The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library
English Literature: Getting Started
Start here for general research in English Literature and Criticism
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MLA International Bibliography: The PRIMARY search tool for literature research
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Tutorials and Courses for Searching MLAHere you will find all kinds of tutorials about searching the MLA database. Don't forget that if you're looking for scholarly/peer reviewed materials in literary studies, MLA is where you should go!
Recommended English Literature Databases
Databases contain listings of articles, books, book chapters, and other materials. You may find the full text of some items attached to the listings. Search a subject-specific database (MLA is the primary one for English) to find discipline-appropriate resources for your research project.
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MLA International BibliographyMLA is the primary research database for literary studies. It indexes books, journal articles, and other materials from 1963 to the present concerning literature, folklore, linguistics, modern languages, and the dramatic arts.
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Literature Online Complete Collection (LION)LION is a fully integrated service that combines the texts of over 355,000 literary works with a vast library of key criticism and reference resources. Literature Online’s collection of accurate poetry, prose and drama is relied upon by researchers around the world on a daily basis and the essential criticism and reference resources, including an ever-growing library of full-text journals and author biographies, helps keep you up to date on the latest research into every aspect of literary and linguistic study.
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Performing Arts DatabaseThe Performing Arts Database offers access to citations, abstracts, and full text of articles from scholarly and professional journals, magazines, newspapers, and other publications. Subjects covered include dance, film, drama, opera, stagecraft, comedy, pantomime, puppetry, magic and television.
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Drama OnlineDrama Online introduces new writers alongside the most iconic names in playwriting history, providing contextual and critical background through scholarly works and practical guides. Play Tools with Character Grids, Words and Speech graphs and Part Books offer a new way to engage with plays for close study or for performance.
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Project MuseProvides full text to nearly 200 scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
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JSTORAn archive of core, scholarly journals from a variety of subject areas. Coverage begins with the very first issue through all but recent years.
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Defining GenderA wide range of original sources including ephemera, pamphlets, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, manuscript journals, poetry, receipt books and conduct and advice literature.
Recommended General Databases
Here you will find general research databases that will help you get started on your research. Use a specialized database on one of the English pages for more in-depth research.
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Research LibraryCitations of newspaper and periodical articles covering a broad range of subjects, including arts, business, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
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Readers' Guide Full TextProvides the full-text of articles from popular magazines such as TIME, Harper’s, and National Geographic.
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Readers' Guide RetrospectiveProvides access to citations of articles from popular magazines that were published between 1890 and 1982.
Related Guides
Subject Librarian
DIY Research Guide
When you're working on your research and want a more self-directed learning experience or advice at 2 am, check out our DIY Research Guide!