Finding Information About Literature
BOOKS TO CHECK OUT
The online catalog, Voyager, accessible through computers located at the LAC and PCC Libraries, identifies books, periodicals, and audio-visual resources available at both campuses. You may search the online catalog by author, title, subject, keyword, or call number.
Call numbers for literature found on the Mezzanine, Stack Level 4 of the LAC Library: PN=Literature, PQ=Romance Literature, PR=English Literature, PS=American Literature,
PT=Germanic Literature, PZ=Fiction and Juvenile, PA=Greek and Latin Literature
Use the KEYWORD search to find items by words from the title, subject or author. If you are looking for criticism and bibliographical references on author’s work, try a Keyword search as shown in the examples below: Tip: In a Keyword search, the question mark ? placed after the root word will find all endings of that root. Example: +critic? will also find: critics, critical, criticism and all endings that may occur as part of the root word.
+maya +"caged bird" (will retrieve Maya Angelou's "I know why the caged bird sings")
+great +gatsby +biblio? (will retrieve books containing the words great, gatsby and all words formed from the root word biblio)
+fantasy +literature +crit? (will retrieve critical works on the broad topic of fantasy literature)
ELECTRONIC BOOKS
Many full-text literary titles, works of criticism and literature reference titles can be found online. To find Electronic books in Voyager which can be read online from home, try a keyword search using general terms and adding a Quick Limit of E-Books. You will need to view the record for the book you want to read in the online catalog, then click on the resource link to the website that hosts the book. To view from home you will need passwords to read the book which can be found with the passwords for online databases available from the librarians. Alternately, you can go directly to NetLibrary.com and perform a search there for author, title or keywords.
SELECTED SUBJECT-RELATED DICTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopediaof American Literature - Ref PS 21 B46 (LAC and PCC)
Literary Terms: a Dictionary - Ref PN 44.5 B334
The Oxford Companion to English Literature - Ref PR 19 O94
SELECTED REFERENCE BOOKS
The following reference books are useful for finding biographical information, as well as criticism of authors’ works. Unless otherwise indicated, the books are located in the LAC Library Reference Room
.
GENERAL
American Writers - PS 129 .A55
American Writers in Paris, 1920-39 - PS 129 .A57 1980
Contemporary Authors - BIOGRAPHY Ref Z 1224 C6*
Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series - BIOGRAPHY Ref Z 1224 C58 *
Contemporary Literary Criticism – PN 771 .C59 *
Dictionary of Literary Biography - (search the online catalog by this title for call numbers) *
Feminist Writers – PN 451 .F46 1996
Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage – PN 56 H57 G365
Magill’s Bibliography of Literary Criticism - PN 523 .B53 1979
Masterplots II. African American Literature Series – PS 153 .N5 M2645 1994
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism – PN 771 .G27 *
DRAMA
American Drama Criticism – PS 332 .E53 1979
Drama for Students – PN 1701 D73*
Dramatic Criticism – Z 5781 .D73*
NOVELS & SHORT STORIES
Contemporary Novel – PR 883 C64
1,300 Critical Evaluations of Selected Novels & Plays – PN 44 M335 1978
Critical Survey of Short Fiction – PN 3321 .C7 1993 (and PCC Reference Z 5916 A4 .M34)
Critical Survey of Long Fiction – PN 3451 .C75 2000
English Novel Explication – PR 821 .E54
Masterplots II. American Fiction Series – PS 373 .M37 (and PCC Reference: Z 5916 A4 M37)
Masterplots II. Short Stories Series – PN 3326 .M27 1986 (and PCC Reference: PN 3326 M27)
Novels for Students – PN 3365 .N68 *
Short Stories for Students – PN 3373 S56 *
Short Story Criticism – PN 3373 .S386*
Short Story Index - Z 5817 S5 S56
Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication - Z 5917 .S5 W33
Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication: New Series - PN 3373 .W35
POETRY
Critical Survey of Poetry – Z 7155 C72 (and PCC Reference: Z 7155 C7)
Guide to American Poetry Explication – PS 201 .G85 1989
Guide to British Poetry Explication – PR 311 .G84
Masterplots II. Poetry Series – PN 1110.5 M37 2002
Poetry Criticism – PN 1010 .P62*
Poetry Explication – PR 502 K86 1980
Poetry for Students – PN 1101 .P64 * * Selected entries from these titles may be searched on the Gale Literature Resource Center available through the Library Web site – Online Databases.
ONLINE DATABASES
Literary
criticism and book reviews may be found on Proquest and Gale's Literature Resource Center from the Library's Online Databases web page. Passwords are required.
SELECTED INTERNET SITES
Sparknotes from Barnes and Noble – http://www.sparknotes.com/ (contains study guides)
Online Literary Criticism Collection -- http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
Literary Resources on the Net – http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/
Bartleby.com – http://www.bartleby.com
Columbia Guide to Online Style -- http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html
Literary Locales -- http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/places.htm
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