Finding Literary Criticism in the Pauline Whitaker Library
Take one of these nine paths, or try them all: In the Library 1. The Pauline Whitaker Library has books filled with essays on authors and their works. First, look up the author's name in the library catalog to identify all the book resources the library has. When you find a book on the author, look in the index (in the back of the book) for a particular title and the pages where that title is mentioned or discussed. 2. There are many sets of works on authors and literature in the P section of the Reference books. Scan the shelves in the REF PQ to PZ area to find volumes on British Writers, American Writers and others. Online Library Databases If you are off campus, logon My NWACC Connection (my.nwacc.edu), go to the Library tab and look in the Find Articles: Online Databases box. When on campus, you can also access these resources via the Find Articles link on the Library’s homepage (http://www.nwacc.edu/library). 3. To search LION (Literature Online Reference Edition), refer to the tips on the opposite side of this handout. 4. In EBSCOhost, choose the Academic Search Premier database. Click Advanced Search. Type in the author in one search box and the title in the next, using the connector "AND". (Example: Amy Tan AND Bonesetter's Daughter.) For the most results, do not specify a search field option to the right of the search term boxes. Check the Full Text box. 5. In Discovering Collection, use the Advanced search type. Type in the author in one search box and the title in the next, using the connector "AND". (Example: Ralph Ellison AND Invisible Man.) For the most results, choose "Keyword" in both search field options to the left of the search term boxes. 6. In Britannica Online, search for the author's name. Select the main article (typically the first on the list). To search related journal articles and websites, check out the Expand Your Research box inside the article. 7. In Grolier Online (Encyclopedia Americana), search for the author's name and select the main article. You can supplement your search by reviewing the Weblinks and Magazines option links. Recommended Websites 8. Use the online Gale Literary Index to locate articles in the library's print reference books published by Gale Publishers, including these key resources: Contemporary Literary Criticism Poetry for Students Drama Criticism Short Stories for Students Literature Criticism from 1400 to1800Short Story Criticism Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism Twentieth‐Century Literary Criticism Poetry Criticism World Literature Criticism To start, go to http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex. An Author Search leads you to a list of Gale publications with entries about the author. Works by the Author, listed alphabetically by title, appear after the general author entries. Print or write down the relevant publication information, including the volumes and page numbers appearing after the titles. Since the library does not own all of the titles indexed in this online resource, you will also need to check the library catalog to determine which titles (and volumes) are available for your use. 9. From the library's homepage (http://www.nwacc.edu/library), select Web Resources and then the Web Resources by Subject link. Next, select the Literature link in the Humanities section for an annotated directory of recommended websites. Originally authored by Dr. Linda Lovell with ongoing updates by Pauline Whitaker Library staff (Northwest Arkansas Community College). Finding Literary Criticism Using LION LION includes definitions of literary terms, encyclopedia entries on individual works and authors, full text articles from almost 200 leading literature journals, biographies of approximately 4,000 authors, numerous essays, bibliographies and student guides. LION also provides links to thousands of selected literature websites. Find criticism From the LION homepage, using the Criticism link is often the most efficient way to search. After clicking that link, type the word(s) you wish to search for into the relevant box (as shown). To find full text articles, click FULL TEXT ONLY NOTE: in the search boxes, the field Author/Reviewer refers to the writer of the criticism article, not to the author of a primary literary work. If you are searching for criticism on a specific literary work or author, enter the work’s title in the Title Keyword field and/or enter the author’s name in the Subject field.
On the LION homepage, click Reference to search the following full‐text reference works, either individually or as a group: · · · · · · · · · · Biographies Columbia Companion to the 20th Century American Short Story Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century Encyclopedia of the Novel KnowledgeNotes™ Student Guides New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics Routledge Encyclopedia of Post‐Colonial Literatures in English Citing a Source from Literature Online Reference (LION) Depending on the style guide one follows, formats vary. For instructions and citation examples using the top four style guides (APA, MLA, Chicago and MHRA), click Information Center on the LION homepage, scroll down to the Resources for Users section, and select the How to Cite from Literature Online Reference Edition link. Originally authored by Dr. Linda Lovell with ongoing updates by Pauline Whitaker Library staff (Northwest Arkansas Community College).