Writing: In the Library & on the Web

       
James Murray at work editing the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, circa 1900.  Only the electronic version  of the OED continues to be revised: Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online)

Indo-European languages
English language--History
English language--Old English, ca. 450-1100 (used for Anglo-Saxon language)
English language--Middle English, 1100-1500
English language--Early modern, 1500-1700
English language--18th century
English language--19th century
English language--20th century

Works on English literature in the Old, Middle, and Early Modern periods often treat language as a primary or secondary topic.

English literature--Old English, ca. 450-1100
English literature--Old English, ca. 450-1100--History and criticism
English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500
English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and criticism
English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700
English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism

English dictionaries and works on etymology or philology mine the history of the language.

English language--Dictionaries
English language--Lexicography
English language--Etymology
English language Morphology
English philology--Study and teaching
English language--Word formation
English language--Foreign elements
English language--Foreign words and phrases--Dictionaries

Works on "Language and languages" have a broader focus than just English, but many of these will discuss English at length.

Language and languages
Language and languages--Origin
Language and languages--Philosophy

English language--Africa
English language--Australia
English language--Canada
English language--Caribbean Area
English language--Great Britain
English language--India
English language--New Zealand
English language--United States
English language--United States--History
English language--United States--Rhetoric
English language--United States--Slang
English language--Dialects
English language--Dialects--Southern States
English language--Dialects--United States
Americanisms
Americanisms--Dictionaries

Alphabet
Alphabet--History
Writing
Writing--History
Written communication--History
Language and languages--Orthography and spelling
English language--Orthography and spelling
Manuscripts, English (Old)
Manuscripts, English (Middle)
Books and reading
Books and reading--England--History
Books and reading--Great Britain--History
Books and reading--History
Books and reading--United States--History
Books--History
Printing
Printing--Great Britain--History
Printing--History
Printing--United States--History
Literacy
Literacy--United States
Computers and literacy
Reading
Reading, Psychology of

Language acquisition
English language--Phonetics
English language--Pronunciation
English language--Intonation
English language--Spoken English
English language--Slang
Oral communication
Oral tradition--United States
Oratory
Public speaking
Speech
Speeches, addresses, etc
Speeches, addresses, etc., American--History and criticism

Language and languages
Language and languages--Origin
Language and languages--Political aspects
Rhetoric--Political aspects
Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States
Language and languages--Psychology
Language and languages--Religious aspects
Psycholinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics--United States
Language and culture
Language and culture--United States
Intercultural communication​

Communication--Social aspects
Communication--Social aspects--United States
English language--Social aspects
English language--Social aspects--United States
Speech and social status--United States
English language--Political aspects
Language policy--United States
Language and education--United States
Linguistic minorities--United States
Linguistic minorities--Education--United States
Mass media and language--United States
Hate speech
Hate speech--United States
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech--United States

English language--Dialects--United States
English language--Variation--United States
English language--Spoken English--United States

African Americans--Language
African Americans--Languages
Black English
Hispanic Americans--Language
Immigrants--United States--Language
Racism in language
English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers
Bilingualism--United States

Communication--Sex differences
Language and languages--Sex differences
English language--Sex differences
Women--Language
Men--Language
Sexism in language
Sexism in language--United States
Nonsexist language

English language--Study and teaching
English language--Ability testing
English language--Composition and exercises
English language--Computer-assisted instruction
English language--Grammar--Study and teaching
English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers
English teachers--Training of
Language arts
Language arts (Early childhood)
Language arts (Elementary)
Language arts (Secondary)
Speech--Study and teaching
Communication--Study and teaching

Also see my guides for Teaching English and for Education Issues.

 My guide to Web Resources for Teachers of English contains a wide array of annotated links.

     Web Directories differ from search engines like Google in that all the online resources have been selected and annotated by editors, thereby promising a much higher degree of quality control. 
 

• Open Directory Project
• Voice of the Shuttle
• IPL2

Think Tanks & Research Institutes: A short collection of resources that can access these often influential contributions to public policy debate. 

• Google Advanced Search: When doing research on the Web, always use the Advanced Search version of Google. This not only provides more flexibility in entering search terms, but more importantly it allows you to target the Web domains most likely to provide authoritative information. Under "Need More Tools?" you will find the "Search within a site or domain" slot. You may enter only one domain at a time, but it's worth targeting each of the three domains likely to supply the best information: colleges and universities (enter the "edu" tag), nonprofit organizations (enter the "org" tag), and the United States government (enter the "gov" tag).                       .

• Ask.com:  As you type your search, Ask.com may display a selection of searches related to your terms, any of which you may choose.  Within retrieval sets there may also be a helpful display of "Related Searches," often including Pro and Con categories for controversial topics.  And a new feature called "Ask Q&A;" can connect you to sites that answer specific questions on your topic.

• Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric: From Gideon Burton at Brigham Young University, this is one of the best collections of Rhetoric resources on the Web.

• Bartleby.com Reference Collection: Full text access includes the American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, the American Heritage Book of English Usage, The Columbia Guide to Standard English, Fowler's The King's English, and Mencken's The American Language.

• International Writing Centers Association: A gateway to writing resources and guides on the Web. See the links under "Resources" and "Links" at the top.

• The Writing Studio (Duke University): Click on "Resources."

• The University of Victoria Writer's Guide: Clear, comprehensive guide to academic writing. Includes a useful section on "Logic."

• OWL: Online Writing Lab (Purdue University): Use the "Navigation" menu on the right.

• Guide to Grammar & Writing: Writing guides at the sentence, paragraph, and essay levels, with helpful illustrations.

• Common Errors in English: Devoted to common mistakes in word usage, especially terms confused with one another. Scroll down the home page for alphabetical index.

• Punctuation Made Simple: Clear, concise explanations of the colon, semicolon, comma, dash, and apostrophe.

IC Library Reference works are shelved at the far end of the main floor.

An Encyclopaedia of language

MLA is the citation style used by most disciplines in the Humanities. The guides below use the latest 2008/9 standards.

• MLA Citation Guide: Books (Print & Web)
• MLA Citation Guide: Newspaper, Magazine, Journal articles (Print & Web)
• MLA Citation Guide: Web and Multimedia
• MLA Citation Guide: In-text Citations