Literary QuickPath: An Abbreviated Guide to Literary Research

This guide is intended to provide a brief introduction to finding literary criticism and literary  biography, especially for students new to literary research. For greater depth and scope of literary sources, see Guide to Literary Research.

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I.  Find encyclopedic literary reference sources
They can be good starting points for research since they provide overviews of authors and their works.  They may focus on a specialized area such as "american literature" or "literary criticism." They provide brief or longer entries on particular literary topics or people, often with bibliographies that provide more sources.

A. Examples are:

1. Contemporary Authors  
In print in Mundt Library--call number: REFERENCE : Z1224 .C63 
Provides biographical and bibliographical information and references on approximately 100,000 U.S. and international authors. For example, search: Mary Shelley 

2. DISCovering Authors (in Discovering Collections)
Online link : Discovering Collections
Discovering Collections includes biographical, bibliographical, and critical information on the most studied authors from ancient times to the present. 

B. To find information in encyclopedic literary reference sources, use:

Gale's Literary Index [www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex] or search the same index in print where it's called Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index (the index volume of Reference Z1224 .C6 in the Mundt Library)

It indexes (in one place) several literary biography, literary history, and literary criticism sources published by Gale Group. For example, among the series indexed are:

Contemporary Authors (online & in print in library),

Contempory Literary Criticism (in print in library), and

Dictionary of Literary Biography (in print in library). 

C. Find additional information in literature encyclopedias in Gale Virtual Reference Library       Online link:Gale Virtual Reference Library.

 

D. Find additional encyclopedic reference sources by searching the Library Catalog for terms that describe the topic (e.g. American literature, British Literature, Science Fiction) and then limit the search to the Library's "Reference Collection."  Examples of such sources are in the Mundt Library's more detailed Guide to Literary Research.
 

II.  Find journal articles
Journal articles typically focus on a narrow topic (such as a single work of an author, a single theme in the works of an author, and so forth) 

A. Use periodical indexes (research databases) to find journal articles that contain important scholarly material for research papers. Some indexes provide access to full articles in addition to the citations and abstracts.  The following indexes can be used to find articles on literary topics.

1. General indexes cover all topics, including literary topics:

Academic Search Premier in EBSCOhost  -- http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/ebsco.htm    

Research Library in Proquest -- http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/prodirec.html

2. Specialized indexes cover the humanities (and, therefore, literature):

AH Search in OCLC Firstsearch  -- http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/frstsrch.html

B.  Consider various words and word combinations when searching periodical databases, and use the search techniques that are appropriate for each database (for example, Boolean connector words such as AND, OR, NOT; wildcard characters such as the asterisk to search for multiple word endings; phrase searching indicators such as quote marks to search for phrases) .

For example, to search the role of the scientist in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein:

frankenstein and scientist*

Or search for material about an author. For example,

jim thompson

Or search for material by combining author and topic. For example,

jim thompson and narrat*

Or search for material by combining author and title of a work. For example,

thompson and narrat* and hell and woman

C.  When full-text is not included in the database, you will need to locate the article elsewhere

1. First, find out if the Mundt Library has the journal in print or in another database by using the Library's Journal finder: http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/journals/intro.htm

2. If the Mundt Library does not have the journal, request the article through Interlibrary Loan
 

III.  Find books and more

A.  Find books by using research databases that search library collections

1.  The Library Catalog (http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/libcat.htm) may be used to find materials (books, videos, etc.):

• in the Mundt Library or

• in other libraries in South Dakota

2. Worldcat (http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/worldcat.html)may be used to find materials (books, videos, etc.):

• in libraries throughout the U.S. and around the world

B. Consider all options for finding literary material in books

1.  Monograph -- an entire book on a topic (author, genre, etc.)

·         Consider various search possibilities:

o        Word/s Anywhere search for author's name (e.g. robert louis stevenson)

o         Word/s Anywhere search for specific topic (e.g., scientist* and litera*)

o         Word/s Anywhere search for broader topic (e.g., science fiction writers)

2.  Collection of articles by different authors about a topic (e.g., an author, genre, etc.)

·         Consider various search possibilities:

o        Word/s Anywhere search for author's name (e.g. Mary Shelley)

o         Word/s Anywhere search for specific topic (e.g., frankenstein)

o         Word/s Anywhere search for broader topic (e.g., science fiction writers)

3.  Introductions in books containing author's collected works

·         Consider search possibilities:

o       Author word/s search for author's name (stevenson robert louis)

C.  Academic libraries arrange their print collections by  using the Library of Congress Classification. 

1. To see how literary sources are arranged, see the "Language & Literature" part of the classification system: Class P - Language and Literature (pdf format)

D. If the Mundt Library does not have the book or other item you need, request it through Interlibrary Loan

 

Ask a Librarian for help with research whenever you need it.