LibGuides: Literary Arts: Reference Works

Literary Arts Reference Resources

On this page you will find just a few of the many general resources available from the Brown library. Please be aware that many more may be found by searching BruKnow or consulting with your librarian. These can be a good place to start to get background information on or an overview of a subject.

General Reference Resources

CREDO Reference
Online reference service offering access to more than two million full-text articles from multiple publishers, current
Current; CREDO Reference is the world's largest online reference service, offering access to 854+ electronic reference books on most subjects, including dictionaries, biographical sources, quotations, medicine, literature, music, technology, and many other interdisciplinary sources.
Gale Ebooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)
Provides access to encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research
Gale Ebooks is a collection of ebooks that includes encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
Oxford Reference
Current; the core collection of Oxford Reference Online brings together 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works published by the Oxford University Press into a single cross-searchable resource.
Current; the core collection of Oxford Reference Online brings together 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works published by the Oxford University Press into a single cross-searchable resource. The Premium Collection offers all of the above, plus added functionality and more detailed information across a broad subject range from titles in the world-renowned Oxford Companions Series, to enhance the coverage already provided by the Core Collection.

Dictionaries

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Provides access to more than 60,000 biographies, 72 million words, 11,000 portraits of figures in British history.
2004 edition; an illustrated collection of 50,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2001.
Oxford English Dictionary
The OED Online contains the complete text of the 20-volume Second Edition, first published in 1989, together with its 3-volume Additions Series, published in 1993 (volumes 1 and 2) and 1997 (volume 3).
The OED Online contains the complete text of the 20-volume Second Edition, first published in 1989, together with its 3-volume Additions Series, published in 1993 (volumes 1 and 2) and 1997 (volume 3). The OED is currently being revised, with the aim of producing a completely updated third edition by the year 2010. Draft material from the revision programme will also be published online, representing the latest progress towards the new edition. More revised and new entries will be added to the online Dictionary every quarter.
Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online
Provides access to biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of influential literary figures from all eras and genres. The online collection is comprised of three series: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series, and Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook.
Current; Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online provides more than 16,000 biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres. DLB Complete Online includes the DLB main series, the DLB Documentary Series, and the DLB Yearbook Series.

Encyclopedias

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Provides access to editorially reviewed websites and the Encyclopedia Britannica, current.
Current; a reference site for students and educators synthesizing editorially reviewed websites and the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia of Literature & Criticism
Electronic resource, edited by Martin Coyle.
Encyclopedia of Literature and Folklore
Contains entries for authors, titles, national literatures, themes, and motifs in literature and folklore,
Encyclopedia of Literary Modernism
The principal focus of the book is on English-language literary modernism and the period 1890-1939, yet many entries extend beyond those parameters to include important precursors and successors of the movement.
Encyclopedia of the Novel
Electronic version of the 2-volume print edition, published in 1998 by Fitzroy Dearborn, London. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Literature Resource Center (LRC)
Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analysis of authors, current.
Current; provides access to biographies, bibliographies and critical analysis of authors from every age and literary discipline. The LRC covers more than 90,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists and other writers, and indexes publications such as Contemporary Literary Criticism, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Authors.

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries: Film

Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts
By Susan Hayward. Published 2000. E-book.
A Dictionary of Film Studies
Edited by Annette Kuhn and Guy Westwell. Published 2012.
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film
Editor Barry Keith Grant. Published 2007.

Research Methodology Handbooks

An introduction to Literary Studies
Includes information on different types of sources, genres, theories, terminology, and how to find material.
The Life of Texts: An Introduction to Literary Studies
"provides a conceptual and methodological toolbox for analysing novels, poems, and all sorts of other texts as they circulate in oral, print, and digital form."
MLA guide to undergraduate research in literature
" What makes a good research topic in a literature class? What does your professor mean by 'peer-reviewed' sources? What should you do if you can't find enough material? This approachable guide walks students through the process of research in literary studies, providing them with tools for responding successfully to course assignments."
A research guide for undergraduate students : English and American literature
Contents: Conducting research in an electronic environment -- Using library catalogs -- Searching bibliographic databases -- Searching the Web -- Finding reviews -- Using contextual primary sources -- Finding supplementary information : other reference sources -- One-stop shopping -- Managing citations -- Guides to research in literature

Research Tools

Oxford Handbooks Online
2012-2020; Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research Reviews brings together the world's leading scholars to write review essays that evaluate the current thinking on a field or topic, and make an original argument about the future direction of the debate. The literature handbooks are heavily weighted towards English literature.
2012-2020; Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research Reviews brings together the world's leading scholars to write review essays that evaluate the current thinking on a field or topic, and make an original argument about the future direction of the debate. OHO is a collection of the best Handbooks in 14 subject areas. The series contain in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field. All Handbooks are available online as well as in print, and monthly updates introduce articles in advance of print publication.

Routledge Companions to Literature
Set of handbooks by Routledge covering literature of many geographic areas and topics, including translation studies.