World Literature in English

FL 209 Spring 2004

Selected Resources

A. C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College

 

Finding Articles
Accessing Library Resources From Off Campus

 

Finding Background Information about a Country, Culture and/or Time Period

Britannica Online ~ The Encyclopedia Britannica provides scholarly information about authors, their works, historical periods and countries.

For more information on particular countries, try the following:

  • Library of Congress Country Studies
  • CIA World Factbook
  • Countries and Their Cultures (2001). R 306.03 C855
  • Worldmark Chronology of the Nations (1999). R 910 W927 cn
  • CultureGrams (2002). R 909.82 C968 2003
  • Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000 (2001). R 306.09403 E56

 

Finding Books

Books are often good sources of biographies and literary criticism.
  • Use Illinet Online (IO)to find books held in the Elmhurst College library as well as books owned by many other Illinois academic and research libraries.
  • Sample Searches
      • Works by Jurek Becker- Browse Author: Jurek Becker
      • Works about Jurek Becker- Browse Subject Words: Jurek Becker
  • Sample Library of Congress Subject Headings (Browse Subject search):
      • Wolf Christa (for books about Christa Work and/or her work)
  • When Elmhurst College doesn't have the material you need, search the following:
    • Illinet Online - select All ILCSO libraries, then repeat your search - you can place your own requests by selecting Request, then entering your ID (currently your SSN) and last name and following the instructions on the screens. If you have trouble placing requests, please contact the Reference Desk (630-617-3173).
    • SWAN - the Suburban Library System catalog, including Elmhurst Public Library and many other local public library catalogs.
    • WorldCat, then request the book through interlibrary loan.
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Finding Articles

Articles are often a good source of literary criticism. Some databases are good sources of biographies.

Literary Databases:
  • Gale Databases ~ Includes the Dictionary of Literary Biography and the Twayne series which provides criticism of the works of major U.S., English, and world authors from Aristophanes to the present. Author entries range from 175-200 pages.The Twayne series is a good place to start for literary criticism. Dictionary of Literary Biography is one of the best places to start for biographical information about authors.
    • Literary Index ~ An online index to the print Gale literature criticism series, many of which the library owns, including Contemporary Literary Criticism, Poetry Criticism, Drama Criticism, and Short Story Criticism.

     

    To access this resource from off campus, go to Reference/Literature Sources, then choose one of the Gale Databases from the list (Dictionary of Literary Biography or Twayne Author Series). You may also want to look at Accessing Library Resources From Off Campus.

  • MagillOnLiterature ~ This database contains a wealth of critical essays and plot summaries of those works most often studied and written about by scholars.
    • MagillOnAuthors ~ Intended as a companion reference work to MagillOnLiterature, this database covers a variety of different authors. There is also a literary glossary.

     

    To access this resource from off campus, go to Reference/Literature Sources, then choose one of the Magill databases from the list. You may also want to look at Accessing Library Resources From Off Campus.

  • MLA International Bibliography ~ The primary index to literary criticism.
General databases:
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Internet Resources

Evaluating Internet Resources:

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page was created 28 September, 2000 by Anne Jordan-Baker~ last modified 2.12.2004 by J. Hill