John E. Riley Library: Language &amp; Literature: Sources by Type

Getting Started

ALL EBSCO
Search thousands of journals in all subject areas, many in full text. Mark results and save, email, print, or add to Zotero.
ALL ProQuest
Gateway to all ProQuest databases. All subject areas. Contents includes articles, books, dissertations, company profiles, and ebooks.
Google Scholar
Search for scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Discover related articles by using the "Cited by" link. Use "Find Library" link to locate libraries where items can be borrowed.
JSTOR
Articles, book reviews, essays from Arts & Sciences I, Arts & Sciences III, Biological Sciences, and Business Collections. JSTOR also has a selection of ebooks.

The video tutorials below will help you in understanding the search features and process for each of the listed article databases. If you have additional questions or need further assistance please contact a librarian (library@nnu.edu).

JSTOR Searching Video

You can search the library system with the author you are writing about as the subject. The bibliographies listed in biographies point to other sources that may prove to be helpful in your research.

American Writers by A. Walton Litz; Molly Weigel
Call Number: Ref. PS129 .A55 23 volumes

ISBN: 0684197855

Publication Date: 1996-

This collection of critical and biographical articles covers hundreds of notable authors from the 17th century to the present day. Signed essays, 12-15 pages in length by noted scholars, provide thought-provoking insights into the lives, careers and works of American writers. Each Supplement covers approximately 20 additional authors.
British Writers by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PR85 .B688 18 volumes

ISBN: 0684157985

Publication Date: 1979-
Contemporary Authors by Sharon K. Hall (Editor); Phyllis C. Mendelson (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN451 .C66 256 volumes

ISBN: 081030175X

Publication Date: 1962-

Each volume presents overviews of four to eight authors with chronologically arranged criticism representing the entire range of response to each author. A typical excerpt is prefaced by an annotation that explains the critic's reputation and critical philosophy and providing a synopsis of the excerpt. Approximately 90-95% of critical essays are full text. Every fourth volume is a Topics volume covering major literary movements, trends and other topics. Volumes include author, nationality, topic and title indexes; a cumulative title index to the entire series is published separately.
Contemporary Poets by Tracy Chevalier (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PR603 .C6 1991

ISBN: 1558620354

Publication Date: 1991

Cyclopedia of Literary Characters by Frank N. Magill (Editor); A. J. Sobczak (Editor); Janet Alice Long (Editorial Coordinator); Salem Press Editors (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN44 .M3 1998 5 voumes

ISBN: 9780893564384

Publication Date: 1998

Cyclopedia of Literary Characters provides critical descriptions of more than 20,000 characters that appear in 3,311 works of world literature, offering readers the opportunity to become familiar with both famous and less well-known personalities from the classics, popular fiction and plays.
Characters in 19th-Century Literature by Kelly King Howes
Call Number: Ref. PN56.4 .H69 1993

ISBN: 9780810383982

Publication Date: 1993

This volume provides in-depth analyses of more than 2000 memorable characters from 275 widely studied works of 19th-century literature. Separate plot summaries of each work are also provided.
Characters in 20th-Century Literature by Laurie L. Harris
Call Number: Ref. PN56.4 .C4 1989

ISBN: 0810318474

Publication Date: 1989

Characters in 20th-Century Literature provides essays on the most-studied literary characters from international contemporary writers. Book 1 features more than 1000 fictional characters from the works of 300 writers.
Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 by James E. Person (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN86 .L53 6 volumes

ISBN: 0810361000

Publication Date: 1984

Each print volume in this long-standing series profiles approximately 4-8 of the greatest writers and thinkers of the late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Restoration periods by providing full-text or excerpted criticism taken from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers and scholarly journals.
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism by Laurie L. Harris
Call Number: Ref. PN761 .N5 15 volumes

ISBN: 0810358018

Publication Date: 1981

Each print volume in this long-standing series profiles approximately four to eight literary figures who died between 1800 and 1899 by providing full-text or excerpted criticism taken from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers and scholarly journals.
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism by Sharon K. Hall (Editor); Phyllis C. Mendelson (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN771 .T91 24 volumes

ISBN: 081030175X

Publication Date: 1978

Each volume presents overviews of four to eight authors with chronologically arranged criticism representing the entire range of response to each author. A typical excerpt is prefaced by an annotation that explains the critic's reputation and critical philosophy and providing a synopsis of the excerpt. Approximately 90-95% of critical essays are full text. Every fourth volume is a Topics volume covering major literary movements, trends and other topics. Volumes include author, nationality, topic and title indexes; a cumulative title index to the entire series is published separately.
Contemporary Literary Criticism by Sharon K. Hall (Editor); Phyllis C. Mendelson (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN771 .C59 245 volumes

Publication Date: 1973-

Each volume presents overviews of four to eight authors with chronologically arranged criticism representing the entire range of response to each author. A typical excerpt is prefaced by an annotation that explains the critic's reputation and critical philosophy and providing a synopsis of the excerpt. Approximately 90-95% of critical essays are full text. Every fourth volume is a Topics volume covering major literary movements, trends and other topics. Volumes include author, nationality, topic and title indexes; a cumulative title index to the entire series is published separately.
Critical Survey of Long Fiction, English Language Series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN3365 .C75 9 volumes

ISBN: 0893563595

Publication Date: 1983
Critical Survey of Short Fiction by Frank N. Magill; Walton Beacham
Call Number: Ref. PN3373 .C7 8 volumes

ISBN: 0893562114

Publication Date: 1981

This series contains 515 essays, revolving around authors of short fiction. Essays are arranged alphabetically by author and provide in-depth overviews of short-story writers. Each essay contains full birth and death data, substantial listings of literary works by genre, and an analysis and survey of the major themes and techniques in the writer's work, using specific titles for examples. Finally, there is a list of other publication by genre, and an annotated bibliography.
Masterplots II. American Fiction series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN846.M37 1986

Publication Date: 1986

Includes more than 360 interpretative essays on works of twentieth-century fiction published in the United States and Latin America.
Masterplots II. British & Commonwealth series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PR881 .M39 1987

Publication Date: 1987

Includes more than 350 interpretative essays on the themes, plots, and techniques of works of twentieth-century fiction published in England, Ireland, Canada, India, Nigeria, and other areas of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Masterplots II. Drama series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN6112.5 .M37 1990

Publication Date: 1990

Examines the theme, characters, plot, style and technique of more than 700 nineteenth- and twentieth-century works by prominent authors from around the world.
Masterplots II. European Fiction series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN3326.M37 1985

Publication Date: 1985

A digest of plots and critical evaluation "from works written by authors from Europe, Russia, and Asia". [Publisher's catalog]
Masterplots II. Poetry series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN1110.5 .M37 1992

Publication Date: 1992

Over 770 articles summarize and evaluate poems written between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.
Masterplots II. Short Story series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN3326.M27 1986

Publication Date: 1986

Examines the theme, characters, plot, style and technique of more than 700 nineteenth- and twentieth-century works by prominent authors from around the world.
Masterplots II. World Fiction series by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN3326 .M28 1988

Publication Date: 1988

Examines the themes, characters, plots, style, and technique of 347 works by authors from the non-English speaking countries of the world, including Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, and Russia.
Masterplots II. 2010 Plot Stories & Essay Reviews from the World's Finest Literature by Frank N. Magill (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN44 .M32 1976

Publication Date: 1976

More than 2000 essay-reviews of plots and in-depth critical evaluations ... covering fiction, poetry, history, drama and belles lettres.

The Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare by Marvin Spevack
Call Number: Ref. PR2892 .S62 1974

ISBN: 0674374754

Publication Date: 1974

A one-volume reference that gives entries for 29,000 different words used by Shakespeare.
A concordance to the poetical and dramatic works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, including the poems contained in the "Life of Alfred, Lord Tennyson," and the "Suppressed poems, " 1830-1868 by Arthur E. Baker
Call Number: Ref. PR5580 .B3 1966

Publication Date: 1966

Contemporary Novelists by Susan W. Brown (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PR883 .C64 1995 2 vols.

ISBN: 9781558621893

Publication Date: 1995
European Authors, 1000-1900 by Stanley Kunitz (Editor); Vineta Colby (Editor)
Call Number: PN451 .K8 1967

ISBN: 9780824200138

Publication Date: 1967

Resources by Type

Archive collections are a great source of information. These collections contain mostly primary sources, but may also include secondary sources. Archive collections are usually affiliated with universities, public libraries, and museums. Some of the content in these collections may be digitized. For content that is not digitized you may need to contact the archivist (the person in charge of the archive collection) to find out the best method for accessing the content/information you need. Below are some sample searches for a variety of archive collections. The video below discusses and demonstrates the use of bibliographies and archive collections in the course of literary research.

Examples of Archives or Collections

Bibliographies are great sources to glean other works that you may not have discovered through other search mechanisms. Bibliographies are collections of works on a particular topic. Sources used by authors to create works are located in bibliographies at the end of the work. Topical bibliographies, such as Civil War Literature, 1861-1914, has a specific research focus, but may be helpful if you are writing about Harriet Beecher Stowe, as it may include primary and secondary sources on her and her writings. The short video below will demonstrate how to search the library system to locate resources both in NNU library and in other libraries (that you can request through interlibrary loan).

Stephen Crane: A Critical Bibliography by R. W. Stallman
Call Number: PS1449.C85 S74 1972

ISBN: 0813803578

Publication Date: 1972

Sample Bibliography - American Writers, "Ralph Waldo Emerson" entry

Contemporary Novelists by Susan W. Brown (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PR883.C64 1995 2 vols.

ISBN: 9781558621893

Publication Date: 1995
European Authors, 1000-1900 by Stanley Kunitz (Editor); Vineta Colby (Editor)
Call Number: PN451.K8 1967

ISBN: 9780824200138

Publication Date: 1967

The following link is a search done in the NNU Riley Library system for encyclopedias-related to American Literature.

American Literature Encyclopedias

The following link is a search done in the NNU Riley Library's system for dictionaries related to American Literature.

American Literature Dictionaries

To locate companions, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks for other literatures (e.g., British literature), use the following search strategy format in the library system:

su:British literature--encyclopedias (dictionaries)

Remember to limit your search results to items owned by NNU Riley Library.

Encyclopedia of World Literature in the Twentieth Century by Leonard S. Klein (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. PN771 .E5 1981 5 volumes

ISBN: 9780804431354

Publication Date: 1983