Literature Databases
(see also General;
book reviews may also be found in
Newspapers)
[Indexes to Journals & Books]
[Online Books & Encyclopedias -- All Literatures]
[Literature by Nation]
[Literature by Form]
[Literature by Period]
[Women Authors & Feminism]
[Dictionaries of Quotations]
[Children's Literature]
[Also of Interest]
- Indexes to Journals and Books:
- MLA
International Bibliography (ProQuest/Chadwyck-Healey)
- Produced by the Modern Language Association, this covers modern
literatures from all over the world, literary theory & criticism, dramatic
arts (film, radio, television, and theatre), folklore (folk literature, music, art,
rituals, and belief systems), languages & linguistics (study, history,
theory, comparative, semantics, translation, etc.), teaching (of language,
literature, rhetoric and composition at college level), and the history of printing
& publishing. Contains more than 2 million records for journals articles
(from over 4,400 journals), books, book articles, published conference papers,
dissertations, curriculum guides, electronic materials, and more, in over 60
languages published from 1926 to the present, with some journals going as far
back as the 1880s. Includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals with
publication information about over 7,100 titles.
- Annual
Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ProQuest/Chadwyck-Healey)
- Compiled by the Modern Humanities Research Association, this covers all
aspects and periods of British, American, and Commonwealth literature
from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. Contains more than 880,000 citations to
books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, and more published worldwide
from 1920 to the present, with a number of items going back to 1892.
Supplements the MLA Bibiography with many additional entries.
- Literature
Resource Center (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides access to biographies, criticism, work overviews, bibliographies,
and additional resources for more than 120,000 writers - including novelists,
poets, essayists, journalists, and more - from every age and literary discipline
along with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors. Includes
the full text of each volume of the Dictionary of Literary Biography,
Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Authors: New Revisions Series,
Literature and Its Times, Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of Literature,
and assorted other reference books published by Gale and St. James Press as
well as the full text of over 300 journals. Also includes selected content from Gale's Literary
Criticism series (see the Literature Criticism Online
database for the complete content).
- Literature
Online (LION) (ProQuest/Chadwyck-Healey)
- Contains the full text of over 350,000 works of English and
American poetry, drama, prose fiction, and literary theory produced from the tenth century to the
present day (including works from Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, and the
Caribbean), as well as the King James Bible.
Criticism resources enable simultaneous searching of the
MLA International Bibliography
and the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature and include the
full text of 192 literature journals. It also contains the
full text of the reference books: Shakespeare Glossary,
Concise Oxford Dictionary, Encyclopedia of the Novel,
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms,
New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics,
Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature,
Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English,
Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century,
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged,
Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism,
Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story, and
thirty-eight volumes of the Cambridge University Press' New Essays on the American Novel.
Includes bibliographies, KnowledgeNotes student guides, biographical entries for over
3,700 authors, and over 4,100 links to literature related
websites. PoetsOnScreen offers a growing collection of over 800 video clips of
contemporary poets reading their poems and classic poems.
- LIUCat
on the Web:
- The online public access catalog of Long Island University's
six campuses. This can be searched from any computer. No password is needed.
- Gale
Literary Index:
- Indexes the literary criticism and biography sets
published by Gale Research including: Contemporary Authors,
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Literary Criticism,
Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism, Literature Criticism 1400-1800,
Poetry Criticism, Black Literature Criticism, and more.
These books can be found in the
Reference Department.
- Online Encyclopedias and Books -- All Literatures:
- Magill
on Literature Plus (Ebsco)
- Combining MagillOnLiterature and
MagillOnAuthors, this database contains
editorially reviewed critical analyses, brief plot summaries, and
extended character profiles, covering works by more than 8,500 long and
short fiction writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, and philosophers.
Also contains over 6,500 biographical
essays on more than 3,500 different authors, more than 1,000 images,
a glossary of 1,310 literary terms, and 376 genre-driven
overview essays providing details about important literary genres,
time periods, and national literatures.
- Literature
Criticism Online (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- This extensive compilation of literary commentary covers both classic and
popular authors and their works across regions, eras, and genres by excerpting what many
critics have written about them in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, encyclopedias,
broadsheets, and pamphlets. How attitudes toward the works may have changed over time is
demonstrated by criticism written during the authors' lives through to the present day, including
what various great authors wrote about their predecessors. Many entries also include biographical
and/or critical overviews of the authors and works, along with author interviews. Includes the digitized
full text of the hundreds of volumes in the ten Thomson Gale sets:
Contemporary Literary Criticism,
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism,
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism,
Literature Criticism 1400-1800,
Shakespeare Criticism, and
Classical & Medieval Literature Criticism, as well as
Drama Criticism,
Poetry Criticism,
Short Story Criticism, and
Children's Literature Review.
- To print, first click on the "Print/View PDF" button.
- The MLA citation provided for each item is incomplete; also include the citation
information for the original publication that this database is reprinting.
See the citation style page for an
example.
- Literature
Resource Center (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides access to biographies, criticism, work overviews, bibliographies,
and additional resources for more than 120,000 writers - including novelists,
poets, essayists, journalists, and more - from every age and literary discipline
along with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors. Includes
the full text of each volume of the
Dictionary of Literary Biography,
Contemporary Authors,
Contemporary Authors: New Revisions Series,
Literature and Its Times,
Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of Literature,
and assorted other reference books published by Gale and St. James Press as
well as the full text of over 300 journals. Also includes selected content from Gale's Literary
Criticism series (see the Literature Criticism Online
database for the complete content).
- Literature
Online (LION) (ProQuest/Chadwyck-Healey)
- Contains the full text of over 350,000 works of English and
American poetry, drama, prose fiction, and literary theory produced from the tenth century to the
present day (including works from Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, and the
Caribbean), as well as the King James Bible.
Criticism resources enable simultaneous searching of the
MLA International Bibliography
and the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature and include the
full text of 192 literature journals. It also contains the
full text of the reference books: Shakespeare Glossary,
Concise Oxford Dictionary, Encyclopedia of the Novel,
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms,
New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics,
Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature,
Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English,
Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century,
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged,
Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism,
Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story, and
thirty-eight volumes of the Cambridge University Press' New Essays on the American Novel.
Includes bibliographies, KnowledgeNotes student guides, biographical entries for over
3,700 authors, and over 4,100 links to literature related
websites. PoetsOnScreen offers a growing collection of over 800 video clips of
contemporary poets reading their poems and classic poems.
- Brewer's
Curious Titles (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (17th ed) (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Chambers
Dictionary of Literary Characters (Credo/xrefer)
- Guide to characters created by writers in English - from the Wife of Bath to Harry
Potter. Includes concise biographies of authors, coverage of special topics, and
an appendix of literary awards.
- Critical
Terms for Literary Study (Credo/xrefer)
- Detailed articles provide a concise history of each literary term, critically
explore the issues and questions the term raises, and then put theory into practice by
showing the reading strategies that the term permits. Covers: author, canon, class, culture,
desire, determinacy/indeterminacy, discourse, diversity, ethics, ethnicity, figurative language,
gender, ideology, imperialism/nationalism, influence, intention, interpretation, literary history,
narrative, performance, popular culture, race, representation, rhetoric, structure, unconscious,
value/evaluation, and writing.
- Dictionary
of Literary Symbols
(GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Dictionary
of Literary Symbols (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- ebrary (ebrary)
- Currently
offers over 25,000 full-text books, sheet music titles, maps, reports, and other authoritative documents from more
than 180 leading academic, trade, and professional publishers. The collections are particularly strong in
business, economics, education, computers, technology, science, medicine, history,
language, literature, humanities, politics, and social sciences. Publishers include The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Random House, Penguin Classics, Taylor
& Francis, Yale University Press, John Wiley & Sons, Greenwood, and more.
- Note: to use ebrary, you must first download and install the
ebrary Reader on your computer (more information).
- Reference
Guide to World Literature (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on authors from throughout
the world, as well as essays covering specific work or works of an author, with criticism
and analysis of those works.
- Twayne
Authors Series (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Includes biographies and literary criticism from the Twayne World, US,
and English Authors series that each contain the full text of 200 frequently used
Twayne Literary Masters books on individual World, US, or English authors, for a total of 600
individual full-text titles.
- Literature by Nation:
American -
British -
German -
Italian -
Latin American
- American Literature:
- African-American
Writers: A Dictionary (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the role and influence of African American cultural leaders from
all walks of life from the 18th century to the present. Biographical information
includes important events in the writer's life, such as education, major works,
honors, awards, family, important associates, and other interesting lore.
- American
History Through Literature 1820-1870 (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Presents not merely criticism of authors and titles,
but also a historical and cultural view from a wide array of contemporary
perspectives to endorse the notion that not only does history affect literature, but literature itself
informs history.
- American
Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on 1,328 American women
writers covering all genres and all periods of American history.
- Cambridge
Guide to Literature in English (Credo/xrefer)
- Detailed biographical and critical articles about novelists, poets, playwrights,
critics, philosophers, historians, biographers, and their works from the classics
to the contemporary and from all over the English-speaking world. Also covers
literary groups, movements, critical schools, popular genres, poetic forms, critical
concepts, rhetorical terms, literary terms, theatres, copyright, libraries, the English
language, and more.
- Chronology
of American Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Columbia
Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Continuum
Encyclopedia of American Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Encyclopedia
of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century (Credo/xrefer)
- Entries cover individual poets and individual works, as well as broader
topics, periods, schools, themes, and other verse traditions.
- Harlem
Renaissance (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Presents the people, places and times that defined an era and documents
the launch of cultural development among African Americans in 1920s Harlem. Emphasizes
literature but also covers music, performing arts, visual arts, and nightlife. Includes
almanac and biographies sections with primary source documents
in sidebars throughout.
- Modern
American Literature (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains excerpts by noted critics on 489 of the most significant American
authors of the twentieth century. Each author entry gathers a variety of critical approaches
and shows the evolution of the critical reception of that author's work. The authors
discussed exemplify the best American writing in a variety of genres, from poetry to
expository essays, and reflect the diversity of the American experience in the
twentieth century.
- Thematic
Guide to American Poetry (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides interpretations of 250 American poems, representing the work of 86
poets from a wide spectrum of historical, contemporary, ethnic, and canonical writers. Poems
are grouped into 21 subject categories, and, within each category, the individual explications
are arranged chronologically, to emphasize the evolution of a particular theme over time.
- Thematic
Guide to Modern Drama (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Presents essays on thirty-three subjects that weave their way through plays
from the end of the 19th century to the present - with an emphasis on American dramatists
but including those from other parts of the world - and highlights the variety of thought
that exists in response to them. Each essay provides summaries and analyses of
three plays that display contrasting views of the theme.
- Thematic
Guide to the American Novel (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Examines American literature through the central themes in 150 of the most
commonly taught American novels. Each of the fifty essays presents a general statement
about and definition of the theme followed by a discussion of three novels, including a brief
plot summary and important critical aspects of the novel in relation to the theme as well
as a list of additional novels that explore the theme. Appendices provide additional themes
and cross references.
- British Literature:
- Bloomsbury
Dictionary of English Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Brewer's
Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Cambridge
Guide to Literature in English (Credo/xrefer)
- Detailed biographical and critical articles about novelists, poets, playwrights,
critics, philosophers, historians, biographers, and their works from the classics
to the contemporary and from all over the English-speaking world. Also covers
literary groups, movements, critical schools, popular genres, poetic forms, critical
concepts, rhetorical terms, literary terms, theatres, copyright, libraries, the English
language, and more.
- Continuum
Encyclopedia of British Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Dictionary
of Shakespeare, Peter Collin Publishing (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the plays, poems, characters and background to Shakespeare's works, including terms
used in the theatre and stagecraft, as well as historical references and details on the
Elizabethan historical and social period.
- Encyclopedia
of Medieval Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- Comprehensive guide to English literature written between 500 and 1500
with coverage of major authors, individual works, important themes, and of
entire genres, such as drama, lyric, ballad, debate, saga, chronicle, and
hagiography. Includes entries for historical persons and other topics that would
have affected their creation, such as kings, artists, explorers, religious leaders,
culture, and major historical events. Also covers Islamic, Hispanic, Celtic,
Mongolian, Germanic, Italian, and Russian literature.
- Encyclopedia
of Post-Colonial Literatures in English (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the richness and variety of experience reflected in the history,
development, and original research on the post-colonial literatures of some
50 countries and territories, exploring the effect of the colonial and post-colonial
experience on literatures in English worldwide.
- Shakespeare's
Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context (Credo/xrefer)
- Reviews current knowledge of the character and operation of theatres in
Shakespeare's time through discussions of relevant terms, names, and concepts
with explanations of their origins. Coverage includes props, dance, music, gesture,
fighting, make-up, blocking, costumes, choreography, interaction with audiences,
methods of characterization, and more, along with how the original staging of
Shakespeare's plays relates to modern productions.
- Thematic
Guide to British Poetry (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Offers brief interpretations of numerous British poems that span seven centuries.
Poems are grouped into twenty-nine narrative essays that each focus on a particular theme.
Within each section, the poems are usually discussed chronologically so that readers can
trace the development and decline of interest in a theme over the centuries. An appendix
provides brief biographical sketches of the poets.
- German Literature:
- Encyclopedia
of German Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Italian Literature:
- Dictionary
of Italian Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the entire history of Italian literature, ranging from the
13th century to contemporary authors, with some 400 entries on Italian
writers, periods, literary movements, versification, and critical problems
related to literary history.
- Latin American Literature:
- Concise
Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- Entries cover specific topics in literature, overviews of individual countries,
leading writers from colonial times to the present, and detailed articles on
important works.
- Encyclopedia
of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 (Credo/xrefer)
- Entries cover all aspects of literature - both popular and esoteric - including
authors, critics, major works, magazines, genres, schools, and movements in
Latin America and the Caribbean from the beginning of the twentieth century
to the present day.
- Literature by Form:
Nonfiction -
Novels -
Plays -
Poetry -
Short Stories
- Nonfiction:
- Chambers
Classic Speeches (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia of Modern Criticism and Theory (Credo/xrefer)
- Emphasizing Europe, North America ,and Great Britain, this guide to the
history and development of literary criticism and theory within the cultural,
ideological, historical, and institutional parameters of their growth presents
more than 100 essays on historically influential philosophers, literary critics,
schools of thought, and movements.
- Encyclopedia
of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Nonfiction
Classics for Students (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides in-depth literary and historical background on the most commonly
studied nonfiction essays, books, biographies, and memoirs in a streamlined,
easy-to-use format. This reference series gives
high-school and undergraduate students an ideal starting point for class assignments,
term papers, and special projects.
- Ripples
of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches (Credo/xrefer)
- Brings together the most influential and important voices from two hundred years
of America's struggle for civil rights, including figures both famous and obscure, such
as Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk, Betty Friedan, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and
a never-before published speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Issues covered include slavery,
suffrage, immigration, affirmative action, and more.
- Ultimate
Business Library, Wiley (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Novels:
- Contemporary
Novelists (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical/critical essays on the most important living
novelists writing in English worldwide.
- Thematic
Guide to the American Novel (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Examines American literature through the central themes in 150 of the most
commonly taught American novels. Each of the fifty essays presents a general statement
about and definition of the theme followed by a discussion of three novels, including a brief
plot summary and important critical aspects of the novel in relation to the theme as well
as a list of additional novels that explore the theme. Appendices provide additional themes
and cross references.
- Plays:
- Cambridge
Guide to Theatre (Credo/xrefer)
- Information on the history and present practice of theatre in all parts of the world - both 'high' art
and 'low' popular entertainment - including the dynamic interaction of performance traditions from
all cultures in present-day theatre.
- Continuum
Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers individual performers, playwrights, directors, designers, choreographers,
composers, theater companies, countries, trends, genres, along with practical topics such
as directing, acting, design, lighting, sound, and voice, as well as historical surveys on a
variety of subjects such as women in theater, black theater, gay theater, experimental
theater, and more.
- Dictionary
of Shakespeare, Peter Collin Publishing (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the plays, poems, characters and background to Shakespeare's works, including terms
used in the theatre and stagecraft, as well as historical references and details on the
Elizabethan historical and social period.
- Shakespeare's
Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context (Credo/xrefer)
- Reviews current knowledge of the character and operation of theatres in
Shakespeare's time through discussions of relevant terms, names, and concepts
with explanations of their origins. Coverage includes props, dance, music, gesture,
fighting, make-up, blocking, costumes, choreography, interaction with audiences,
methods of characterization, and more, along with how the original staging of
Shakespeare's plays relates to modern productions.
- Thematic
Guide to Modern Drama (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Presents essays on thirty-three subjects that weave their way through plays
from the end of the 19th century to the present - with an emphasis on American dramatists
but including those from other parts of the world - and highlights the variety of thought
that exists in response to them. Each essay provides summaries and analyses of
three plays that display contrasting views of the theme.
- Poetry:
- Contemporary
Poets (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides biographical and bibliographical information on 789 of the
world's most important contemporary English-language poets. Entries include
personal and career information, addresses, a detailed bibliography, a list of further
reading sources, and more. Each entry also includes a signed critical essay covering
each poet's career and works, written by an expert in the field.
- Encyclopedia
of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century (Credo/xrefer)
- Entries cover individual poets and individual works, as well as broader
topics, periods, schools, themes, and other verse traditions.
- Penguin
Rhyming Dictionary (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Thematic
Guide to American Poetry (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides interpretations of 250 American poems, representing the work of 86
poets from a wide spectrum of historical, contemporary, ethnic, and canonical writers. Poems
are grouped into 21 subject categories, and, within each category, the individual explications
are arranged chronologically, to emphasize the evolution of a particular theme over time.
- Thematic
Guide to British Poetry (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Offers brief interpretations of numerous British poems that span seven centuries.
Poems are grouped into twenty-nine narrative essays that each focus on a particular theme.
Within each section, the poems are usually discussed chronologically so that readers can
trace the development and decline of interest in a theme over the centuries. An appendix
provides brief biographical sketches of the poets.
- Short Stories:
- Columbia
Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Reference
Guide to Short Fiction (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on 376 of the most important
writers of short fiction writing in English worldwide, and 403 separate essays on selected
works. Also includes some authors of note who did not write in English, but whose works
have been widely translated and are often studied, such as Anton Chekhov and Jean-Paul
Sartre. Most authors covered were born after 1750, but a few important figures from earlier
periods are included as well.
- Literature by Period:
Modern -
Miscellaneous Periods
- Modern:
- Brewer's
Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Columbia
Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Contemporary
Novelists (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical/critical essays on the most important living
novelists writing in English worldwide.
- Contemporary
Poets (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides biographical and bibliographical information on 789 of the
world's most important contemporary English-language poets. Entries include
personal and career information, addresses, a detailed bibliography, a list of further
reading sources, and more. Each entry also includes a signed critical essay covering
each poet's career and works, written by an expert in the field.
- Continuum
Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers individual performers, playwrights, directors, designers, choreographers,
composers, theater companies, countries, trends, genres, along with practical topics such
as directing, acting, design, lighting, sound, and voice, as well as historical surveys on a
variety of subjects such as women in theater, black theater, gay theater, experimental
theater, and more.
- Dictionary
of Existentialism (Credo/xrefer)
- Provides concise information and overviews on particular existentialist thinkers, writers,
terms, and ideas. Cross references throughout the text help to trace interconnected ideas,
philosophers, and writers. The bibliography identifies helpful resources for further study.
- Dictionary
of Literary Influences: The Twentieth Century, 1914-2000 (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Traces the reading habits and intellectual development of the cultural giants of
the 20th century with entries on people from a broad range of fields, including science,
politics, business, literature, religion, performing arts, and popular culture.
- Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia of Modern Criticism and Theory (Credo/xrefer)
- Emphasizing Europe, North America ,and Great Britain, this guide to the
history and development of literary criticism and theory within the cultural,
ideological, historical, and institutional parameters of their growth presents
more than 100 essays on historically influential philosophers, literary critics,
schools of thought, and movements.
- Encyclopedia
of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century (Credo/xrefer)
- Entries cover individual poets and individual works, as well as broader
topics, periods, schools, themes, and other verse traditions.
- Encyclopedia
of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 (Credo/xrefer)
- Entries cover all aspects of literature - both popular and esoteric - including
authors, critics, major works, magazines, genres, schools, and movements in
Latin America and the Caribbean from the beginning of the twentieth century
to the present day.
- Encyclopedia
of Post-Colonial Literatures in English (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the richness and variety of experience reflected in the history,
development, and original research on the post-colonial literatures of some
50 countries and territories, exploring the effect of the colonial and post-colonial
experience on literatures in English worldwide.
- Encyclopedia
of Postmodernism (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the academic disciplines, critical terms, and central figures relating
to this significant cultural, political, and intellectual force, including the contemporary
cultural, historical, literary, and philosophical issues - such as selfhood, knowledge
formation, aesthetics, ethics, and more - that encompass this process of both
disintegration and reformation.
- Harlem
Renaissance (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Presents the people, places and times that defined an era and documents
the launch of cultural development among African Americans in 1920s Harlem. Emphasizes
literature but also covers music, performing arts, visual arts, and nightlife. Includes
almanac and biographies sections with primary source documents
in sidebars throughout.
- Holocaust
Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Major
21st-Century Writers
(GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Modern
American Literature (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains excerpts by noted critics on 489 of the most significant American
authors of the twentieth century. Each author entry gathers a variety of critical approaches
and shows the evolution of the critical reception of that author's work. The authors
discussed exemplify the best American writing in a variety of genres, from poetry to
expository essays, and reflect the diversity of the American experience in the
twentieth century.
- Reference
Guide to Holocaust Literature (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides biographical and critical essays on 223 writers connected to or
concerned with the Holocaust, as well as separate essays on 307 of their works.
- Thematic
Guide to Modern Drama (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Presents essays on thirty-three subjects that weave their way through plays
from the end of the 19th century to the present - with an emphasis on American dramatists
but including those from other parts of the world - and highlights the variety of thought
that exists in response to them. Each essay provides summaries and analyses of
three plays that display contrasting views of the theme.
- Ultimate
Business Library, Wiley (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Writers Directory (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- 2005 edition,
2006 edition.
This comprehensive resource features up-to-date bibliographical,
biographical, and contact information for thousands of living authors worldwide who
have at least one English publication. Entries typically include name, pseudonyms,
addresses, citizenship, birth date, specialization, career information, and a
bibliography. Contact information includes e-mail addresses where available.
- Miscellaneous Periods:
- Dictionary
of Shakespeare, Peter Collin Publishing (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the plays, poems, characters and background to Shakespeare's works, including terms
used in the theatre and stagecraft, as well as historical references and details on the
Elizabethan historical and social period.
- Encyclopedia
of Medieval Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- Comprehensive guide to English literature written between 500 and 1500
with coverage of major authors, individual works, important themes, and of
entire genres, such as drama, lyric, ballad, debate, saga, chronicle, and
hagiography. Includes entries for historical persons and other topics that would
have affected their creation, such as kings, artists, explorers, religious leaders,
culture, and major historical events. Also covers Islamic, Hispanic, Celtic,
Mongolian, Germanic, Italian, and Russian literature.
- Shakespeare's
Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context (Credo/xrefer)
- Reviews current knowledge of the character and operation of theatres in
Shakespeare's time through discussions of relevant terms, names, and concepts
with explanations of their origins. Coverage includes props, dance, music, gesture,
fighting, make-up, blocking, costumes, choreography, interaction with audiences,
methods of characterization, and more, along with how the original staging of
Shakespeare's plays relates to modern productions.
- Women Authors & Feminism:
(See also: Women and Gender Studies)
- American
Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on 1,328 American women
writers covering all genres and all periods of American history.
- Cambridge
Guide to Women's Writings in English (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Reference guide covering women writers across the English-speaking
world (including Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the Caribbean) from
medieval times to the 20th Century. Covers authors, texts, kinds of writing, genres &
sub-genres, general terms, and large labels like "postmodernism".
- Cambridge
Guide to Women's Writing in English (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Feminism
in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion
(GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Dictionaries of Quotations:
- Bloomsbury
Biographical Dictionary of Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Bloomsbury
Thematic Dictionary of Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Book
of Bible Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Chambers
Classic Speeches (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Collins
Concise Dictionary of Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Devil's
Dictionary (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Elgar
Dictionary of Economic Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- Contains the thoughts and opinions of hundreds of individuals on issues relating to the
economy, government, money, poverty, wealth, and more, including quotes from essayists,
jurists, philosophers, politicians, religious leaders, revolutionaries, scientists, and numerous
other important figures who have contributed to our understanding of economic matters.
- Holy
Bible, King James Version, Cambridge University Press (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Qur'an (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Rawson's
Dictionary of American Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Respectfully
Quoted (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Ripples
of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches (Credo/xrefer)
- Brings together the most influential and important voices from two hundred years
of America's struggle for civil rights, including figures both famous and obscure, such
as Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk, Betty Friedan, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and
a never-before published speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Issues covered include slavery,
suffrage, immigration, affirmative action, and more.
- Simpson's
Contemporary Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Children's Literature:
- Cambridge
Guide to Children's Books in English (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides a critical and appreciative overview of children's books
written in English around the world. Covers the history of children's books from pre-Norman
times to the present as well as current developments in publishing practices and in children's
own reading. Includes coverage of television, comics, annuals and the growing range
of media texts.
- Cambridge
Guide to Children's Books in English (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Children's Literature
Comprehensive Database (CLCD)
- Provides an extensive array of information about more
than 900,000 children's books, video and audio recordings,
film strips, and other children-focused media.
Records come with all of the official cataloging data, subject
terms, and annotations. In addition, CLCD contains more
than 130,000 critical reviews of thousands of children's books,
ranging from the earliest baby board books to novels and
nonfiction for young adults, and an average of more than 1500
new reviews are added to the database monthly. Includes
award information and placement on Best Books lists.
- Continuum
Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Growing
and Knowing: A Selection Guide for Children's Literature
(GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Also of Interest:
- American Juvenile
Collection:
- A research collection of children's fiction,
folklore, and fairy tales printed in North America, covering the years
1910-1960. The AJC continues the gathering of children's books by
Christine B. Gilbert, that included fiction and non-fiction, mostly from Great Britain, published
before 1909. The AJC retains a few of them, especially appropriate
fiction titles. This can be searched from any computer. No password is needed.
- Arts
and Humanities Through the Eras (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- For each of the five major periods (Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece & Rome,
Medieval Europe, Renaissance Europe, and the Baroque & Enlightenment), it discusses
architecture & design, dance, fashion, literature, music, philosophy, religion, theater,
and visual arts, profiling milestones, movements, masterworks, and schools of thought in
relation to each other, as well as to history and culture. Includes an overview of each
period with a chronology of major world events and biographical profiles of pioneers, masters,
and other prominent figures in the field.
- Berkshire
Encyclopedia of World History (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Encyclopedic reference presenting a connected, holistic view of world
history, emphasizing cultural contact and social change over time and place; comparisons
across time and place; and extensive coverage of arts, literature, religion, and science.
Includes 550 articles written by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists,
geographers, and other experts from around the world.
- ChoiceReviews.online
(ACRL)
- Produced by the Association of College and Research
Libraries, this provides access to the entire database of Choice reviews published since September
1988, covering significant current books and electronic resources of interest to
those in higher education. Updated monthly, Choice publishes more than 6,500 reviews by
subject experts each year. The newest reviews are arranged by academic discipline and broad
cross-disciplinary topic. All reviews can be searched by combining various criteria.
- Encyclopaedia
of the Renaissance (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Encyclopedia
of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850 (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- French and Irish Rare Materials: The
Winthrop Palmer Collection:
- Through the generosity of the Carleton H.
and Winthrop B. Palmer Memorial
Fund, we have collected rare items of
many French and Irish writers from varying literary periods.
Although we have concentrated on the Nobel Prize-winning
avant-garde writer, Samuel Beckett, it also
includes a manuscript of eighteen year-old Simone de Beauvoir, the
first edition of Joyce's Ulysses, and
significant rarities by Yeats, O'Flaherty,
Wilde, George Moore, Shaw, French
surrealist and symbolist poets, Seamus
Heaney and other contemporary Irish poets. No password needed.
Database descriptions are adapted from each database's website.
NOVEL (New York Online Virtual
Electronic Library) is a statewide virtual library provided free to
the public by the New York State Library.
It is currently a pilot project funded through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA)
grant to the NY State Library by the Federal Institute of
Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
HTML by Robert Delaney
robert.delaney@liu.edu
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