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Finding Books (criticism,
biographies, historical background etc.)
Search Illinet
Online, the library's catalog.
Sample Searches Using Library of
Congress Subject Headings
For books about authors or literature:
Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886--Criticism and
interpretation
James, Henry, 1843-1916
American literature--Women authors
American literature--Afro-American authors
United States -- History
Sample keyword searches
- For works by an author, do an Author
Words search on the author's name, e.g. Edgar Allan Poe, Eudora
Welty, etc.
- For works about an author, do a Subject
Words search using the author's name and one of the following: criticism,
biography, bibliography, like this:
Ernest Hemingway biography
Edith Wharton criticism
Reference Books For Historical Context
Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300
Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them.
Covers world literature from ancient times to
2000. Reference R809.93358 L776.
American Decades. Covers 1900-1999.Reference
R973.92 A512.
Finding Articles (criticism,
bibliographies, book reviews)
Scholarly Resources
(To access this resource from off campus, go
to Articles
and Databases, and choose MLA from the list of databases. For
information about off campus access, look at Accessing
Library Resources from off campus.)
How do I find out if the Elmhurst College Library
has the journal I need?
- Gale
Literary Databases ~ The most helpful
databases here are the Twayne Authors Series, and the Dictionary of
Literary Biography.
Book Reviews (These two sources are located
on the library's main floor, behind the Reference section on the south
side of the library)
- Book Review Index (1965-present)
- Book Review Digest (1905-present)
~ Includes excerpts from book reviews.
Encyclopedia
Britannica Online
~ A good source for historical context.
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Using the Web: Resources
and Evaluation
Literary Web Sites
Multimedia Web Sites
- Web of Memory
from the Library of Congress ~ "American history in words,
sound and pictures"
- Smithsonian
American Art Museum ~ Browse thousands of digitized art works and
online exhibitions.
- Women in American
History from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Includes great audio and
video, and lots of other fun stuff.
- The Britannica
Guide to Black History ~ Lots of good audio and video. You can,
for example, listen to Gwendolyn Brooks reciting her poem, "A Welcome
Song for Laini Nzinga," 1983.
- National
Archives Online Exhibit Hall ~ Look at historical American posters,
original scanned documents like a report on the assassination of President
Lincoln, President Nixon's resignation letter, the Dred Scott decision,
and lots more. You might also want to look at the Digital
Classroom, which includes history resources for teachers.
- American
Film Institute ~ 100 American Movie Poster Classics
- American
Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment 1870-1920
Evaluating Web Sites
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Documentation and
Research Guides
- Using
the MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
- Literary Research Guide, 3rd ed., by
James Harner, 1998. Reference R 820.9 H289L 1998.
- A Research Guide for Undergraduate Students:
English and American Literature by Nancy L. Baker and Nancy Huling,
1995. Reference R 807.2 B168r 1995.
- The Undergraduate's Companion to American
Writers and Their Web Sites, 2001. 810.8 B797u
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This page was created 03/11/2002 and was last
modified 04/16/2002.
Email Anne
Jordan-Baker, Assistant Librarian.
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