Library Guides: English

Welcome to the subject guide for English Language & Literature!

This guide includes resources that will assist you in completing your class assignments and research. Most of these resources are freely available online; however, only WSU students, staff and faculty may access resources with the  icon. If you have any questions or need help using any of these resources, please get in touch with your librarian via the contact information to the right.

Vietnam Temple of Literature: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckaysavage/3166794113/

Databases (back to top)

19th Century U.S. Newspapers
Digital facsimile images of full pages and clipped articles for hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers. Each issue is captured cover-to-cover with access to every article, advertisement and illustration. Alternate title:  Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers.  View terms of use.  (Gale)

Humanities Full Text
The most comprehensive resource available in its field, Humanities Full Text brings you full text plus abstracts and bibliographic indexing of the most noted scholarly sources in the humanities, as well as numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines. The database indexes, abstracts and delivers the full text of feature articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction, drama, and poetry, book reviews, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs, and more. Coverage dates:  Indexing 1984+, Abstracting 1984+, “select” Full Text 1994+  (EBSCO)   View terms of use

JSTOR
Online access to core scholarly journals in business, education, health, arts & humanities, life sciences, literature, physical sciences, and social sciences. Coverage begins with the first issue of each journal.   View terms of use.

Literature Online (LION)
Full-text library of poetry and prose fiction from almost every period and genre of English literature. Includes full-text literary criticism and reference sources. Coverage: 7th century-present. 4 simultaneous users.  View terms of use.  (ProQuest)  

Literature Resource Center (LRC)
Full-text access to biographies, bibliographies, literary criticism and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods, and from around the world. 5 simultaneous users.  View terms of use.  (Gale)

MLA International Bibliography
Citations to articles in journals and book series as well as working papers and proceedings in literature, language, linguistics, and literary criticism in all languages. Book reviews not included. Produced by Modern Language Association. Coverage: 1926-present. View terms of use.  (Proquest)

Oxford English Dictionary
Online edition of accepted authority and guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of words in the English language. Provides comprehensive etymological analysis and listing of variant spellings while tracing the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations. (OUP)

Project MUSE
Full-text access to current content from high quality, peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and social sciences, including literature and criticism, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and economics. Coverage varies.

Salem Literature
Provides complete content of printed reference sets in literature including the Critical Survey of Long Fiction.  (Salem Press)

WorldCat
World's most comprehensive bibliography with over 40 million records of all types of materials (e.g. books, dissertations, manuscripts, serials, sound recordings, videos) cataloged by OCLC member libraries. Coverage:1200-present. (OCLC).

E-Books (back to top)

eBook Collection (formerly NetLibrary)
Over 7,000 reference and other e-books in all subject areas purchased and shared with libraries in Kansas and eleven other states as well as a public collection of nearly 4,000 e-books that are in the public domain. View terms of use.  (EBSCO)

Information on how to create an account, click here.

Reference Sources (back to top)

Dictionary of Old English Project
From the University of Toronto. Two research tools are available: a variant phrase search and a list of texts cited in the dictionary.

Luminarium
A online encyclopedia covering Medieval, Renaissance, 17th Century and Restoration-studies.

Oxford Reference Online Premium
Full-text to dictionaries, reference books, and encyclopedias published by Oxford University Press in a broad range of subjects: general reference, language, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences, and Business. 4 simultaneous users. (OUP)

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature
A research and reference guide edited by Dr. Paul Reuben, Professor Emeritus in the English Department at Cal State University - Stanislaus.

Resources for Electronic Research
Links to web sites on topics in the Reformation and Renaissance. From the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies.

Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric
A guide to terms of classical and renaissance rhetoric. From Brigham Young University.

Web sites (back to top)

Routes of English
From the BBC, a site about the English Language and how it developed. Includes links to recordings of over 50 regional accents and dialects of English as it is spoken in the British Isles.

Scribbling Women
30-minute radio dramatizations of short stories by 18th century American women writers. *Windows Media Player is required.

Illuminations: The Critical Theory Web Site This site offers articles, book chapters, and excerpts from classic and contemporary critical theorists.

Literature Online

Literature Resource Center

MLA International Bibliography

BookSpot Browse by major award or literary genre.

BookWeb Industry Awards A comprehensive list of literary awards.

America's Historical Newspapers Search for historic book reviews. Full-text coverage of early American newspapers from all 50 states.

Custom Newspapers Search "book review" as a keyword in the Advanced Search option to find fiction and nonfiction book reviews.

Reviews of Books Links to professional reviews of books having received at least three reviews from respected sources.

Books on the Air New York Public Library's weekly feature of books mentioned on television and NPR.

Bookwire Lists of bestsellers, titles to watch, and more.

English Short-Title Catalog A searchable database of items published between 1473 and 1800 worldwide, in many different languages.

*Be sure to also check out the Readers Advisory & Leisure Reading guide for more information on the Libraries' leisure reading collection in addition to a number of links to blogs, reviews, book lists and more.