. Logging in opens a form where all the identifying data will have automatically been transferred from the WorldCat record. All you have to do is click "Submit."
The IC Library has an online subscription to the MLA's Literary Research Guide. Log-in (IC e-mail user name and password) is required.
- Literary Research Guide
- The Labyrinth: Excellent Georgetown University site for all aspects of medieval studies.
- The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies: The Topical Index for the ORB Encyclopedia may be especially helpful.
- The Camelot Project: From the University of Rochester, this is a wide-ranging database of texts, images, and information.
- Chaucer Metapage: Hosted by the University of North Carolina, this is a good gateway to Chaucer, his work, and the 14th century context.
- Luminarium: An outstanding site, it covers Medieval, Renaissance, 17th Century, and the Restoration. In addition to the author links in each section, be sure to look at the resources gathered under "Essays and Articles" and "Additional Sources."
- Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet: Best single Shakespeare site.
- John Milton: The Milton-L Home Page: New site design, but the articles are easier to find at the old one.
- Eighteenth-Century Resources: Don't let the plain Web design fool you; Jack Lynch of Rutgers has compiled the best online gateway to the 18th century.
- Eighteenth-Century Studies: From Carnegie Mellon.
- The Literary Gothic: A gateway to Web resources on the gothic literary tradition from the 18th century to the present, organized by Author and Title.
- Literary Resources: Romantic: Links from Jack Lynch at Rutgers.
- Victorian Web: An outstanding gateway for the literature, fine arts, political/social history, philosophy, religion, and science of the 19th century.
- Literary Resources: Twentieth Century British, Irish, and Commonwealth: Links by author.
- Voice of the Shuttle: Modern (British & American) and Contemporary (British & American): Comprehensive links.
- Contemporary Postcolonial & Postimperial Literature in English: There are pockets of interesting material here.
- Voice of the Shuttle: Other Literatures in English: Gateway to sites on English language authors in Africa, Australia, Canada, and Asia.
- Introduction to Modern Literary Theory: Succinct overview of the various theoretical appraoches that dominated literary criticism in the 20th and early 21st centuries.
- Voice of the Shuttle: Literary Theory: A comprehensive gateway to online resources.
(Log-in required)
-
Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online)
- Oxford Companion to English LIterature
- Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens
- Oxford Companion to the Brontes
- New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
- Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
- Oxford Guide to Literary Britain & Ireland
- Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
Note: Most books freely available on the Web are out of copyright--some works from the early 20th century and potentially anything written earlier. For full text e-books still under copyright, check the IC Library database ebrary .
- Project Gutenberg: Over 30,000 e-books.
- Google Books: Advanced Search: If you're looking for full-text books, be sure to use the Advanced controls here to limit your Search to "full view only" and your Content to "books." Note the availability here of Title, Author, and Subject searching.
- Online Books Page: Over 35,000 full-texts, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.
- Bartleby.com: Take advantage of the links here to limit your search to Reference, Verse, Fiction, or Nonfiction. Note that you can also browse indexes of Authors, Subjects, and Titles.
- TEAMS Middle English Texts : Middle English e-texts, each with valuable introductory materials, from Medieval Institute Publications.
- Internet Medieval Sourcebook : From the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies, the e-texts are grouped under Full Text Sources and Saints' Lives.
MLA is the citation style used by most disciplines in the Humanities. The guides below use the latest 2008/9 standards.
