Outline of this guide: Reference Works Books Articles

Other useful links: Book Review Sources Film Review Sources RefWorks: A Guide Research Log Research Planner

• Dictionaries
  • Credo Reference
    Includes:
    • The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
      The library also has a copy of the 3rd edition in Reference (R 423 A512 1992).
    • Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2003.
      Reference R 423 W38nc 2003
  • The Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Ed. J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner. 2nd ed. 20 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
    Reference R 423 O98m
  • Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Ed. Philip Babcock Gove. Springfield, MA: G & C Merriam, [1971].
    Reference R 423 W38n, 1971

• General Guides
  • The Columbia Guide to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story. Ed. Blanche H. Gelfant. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2000.
    Reference R 813 C726
  • The Companion to Southern Literature: Themes, Genres, Places, People, Movements, and Motifs. Ed. Joseph M. Flora and Lucinda H. MacKethan. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2002.
    Reference R 810.9 C737
  • Credo Reference
    A collection of online reference books, including a selection of literature resources, such as The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (3rd ed.), The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature, and the The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature.
  • A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms. Edward Quinn. New York: Facts on File, 1999.
    Reference R 803 Q7d
  • A Dictionary of Literary Devices. Bernard Dupriez. Trans. Albert W. Halsall. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1991.
    Reference R 803 D943g-T
  • Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs. Ed. Jean-Charles Seigneuret et al. 2 vols. New York: Greenwood, 1988.
    Reference R 803 D5541
  • A Handbook to Literature. William Harmon. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
    Reference R 803 H747h9
  • The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Ed. Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1993.
    Reference R 809.1 P957 1993
  • Oxford Companions
    • The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Ed. James D. Hart. 6th ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.
      Reference R 810.3 O98c6
    • The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Ed. Eugene Benson and William Toye. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997.
      Reference R 810.3 O981 1997
    • The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Ed. Margaret Drabble. 6th ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000.
      Reference R 820.3 H34o6
    • The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Ed. Robert Welch. New York: Clarendon Press, 1996.
      Reference R 820.9 O981
    • The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Ed. Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
      Reference R 820.3 O981
    • The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English. Ed. Jenny Stringer. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996.
      Reference R 820.3 O98
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature. Ed. Jay Parini. 4 vols. New York: Oxford, 2004.
    Reference R 810.3 O983
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Ed. David Scott Kastan. 5 vols. New York: Oxford, 2006.
    Reference R 820.3 O982
  • The Poet's Dictionary: A Handbook of Prosody and Poetic Devices. William Packard. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
    Reference R 803 P119p
  • Twentieth-Century Literary Movements Dictionary: A Compendium to More than 500 Literary, Critical, and Theatrical Movements. Ed. Helene Anderson and Jay P. Pederson. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2000.
    Reference R 809.9 T971
• Critical Theory
  • The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.
    Reference R 801.95 M975b
  • Contemporary Critical Theory: A Selective Bibliography. Donald G. Marshall. New York: Modern Language Association, 1993.
    Reference R 016.8 M367c
  • The Continuum Encyclopedia of Modern Criticism and Theory. Ed. Julian Wolfreys. New York: Continuum, 2002.
    Reference R 801.95 C762
  • Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. J.A. Cuddon. 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
    Reference R 803 C964d4
  • Dictionary of Narratology. Gerald Prince. Rev. ed. Lincoln, NE: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2003.
    Reference R 801.95 P995d 2003
  • Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms. Ed. Irene R. Makaryk. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1993.
    Reference R 801 E56
  • Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories. Ed. Lorraine Code. New York: Routledge, 2000.
    Reference R 305.42 E56
  • Encyclopedia of Literary Critics and Criticism. Ed. Chris Murray. New ed. 2 vols. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.
    Reference R 801.95 E56
  • A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory. Jeremy Hawthorne. 4th ed. London: Arnold, 2000.
    Reference R 801.95 H399g4
  • The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Ed. Michael Groden et al. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2005.
    Reference R 801.95 J65 2005
  • The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. David Macey. New York: Penguin, 2000.
    Reference R 801.95 M142p
  • Postmodern Fiction: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide. Ed. Larry McCaffery. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1986.
    Reference R 809.3 P858
  • The Routledge Critical Dictionary of Feminism and PostFeminism. Ed. Sarah Gamble. New York: Routledge, 2000.
    Reference R 305.42 R869
• Works About Specific Authors & Works
  Note: be sure to search the Library Catalog for reference works about specific authors too; try a subject keyword search for an author's name and limit your search by material type "reference resources."
  • American National Biography. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. 24 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999-2002.
    Reference R 920.073 A512
  • Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson, 2003- .
  • Critical Survey of Drama. Ed. Carl Rollyson. 2nd rev. ed. 8 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2003.
    Reference R 809.2 C934
  • Critical Survey of Poetry. Ed. Philip Jason. 2nd rev. ed. 8 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2003.
    Reference R 809.1 C934
  • Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Charles E. May. 2nd rev. ed. 7 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2001.
    Reference R 809.3 C934 2001
  • Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century. Ed. Eric L. Haralson. Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.
    Reference R 928.1 E561
  • Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. Ed. Eugene Benson and L.W. Conolly. 2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Routledge, 2005.
    Reference R 820.9 E561 2005
  • Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. Ed. Steven R. Serafin. 5 vols. Farmington Hills, MI: St. James Press, 1999.
    Reference R 803 E562 1999
  • Feminist Writers. Ed. Pamela Kester-Shelton. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 1996.
    Reference R 928 F3291
  • Gale Literary Databases. Gale, 2001- .
    Includes:
    • Contemporary Authors
    • The Dictionary of Literary Biography
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. ed. H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.
    Reference R 920 N2111
    See also the first edition: Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee (22 vols.; 1885-1901; reprinted London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1963-1965), shelved in Reference at call number R 920 N211.
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature. Ed. Jay Parini. 4 vols. New York: Oxford, 2004.
    Reference R 810.3 O983
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Ed. David Scott Kastan. 5 vols. New York: Oxford, 2006.
    Reference R 820.3 O982
  • Postmodern Fiction: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide. Ed. Larry McCaffery. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1986.
    Reference R 809.3 P858
  • A Reader's Companion to the Short Story in English. Ed. Erin Fallon et al. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2001.
    Reference R 809.3 R286
  • Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Thomas Riggs. 2nd ed. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 1999.
  • Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 3rd ed. 2 vols. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 2003.
    Reference R 809 R332
  • Scribner Writers Series. Gale: 2003- .
    Includes:
    • American Writers
    • British Writers
• Works About Film
  • The Complete Film Dictionary. Ira Konigsberg. 2nd ed. New York: Penguin, 1998.
    Reference R 791.43 K82c2
  • Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. Ed. Roberta E. Pearson and Philip Simpson. New York: Routledge, 2001.
    Reference R 791.43 C934
  • The Encyclopedia of Novels into Film. John C. Tibbetts and James M. Welsh. New York: Facts on File, 1998.
    Reference R 791.43 T552e
  • Enser's Filmed Books and Plays: A List of Books and Plays from which Films have been Made, 1928-2001. Comp. Ellen Baskin. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003.
    Reference R 016.791 E59
  • Film as Literature, Literature as Film: An Introduction to and Bibliography of Film's Relationship to Literature. Harris Ross. New York: Greenwood, 1987.
    Reference R 016.791 R824f
  • The Film Studies Dictionary. Steve Blandford et al. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001.
    Reference R 791.43 B642f
  • Handbook of American Film Genres. Ed. Wes D. Gehring. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1988.
    Reference R 791.43 H236
  • International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast. 4th ed. 4 vols. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
    Reference R 791.43 I611 2000
  • The Language of Cinema. Kevin Jackson. New York: Routledge, 1998.
    Reference R 791.43 J13L
  • Literature and Film: An Annotated Bibliography, 1909-1977. Jeffrey Egan Welch. New York: Garland, 1981.
    Reference R 016.791 W439L
  • Literature and Film: An Annotated Bibliography, 1978-1988. Jeffrey Egan Welch. New York: Garland, 1993.
    Reference R 016.791 W439L 1978-88
  • New York Times Encyclopedia of Film. Ed. Gene Brown. 13 vols. New York: Times Books, 1984.
    Reference R 791.43 N532
  • The Oxford Companion to Film. Ed. Liz-Anne Bawden. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1976.
    Reference R 791.43 O98
  • Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film. Ed. Barry Grant. 4 vols. New York: Schirmer Reference, 2007.

• To find books at Davidson, search the following:
  • Library Catalog
    Includes information about books, government documents, and journals, magazines, and newspapers in the Library.
    • To locate videos, do a keyword search and limit your search by the format "video materials (VHS/DVD)."
    • To locate appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings, start with a keyword search and then browse records.
    • To locate works about a person, do a subject search for the person's name (last name first).
    • To locate bibliographies on a person or topic, do a keyword search and add the following: su bibliography.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use a dollar sign $
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans (1639-1800)
    Contains digital images of over 37,000 books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in the British American colonies, and later the United States, from 1639 through 1800.
    Note: The Library Catalog contains records, with hotlinks to full text, for all of the titles in this collection.
  • Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819)
    Contains digital images of over 36,000 American books, pamphlets, and broadsides published from 1801 through 1819. Based on Ralph Shaw and Richard Shoemaker's American Bibliography and supplemented by thousands of additional titles.
    Note: The Library Catalog contains records, with hotlinks to full text, for all of the titles in this collection.
  • Early English Books Online (EEB0) (1475-1700)
    Includes over 125,000 books, pamphlets, broadsides, proclamations, almanacs, and other publications printed in Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and British North America from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries.
    Note: Does not include periodicals or newspapers.
    To print more than one page of a document, you need to "Mark" the document, view your "Marked List," and then click on the "Download Document Image sets in PDF format" link (not the link to download the record). Once the document is downloaded, you can print out a range of pages or the entire document using the print function in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) (1701-1800)
    Includes the full text of 150,000 books, pamphlets, almanacs, advertisements, songs, and other materials published in Great Britain and British North America during the eighteenth century; also includes digital facsimiles of each of the works.
    Note: The Library Catalog contains records, with hotlinks to full text in ECCO, for 136,000 of these titles.
• To find information about books that might be available from other libraries, search the following:
  • WorldCat
    Indexes books, periodicals, and other materials held by libraries around the world. Search WorldCat to identify additional books on your topic and then order the books on interlibrary loan.
    Note: It can be helpful to identify relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Library Catalogue first; you can then do a subject search in WorldCat to find additional items with these subject headings.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: insert a "w" between the words in a phrase (for example, "cold w war")
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?

• Starting points
  • Academic Search Premier
    (1975 to present) Indexes popular and scholarly articles in a broad range of subject areas; also includes citations to book reviews and citations to articles in several national newspapers.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • OmniFile Full Text Mega
    (1982 to present) Indexes articles from over 3,000 scholarly and popular periodicals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences; also includes the full text of selected articles from over 1,650 of these periodicals.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
• Core Resources for English
  Print Sources | Online Sources
  • Print Sources
    • American Short Fiction Criticism and Scholarship, 1959-1977: A Checklist. Joe Weixlmann. Chicago, IL: Swallow Press, 1982.
      Reference R 016.81 W436a
    • Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature (ABELL). Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1924 - .
      Reference R 016.82 M689a
      Indexes journal articles and books published from 1920 to present; also includes citations to book reviews. ABELL is particularly good source of information about books published in the U.K. Many of these works do not appear in the MLAIB.
    • Gale Literary Criticism Titles
      • Shakespearean Criticism: Excerpts from the Criticism of William Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry, from the First Published Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1984- .
        Reference R 822.33 DS5275
        To locate relevant entries in this set, consult Gale's Literary Index.
      • Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1981- .
        Reference R 809.03 N714
        To locate relevant entries in this set, consult Gale's Literary Index.
      • Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1978- .
        Reference R 809.04 T971
        To locate relevant entries in this set, consult Gale's Literary Index.
      • Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1973- .
        Reference R 809.04 C761
        To locate relevant entries in this set, consult Gale's Literary Index.
        Some entries from this set are available online as part of the Gale Literary Databases, but the online version is incomplete. You will still need to consult the print set.
      • Short Story Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1988- .
        Reference R 809 S559
        To locate relevant entries in this set, consult Gale's Literary Index.
    • Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism
      • Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors through the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. Rev. Martin Tucker. New York: Ungar, 1966.
        Reference R 820.9 M92L1
      • New Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1985-1990.
        Reference R 809 C5162
      • The Major Author's Edition of the New Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1985- .
        Reference R 809 C5163
      • Twentieth-Century American Literature. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1985-1988.
        Reference R 809 C5166
    • Poetry Explication
      • Poetry Explication: A Checklist of Interpretation since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present. Joseph Marshall Kuntz. Rev. ed. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1980.
        Reference R 016.82 K96p3
      • Guide to British Poetry Explication. Nancy C. Martinez and Joseph G.R. Martinez. 4 vols. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1991-1995.
        Reference R 016.82 M385g
    • Short Fiction Criticism: A Checklist of Interpretation since 1925 of Stories and Novelettes (American, British, Continental) 1800-1958. Jarvis Thurston et al. Denver, CO: Alan Swallow, 1960.
      Reference R 016.8 T54s
    • Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication. Comp. Warren S. Walker. Hamden, CT: Shoestring Press, 1977- .
      Reference R016.8 W186t
      Includes supplements.
  • Online Sources
    • MLA International Bibliography
      (1926 to present). Indexes journal articles, books, and doctoral dissertations in the fields of English, American, European, Asian, African, and Latin American linguistics, modern languages and literatures, film studies, and folklore.
      For more information, see the MLAIB Search Planner.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
    • World Shakespeare Bibliography Online
      (1971 to present) Includes citations to articles, books, theatrical productions, and audiovisual materials related to Shakespeare; also includes performance reviews, books reviews, and film reviews.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks "".
• Film
  • Film & Television Literature Index
    (c. 1937 to present) Indexes articles, film reviews, and book reviews from over 300 film and television periodicals; international in scope..
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Film Indexes Online
    (1893 to present) Contains both Film Index International (FII) and The American Film Institute Catalog (AFI). Includes full production and cast information for films from over 170 countries as well as plot summaries, production notes, and citations to reviews, criticism, and articles on film and film personalities.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: automatic
  • MLA International Bibliography
    (1926 to present). Indexes journal articles, books, and doctoral dissertations in the fields of English, American, European, Asian, African, and Latin American linguistics, modern languages and literatures, film studies, and folklore.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
• Other Resources
  Be sure to search the library's indexes and databases page too, including the pages for English, Film, and, for comment on recent works, Popular Sources.
  • Essay & General Literature Index
    (1985 to present) Indexes chapters and essays in edited collections.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
  • Humanities Abstracts
    (1907 to present). Indexes articles in over 500 English-language journals in the fields of archaeology, art, classics, communication, film, folklore, history, languages and literatures, music, philosophy, religion, and theatre. Also includes citations for book, theatre, and film reviews as well as interviews, obituaries, and some original creative works. Includes the full text of selected articles from 1995 to the present.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
  • JSTOR
    Includes pdf copies of scholarly articles from a core collection of journals; also includes book reviews. Note:JSTOR does not contain articles from the most recent 3-5 years.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use a plus sign +
    • Phrase searching: automatic
  • Periodicals Index Online
    (c. 1665-1995) Indexes journal and magazine articles as well as book reviews in a broad array of humanities, social sciences, and science subjects.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: automatic
  • Project Muse
    Includes pdf and HTML copies of journal articles published by university and scholarly presses.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
  • Web of Knowledge
    (c. 1900 to present) A multidisciplinary resource that provides citations to articles in thousands of journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotations marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Women Studies Abstracts
    Reference Index Area R 050 W872
    (1972 to present) Indexes popular articles, scholarly articles, and books on all aspects of women's studies, including history, education, gender, literature, religion, and art.