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       English Language and Literature

                         McFarlin Library

This is a selected guide to resources on English Language and Literature in the McFarlin Library collection. It is not a comprehensive list. It is intended to serve as a starting point for your research.

Approaches to Research

For information on how to do research in general, check Constructing a Research Paper.

Dictionaries/Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias and dictionaries are a good place to start when you need an overview of a subject or when you want a quick summary of basic ideas. They can also be used to  familiarize yourself with the vocabulary of the discipline. Encyclopedia articles are often followed by selected bibliographies or lists of references to other works. The following are available in McFarlin Library:

 Finding Articles

Journal articles are important in your research. You should use periodical indexes to identify current journal and newspaper articles published in the professional and scholarly literature on topics relevant to your research project.  Indexes can be subject-specific for in-depth research or can be more general in nature.

Some indexes are in electronic format and others are in print format. All indexes provide a citation, many provide an abstract, and a few provide the full text of the article.  If the article is not available in full text, you must use the Library Cataolg to find out if McFarlin Library subscribes to the journal that publishes the article you need.

To find out if McFarlin Library has a specific journal click on the Journals and Online Sources  link on the Libraries' Home Page and choose Journal Portal. Type the journal title in the Search box. If McFarlin subscribes to the journal, note the location and format of the periodical.  Back issues of periodicals might be found as a hard copy, on microfilm, or through an electronic format.   If McFarlin Library does not subscribe to the journal you need, you may request it through interlibrary loan. 

To find articles about English Language and Literature, search the following electronic indexes:

Academic Search Complete  via EBSCOhost

 

Academic Search Complete, designed specifically for academic institutions, is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,600 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,500 journals and a total of nearly 10,000 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1865, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for nearly 1,000 journals.

 

 

Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text via EBSCOhost

Publications include Film Journal International, Journal of British Cinema & Television, Film Criticism, Post Script, Variety, and more. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.

Humanities International Complete via EBSCOhost

"Humanities International Complete provides full text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world. Produced by Whitston Publishing (an imprint of EBSCO Publishing), this database includes all data from Humanities International Index (over 2,000 titles and 2 million records) plus unique full text content, much of which is not found in other databases. The database includes full text for more than 770 journals. Humanities International Complete is an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and educators interested in all aspects of the humanities, with worldwide content pertaining to literary, scholarly and creative thought. Humanities International Complete is an essential collection for libraries looking to provide comprehensive coverage of the humanities with full text content."
 

 

JSTOR

JSTOR 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. This database is valuable because "the complete backfiles of these core scholarly journals have been digitized, starting with the very first issues, many of which date from the 1800s.

Literataure Resource Center

"The foundation of the Literature Resource Center is built on the Gale Group's three hallmark author databases: Contemporary Authors Online, offering biographical coverage of more than 113,000 writers; Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, featuring entries on all authors appearing in CLC since vol. 95 of the print series and complete profiles of 266 most studied authors from editions prior to vol. 95; and Dictionary of Literary Biography Online, containing more than 10,000 biocritical essays on authors and their works written by academic scholars.

"The Literature Resource Center also includes selected full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material from Gale's respected Literature Criticism and For Students Series. The titles in these series include: Children's Literature Review, Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Drama Criticism, Drama for Students, Literature from 1400 to 1800, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Literature and Its Times, Novels for Students, Poetry Criticism, Poetry for Students, Shakespearean Criticism, Shakespeare for Students, Short Story Criticism, Short Stories for Students, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. In addition, users can access current, full-text critical essays on major authors via the Literature Resource Center's link to more than 200 prominent literary journals.
 

MLA International Bibliography via EBSCOhost

 

The MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Language Association of America, consists of over 1,300,000 bibliographic records in the subject areas of literature, language, linguistics and folklore. MLA provides access to scholarly research in over 6,000 journals and serial works. It also indexes books, collections of essays, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies.

Project Muse

 

"Project MUSE is an online collection of over 300 scholarly journal titles in the arts, humanities, and social sciences from 40 university and society presses. MUSE journals cover many different subject areas including literature, history, political science, economics, education, film, philosophy, religion, women’s studies, and many more. MUSE provides full-text articles, reviews (books, performance, art, music, etc.), fiction and poetry, and enlargeable illustrations and photographs.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database is an on-line, searchable compilation and extension of Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index 1878-1985, Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index 1985-1991, and Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index 1992-1995, including material located since publication of the last printed volume. Most material was obtained and examined by the compiler; the remainder was verified in a reliable secondary source.
 

 

 

 Finding Books

To find books located in McFarlin Library, use the library's online catalog.   In addition to books, the Library Catalog allows you to search for periodicals, government documents, audiovisual material, and Special Collections.

Call number classifications for English Language and Literature are:

Library materials for History are listed on the Library Catalog  under these suggested subject headings:

Broad Terms:

• English language
• English literature

Narrow terms:

• Authors, English
• English drama
• English poetry
• English prose literature
• Women and literature -- Great Britain

Check the Library of Congress Subject Headings for other more specific terms to search on the Library Catalog.

 Internet Resources

The Internet provides a great amount of information on the subject of English Language and Literature.  Listed below are some of the most well-established collections:

EServer

 

"The EServer is a unique website where 226 scholars, readers, artists and writers gather to share and discuss their works. The EServer's primary function is to publish texts in the arts and humanities. Our collections include art, architecture, drama, fiction, poetry, history, political theory, cultural studies, philosophy, women's studies and music. We publish journals such as Bad Subjects, Cultronix and Sudden, disseminate information of use to scholars such as our Calls for Papers and Academy sites, and host public web pages for local projects like the Pittsburgh Community Literacy Center. However, the collections are not the EServer's only feature. Both members and non-members are welcome to download new software or join mailing lists to discuss interesting topics with other Server users. In addition, members may have EServer login names, passwords, and EServer email accounts and/or editorial control of one or more of our collections."

 

Cambridge History of English and American Literature

 

"Considered the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published, the Cambridge History contains over 303 chapters and 11,000 pages, with essay topics ranging from poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and political writing."

 

Orlando Project

 

"The Orlando Project is a collaborative undertaking, involving participants from universities in Canada, the United States, England, and Australia. It is writing the first full scholarly history of women's writing in the British Isles."

 

Yahoo! UK: Authors

 

The communication ring is dedicated to the study and teaching of communication, rhetoric, and related topics. Scholars, students with online projects, and academic departments are welcome to suggest their sites for inclusion.

 

Humbul: English Language and Literature

 

The Humbul Humanities Hub (a nationally funded component of Britain's Resource Discovery Network) provides access to a wide variety of online humanities information relevant to British higher education.  This section focuses specifically on English language and literature.

Professional Associations

Below are some of the websites related to professional activity in the study of English language and literature:

Modern Language Association of America

 

"Founded in 1883, the Modern Language Association of America provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy. MLA members host an annual convention and other meetings, work with related organizations, and sustain one of the finest publishing programs in the humanities. For over a hundred years, members have worked to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature."

 

Royal Society of Literature

 

"The purpose of the Society is to sustain and encourage all that is perceived as best, whether traditional or experimental, in English letters, and to strive for a catholic appreciation of literature."

 

British Comparative Literature Association

 

"The British Comparative Literature Association (BCLA), founded in 1975, aims to promote the scholarly study of literature without confinement to national or linguistic boundaries, and in relation to other disciplines. The BCLA's primary interests are in literature, the contexts of literature and the interaction between literatures."

 

Reference Materials

The following reference materials on English Language and Literature can be found in McFarlin Library:

Citing Sources

For information on style manuals and guides found in McFarlin Library, check out  How to Cite Sources.