English & General Literature

For topic-specific resources, see other Subject Research Guides under "English and Literature". Go to the Current Topics Subject Research Guide to begin research on a current topic.

Articles & Databases

Book Review Digest. 1905-1996/97. (Ref. Z 1219 C95)
Book Review Digest. (WilsonWeb) 1983-

Contemporary Literary Criticism. 1973-2000. (Ref. PN 771 C59) with selected entries in Literature Resource Center

Critical essays on contemporary authors. Entries include biographical and critical information, a listing of principal works, and sources.

Essay and General Literature Index. 1900-1984. (Ref. AI 3 E752)
Essay and General Literature Index. (WilsonWeb) 1985-

Indexes parts of books and essays pertaining to literary criticism, history, biography, and more.

JSTOR. (JSTOR)

Contains full-text, scholarly articles in language, literature, history, and the broader Humanities.

Literature Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

This major literature reference source includes biographies, bibliographies, criticism, work overviews, and author-related websites. Searches may be made by author, title, keyword, or genre.

MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures. 1921-1962. (Ref. P 1 M6)

MLA International Bibliography. (EBSCO) 1963-

Scholars of literature and English frequently use this database to access more than 1.6 million citations to journal articles, books and dissertations. MLA covers disciplines such as language, literature, folklore, linguistics, literary theory and criticism, and dramatic arts.

Muse. (John Hopkins University Press)

Indexes full text articles from over 200 scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

ProQuest Research Library. (ProQuest)

A multidisciplinary database containing articles from journals, newspapers, and magazines.

WorldCat. (FirstSearch)

A catalog of library books, journals and online resources from libraries around the U.S. and the world.

Style Manuals

The UWF Department of English requires use of the Modern Language Association (MLA) format in papers and assignments. See these books for detailed information.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th Ed. 2003. (Ref. Desk LB 2369 G53) & Emerald Coast Campus Library, Curriculum Library and Reserves.

See also the Long Island University Libraries site MLA Citation Style for a quick, online reference.

MLA Formatting and Style Guide - Purdue University OWL
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd Ed. 1998. (Ref. Desk PN 147 G444 1998)

This manual "establishes ground rules and provides practical advice for scholars."

Research & Writing Guides

College Student's Research Companion. 2000. (Ref. Z710 Q37 2000)

A "user-friendly guide explaining the fundamental principles of academic library research."

Literary Research Guide. 2002. (Ref. PR 83 H35 2002)

An annotated listing which identifies and evaluates reference materials for the study of American and British literatures.

Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. (Ref. PE 2827 G375 2000)

Research Guide for Undergraduate Students: English and American Literature. 2000. (Ref. PR 56 B34 2000)

Writer's Reference. 2003. (Ref. PE 1408 H2778 2003)

Includes many interactive writing, grammar and research exercises; shows model papers and other useful tools.

Writing & Grammar Help at UWF

Grammar Hotline - UWF Writing Center: (850) 474-2129

UWF Student Success Programs - Learning Center
http://uwf.edu/learningcenter/

The Learning Center in Building 52 (Pensacola Campus) provides proofreading and tutoring services. Contact them for times and availability.

UWF Writing Lab
http://www.uwf.edu/writelab

Provides writing tips and paper reading services. Located in Building 51, Room 157 (Pensacola Campus).

Dictionaries

Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus. 1996. (Ref. Desk PE 1591 B35 1996)

Supplies synonyms and antonyms and functions as a guide to connotation, illusion, and as an indicator of metaphors. Words are arranged by general groups and categories which are located by using the index.

Familiar Quotations: a Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (Bartlett). 1992. (Ref. Desk PN 6081 B27 1992)

Handbook to Literature. 1996. (Ref. Desk PN 41 H355)

This is an alphabetically arranged, indexed, defined and explained listing of terms in the fields of literary study. Some entries are longer and may have references depending upon the importance, difficulty or controversy of the term.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 1995. (Ref. PE 1628 M36 1995) and in Encyclopedia Brittanica Online.

Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2000. (Ref. PN 43 O94 2000)

Oxford English Dictionary. 1989. 20 vols. (Ref. PE 1625 O87 1989)
Oxford English Dictionary (Online)

As the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language, this dictionary is unsurpassed as a guide to the meaning, history, usage, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past.

Twentieth-century Literary Movements Dictionary. 2000. (Ref. PN 597 T94 2000)

Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. 1986. (Ref. PE 1630 A17 1986) & Emerald Coast Campus Library.

See also Webster's New International Dictionary Unabridged, 2nd edition, (Ref. PE 1625 W3 1948) which is preferred by many scholars because it emphasizes historic and standard use of words.

Encyclopedias

Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 1995. (Ref. PE 1072 C68 1995)

History, vocabulary, grammar, spoken and written, use, and study, are the principal divisions in this source.

Encyclopedia of American Literature. 2003. (Ref. PS 21 E54)

Reader's Encyclopedia. 1996. (Ref. PE 41 B4 1996)

Information on books, authors, fictitious characters, mythological allusions, and more.

Biographical Sources

Biography Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

Contains biographical information on over 320,000 people throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas.

Contemporary Authors. 1981-2000 (Ref. PN 771 C5852) and Literature Resource Center.

Biographical and critical essays of contemporary authors in all fields.

Dictionary of Literary Biography. (Call Number Varies)

An ongoing, multi-volume work that provides detailed descriptions of an author's life and work. Covers many American and European authors.

Directory of American Scholars. 4^th-9^th ed., 1963-1999. (Ref. LA 2311 C32)

Indexes & Abstracts

Abstracts of English Studies. 1958-1991. (Ref. PE 1 A2)

Includes abstracts of articles in American and foreign periodicals pertaining to English and American literature and English philology.

Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 1990. (Ref. Desk PN 1022 H39)

This index is excellent for locating poems in anthologies. First find the poem by author, title, subject or first line. Next locate the anthology in which the poem appears by checking the UWF Library Catalog. See also the editions of Granger's for 1973, 1982, and 1986 (Ref. PN 1022 G7).

Index to Plays in Collections. 1988. (Ref. Desk PN 1655 08 1988) & Emerald Coast Campus Library

An author and title index to plays appearing in collections published between 1900 and 1985. Find plays by author, title or subject.

Language and Language Behavior Abstracts. 1967-1972. (Ref. P 1 L2)
Language and Language Behavior Abstracts. (Cambridge) 1973-

Provides access to literature in language and language behavior whatever the disciplinary form and country of origin.

Short Story Index. Annual. 1950+ (Ref. PN 3373 S3882)

Indexes short stories originally published in anthologies. Search by author, title, or subject. See also Short Story Index, Collections Indexed 1900-1978 (Ref. PN 3373 S39 1979).

Internet Sites

Bartleby.com - Great Books Online
http://www.bartleby.com

Full-text resources include indexes, poetry and short story anthologies, fiction classics, dictionaries, thesauri, and more.

Electronic Text Center
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/

The University of Virginia Library created a digital collection of 70,000 texts in history, literature, philosophy, religion, and history of science. Its collection is multilingual and includes 164,000 images of rare books, manuscripts and book illustrations.

Web Sites for Literatures, St. Olaf College Libraries
http://www.stolaf.edu/library/research/web/lit.htm

This site links to excellent websites on American, English, and Children's literature.

Voice of the Shuttle Literature in English
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3

A list of valuable links for English Literature and general Humanities.

By Kristy Padron, English Literature Librarian
University of West Florida Libraries
Date Last Updated: March 9, 2007