Note: This page is dedicated to general resources for the study of literature on the web. Guides for other genres of literature can be found in the list of Miller Nichols Library Humanities Subject Guides.
To Find Books
Use the MERLIN Library Catalog and the MOBIUS Union Catalog to find resources relevant to your research. Relevant works can be found using subject headings (Library of Congress) such as:
- Keats, John 1795-1821
- Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969 – Criticism and Interpretation
- Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Materials relevant to the study of broader literary themes can be found using subject headings such as:
- Art and Literature
- Bohemianism in Literature
- Feminism and Literature
- Literature and History
- Literature and Politics
- Literature and Society
- Postmodernism (Literature)
- Religion and Literature
- Romanticism
To find the location of a book in Miller Nichols Library, see the Location Guide.
To Find Articles
Remote (off-campus) access to databases is available only to UMKC students, faculty, and staff. All other users must access online resources within the Libraries. Begin searching by selecting a database. After selection you will be prompted to provide a UMKC Single Sign-On user name and password OR a 9-digit UMKC ID number followed by the letter k (example: 0123456789k) and last name, as needed.
-
Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost) 1975 - present.
Save to del.icio.us
Selected full text 1975 - present.
This multidisciplinary database indexes and abstracts journals in a broad range of subjects. Full text is available for a large proportion of the titles. A high percentage of titles are peer-reviewed. Dates of coverage vary widely by title. All content of Academic Search Elite is included in this resource.
- Essay & General
Literature Index (1900- )
Ref AI3 .E75
It provides author and subject access to essays and chapters in books, with an emphasis on literature, but with some coverage of the broader humanities and social sciences. - JSTOR 1838 - present. Save to del.icio.us
Full text. Coverage varies by title.
Contains fully searchable scanned articles from selected journals in a broad range of disciplines, including African-American studies, art, ecology, economics, education, history, law, literature, music, general science, sociology, and statistics. (To see a complete list of discipines and journal titles, link to the JSTOR browse list.) Covers the full run of journals from the first issue of volume one; however, the most recent three to five years of journals are not generally available. - ISI Web of Science
Note: This database is no longer be available.
Permits multidisciplinary searching for articles from international academic journals in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. This combined database for the Science Citation Index, the Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index offers cited reference searching. Link to ISI Web of Science user's guide. - MLA International Bibliography (Chadwyck-Healey) 1884 - present. Save to del.icio.usAn index to scholarship in literature, linguistics, film, folklore, and cultural
studies. The print version of this bibliography is available in the Miller Nichols
Library and
covers 1921 - 1999. The location and call number are Reference Index Wall Z7006
.M64. See the MLA
Directory of Periodicals for a list of periodicals indexed.
- OmniFile V Full Text (Wilson) 1982 - present. Save to del.icio.us
Selected full text 1994 - present.Provides indexing, abstracts, and some full-text from five of Wilson's full-text indexes: General Science Full Text, Humanities Full Text, Readers' Guide Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text, and Wilson Business Full Text.
NOTE: To find the full text of articles or other information that you have identified using the databases and indexes above, visit the Libraries' Website on Resources for Finding Journals and Articles.
University Libraries Photocopying and Printing Services
Selected Journals
To identify additional related journals, search MERLIN by subject or keyword.
Electronic Journals on the Web:
- Early Modern Literary
Studies
A scholarly journal concerned with the study of English literature, literary culture, and language during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Includes links to related sites, electronic texts, discussion groups, etc.
(www.shu.ac.uk/emls/emlshome.html) - English Literary
History (available only to UMKC-affiliated users)
A Project Muse title, ELH is a scholarly journal concerned with the study of the the social and historical conditions affecting major works in English and American literature. Available online from 1993- .
(muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/index.html) - ManuScript
(University of Manchester) A "refereed academic journal edited
and published by postgraduates of the Department of English and American
Studies at the University of Manchester."
(www.art.man.ac.uk/english/manuscript/) - Romanticism on the Net
A scholarly, electronic journal devoted to Romantic Studies. Includes links to related sites and other electronic journals in the field.
(www.ron.umontreal.ca/)
Reference Sources: Bibliographies
Reference sources are useful for locating background information, definitions, general descriptions, and basic facts. Use these books to help you select or focus your research topic.
All call numbers in this guide refer to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library, unless otherwise noted. Titles are linked to the corresponding MERLIN Library Catalog record.
Bibliographies
| Magill's Bibliography of Literary Criticism (4 vols.) Indexes articles, book chapters, and monographs for materials on over 600 authors from the ancient Greeks (Aeschylus) to the late twentieth century (Joyce Carol Oates). Published in 1978. | Ready Ref Z6511 .M25 |
Web Resources
Here are links to "metasites," i.e., collections of web-based resources on literature that encompass multiple authors and genres.
- Internet Public
Library Guide to Literature
The Internet Public Library is a clearinghouse for online resources in a wide variety of disciplines, including the Humanities. The IPL Literature page includes links to resources in world literature and literary criticism. Also includes links to resources for children's literature, censorship, and a variety of other topics.
(www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.00.00/) - A
Literary Index
(Chris Flack, Vanderbilt University)
An extensive, descriptive metasite dedicated to identifying materials relevant to the study of literature and the practice of writing.
(www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/flackcj/LitIndex.html) - Literary Resources
on the Net
(Jack Lynch, Rutgers University)
A huge collection of links to materials relevant to the study of virtually any subject in world literature, including classical, medieval, and ethnic literatures. Particularly strong in eighteenth- century literary studies. Includes a site-based search engine.
(andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/) - Voice of the Shuttle:
English Literature
(UC-Santa Barbara)
The Voice of the Shuttle is one of the leading metasites for web- based research in the Humanities. The VoS English Literature page includes links primarily to academic sites and online texts and journals.
(vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3) - Yahoo's Literature
Directory
This leading Web directory includes sub-headings for dozens of subjects in literary studies, including subheadings by author, genre, and critical theory.
(dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/)
Electronic Texts
- ALEX: Catalogue of Electronic
Texts
A searchable collection of electronic texts in the areas of American literature, English literature and Western Philosophy.
(www.infomotions.com/alex/) - Complete Works of William
Shakespeare
This site contains the full text of Shakespeare's collected works (plays and poetry) and a search engine that allows you to search for specific words and phrases.
(the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/) - The English Server
(University of Washington)
The English Server publishes original works of fiction, drama and essays on a variety of subjects. There are over 20,000 works available online in subjects ranging from literary criticism to cultural theory to ethnic studies (and more). Includes numerous, subject-specific links to other web-based resources.
(eserver.org/) - Hypertexts
at the University of Virginia
A collection of electronic texts in the areas of American literature and history. Includes works by Emerson, Dreiser, Twain and others.
(xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/hypertex.html) - University of Virginia E-Text
Center
Another collection of electronic texts from the University of Virginia, including approximately 14,000 texts in twelve different languages. Collections in English Literature include The Middle English Collection and the Modern English Collection.
(etext.lib.Virginia.EDU/)
Chaucer
- GeoffreyChaucer.org: An Annotated
Guide to Online Resources
Developed by a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago, this is a well-developed collection of resources, links etc. Includes useful annotations.
(geoffreychaucer.org/) - The Chaucer MetaPage
An extensive collection of Chaucer links, organized by subject.
(www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/) - The Chaucer
Review: An Indexed Bibliography
An indexed and annotated bibliography of the first 30 years of The Chaucer Review.
(www3.baylor.edu/~Chaucer_Bibliography/)
Milton
- Milton Review
Online collection of juries reviews of books on Milton and his works, or of books "about anything Milton might have read," or "about any author of interest to Milton scholars."
(www.urich.edu/~creamer/review.html) - Milton Quarterly
(Available only to UMKC-affiliated users)
A Project Muse title, MQ is a scholarly journal devoted to the life and works of John Milton. Available online from 1997- .
(muse.jhu.edu/journals/milton_quarterly/)
Shakespeare
- Mr. William Shakespeare
and the Internet
(Palomar College)
The most comprehensive guide to Shakespeare resources on the web. Its emphasis on scholarly resources makes this the best place to start web-based Shakespearean research.
(daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare) - Surfing With the Bard
(Amy Ulen)
Another excellent Shakespeare "meta-site." This site includes a combination of scholarly and popular Shakespeare resources.
(www.ulen.com/Shakespeare/)
Twain
- Mark Twain in Cyberspace
A good Twain meta-site, with links to electronic texts and other "Twainania" on the web.
(www.salwen.com/mtcyber.html) - Mark Twain Papers and
Project
The Website for the Mark Twain Papers (housed at the Bancroft Library), includes finding aids and online exhibits drawn from the archival collections.
(library.berkeley.edu/BANC/MTP/) - About.com Guide
to Mark Twain
Another excellent subject-oriented meta-site from the About.com, this one maintained by Jim Zwick of Syracuse University. Links to a huge number of scholarly and popular Twain-related sites, including Zwick's own well-known site on anti-imperialist writing.
(classiclit.about.com/cs/twainmark/) - Twain Web
The Website of the Mark Twain Forum, a Twain discussion list.
(www.yorku.ca/twainweb/)
Use search engines linked on the Internet Search Tools page to identify additional Web resources.
Library Guides to Literature Resources
The reference guides provided below should assist you in finding books and articles in the specific areas listed. The most general guide available is the Library Guide to Literary Criticism. Other guides are more narrowly defined in terms of genre. Library guides include lists of reference sources relevant to the study of the specific field.
Library Guides to the Works of Major Authors
Library Guides to Other Literature Sources
- Library Guide to Drama Criticism
- Library Guide to Ethnic Literature
- Library Guide to Long Fiction (Novels)
- Library Guide to Short Fiction
Other Useful Library Guides for Literature
For further assistance, please contact the
Miller Nichols Library Reference Desk at (816) 235-1534.
