LibGuides: Language & Literature Research Guide: Books

Reference Books

Reference books are useful for finding a topic, narrowing a research topic, or gathering background information, statistics, definitions, etc., regarding your topic

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by Michael Groden (Editor); Martin Kreiswirth (Editor); Imre Szeman
Call Number: PN81 .J53 2005
ISBN: 0801880106
Publication Date: 2004-11-03
The Cambridge Companion to Children's Literature by M. O. Grenby (Editor); Andrea Immel (Editor)
Call Number: PR990 .C36 2009
ISBN: 9780521687829
Publication Date: 2009-12-10

Writers

American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies by Leonard Unger
Call Number: Reference - PS129 A55
ISBN: 0684136627
Publication Date: 1977
12 Volumes
British Writers by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Editor)
Call Number: PR85 B688
ISBN: 0684157985
Publication Date: 1979
8 Volumes

Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) by Edmund S. Weiner (Editor); John Simpson (Editor)
Call Number: PE1625 .O87 1989
ISBN: 0198611862
Publication Date: 1989
This 20-volume set widely regarded as the most detailed and complete dictionary of the English language.

Also available online.

Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
Provides meanings, history, and pronunciation for over 600,000 words from across the English-speaking world. Includes more than 3 million quotations from a wide range of sources to illustrate word use across time.

E-Reference Books

Magill's Literary Annual
Covers recent works of fiction and nonfiction across subjects, genres, and countries. Online access includes 1977 up to the present, and Masterplots Annual (previous title) from 1957 to 1976 are available in print at the Library.

Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Contains searchable, online encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

Bartleby.com
Provides access to fiction and nonfiction works of literature, reference and verse on topics such as English Language Usage, Religion and Mythology, Etiquette, Literary History and Literature, Poetry and plays. Bartleby’s features Familiar Quotations, the King James Bible, Oxford Shakespeare, Gray’s Anatomy, the World Factbook and much more.

Print Indexes to Poetry

The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies by Tessa Kale (Editor)
Call Number: Reference - PN1022 .H39 2007
ISBN: 0231139888
Publication Date: 2007
The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Collected and Selected Works by Keith Newton (Editor)
Call Number: Reference - PN1022 .C63 2004
ISBN: 0231125283
Publication Date: 2004

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Print Indexes for Literary Criticism

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (NCLC) by Laurie L. Harris
Call Number: Reference - PN761 .N5
ISBN: 0810358018
ISSN: 0732-1864
200 Volumes

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC)
Call Number: Reference - PN771 .G27
ISSN: 0276-8178
210 Volumes
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature.
Call Number: PR3.A11 M6a
ISSN: 0066-3786
85 Volumes
Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
Call Number: Reference - PN771 .C59
ISSN: 0091-3421
127 Volumes
Shakespearean Criticism (SC)
Call Number: Reference - PR2965 .S43 1984
ISSN: 0883-9123
36 Volumes
Short Story Criticism (SSC)
Call Number: PN 3373 .S386
ISSN: 0895-9439
7 Volumes

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