Library Guides: English Literature: Home

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Welcome

Welcome to the guide on researching English Literature. This guide will provide an orientation to locating books, articles, collections of digitized literature & newspapers, and reference sources. English Literature is a varied and interdisciplinary field.

Relevant University academic programs, departments, and institutes

Creative Writing at the University of Chicago
Website for creative writing at the University of Chicago.
Department of English Language and Literature
Website for the English Department at the University of Chicago.
Franke Institute for the Humanities
Website for the Franke Institute for the Humanities, whose mission is to foster the development of innovative advanced research across the various disciplines of the humanities.

Quick Links

Bibliographic Sources

University of Chicago Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
Find items in all campus libraries, including books, periodicals, sound recordings, videos, DVDs and more.
WorldCat (OCLC) This link opens in a new window
WorldCat is a database that allows researchers to search the combined catalogs of hundreds of libraries around the world. It contains more than 52 million records for books, journals, audiovisual materials and more. This source can help researchers find items, verify citations, and identify which libraries hold a particular title.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore, excluding book reviews. Citations from over 4,000 journals and series published worldwide, as well as books, essays, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, & bibliographies. Also includes citations to books and journal articles having to do with linguistics and language topics.
Video tutorial on searching writer's names as subjects
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
For citation linking
Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window
The following are currently offered: Literary and Critical Theory; American Literature; British and Irish Literature; African American Studies; Victorian Literature; Renaissance and Reformation
Regularly updated annotated bibliographies. University of Chicago Library subscribes to many sections of Oxford Bibliographies Online such as African Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Atlantic History, Buddhism, Childhood Studies, Chinese Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, Classics, Environmental Science, Geography, International Law, International Relations, Islamic Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies, Military History, Music, Political Science, Renaissance and Reformation, Social Work, and Sociology.
Book Review Index This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive online guide to book reviews with over five million review citations from thousands of publications.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses This link opens in a new window
Includes citations for materials from the first U.S. dissertation (1861) to those accepted as recently as last semester. Starting in 1997 full-text is often available. If full-text is not available information about ordering the document is provided.

Reference Sources

Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
The accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.

Historical Thesaurus of English

New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics This link opens in a new window
Contemporary Authors This link opens in a new window
Provides complete biographical and bibliographical information and references on more than 120,000 U.S. and international authors.

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