CAUTION: THIS PAGE NEEDS UPDATING. 10/4/2000.

Reference Resources in Literature

King Library, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

The selection of reference books, indexes, and electronic resources listed here should answer most questions, but there are many additional, more specialized resources. The English Librarian and other Reference Librarians can help you extend your search successfully.

I. Critical Introductions

Critical introductions provide basic information about writers, works, and literary terms. For writers, the critical introductions include key characteristics of style and theme, bibliography of works by and about, and biographical details; for works, they include plot summary, evaluation, and brief bibliography; for terms, they define and cite literary examples and sources in scholarship and theory. Most of the sources listed in this section feature encyclopedia-length articles of 10-20 pages.

A. Writers

B. Works

II. Literary Dictionaries (selected examples)

Literary dictionaries define terms, concepts, movements, and groups, and provide basic information about authors and works.

A. General

B. National Literatures:

Writers, works, groups, movements, issues, events.

C. Genres, Themes, Topics

D. Theory

E. Authors (examples)

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III. Bibliographic and Research Guides

Bibliographic guides survey and evaluate the current state of scholarship and criticism on writers (and sometimes works or genres), thus guiding students to the significant scholarship (best editions, the major biographies, the locations of manuscripts a nd archives) and to the criticism exemplifying various theoretical approaches. Unfortunately, many are now quite dated, but see the annual bibliographic reviews for more current reports.

British

American

Annual Bibliographic Reviews

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IV. Bibliography: Criticism and Scholarship

Literary criticism comments on the literary qualities and the cultural, aesthetic, and intellectual significance of writing; scholarship deals more with how literature is produced. Criticism can stimulate and extend a reader's response to writing, and criticism itself reveals literary attitudes of the time in which it is writ ten as well as the situation (or theoretical position) of the individual critic. It is published as articles in journals, as books or chapters in books, and as doctoral dissertations. To find criticism, start with the MLA International Bibliography and then, if necessary, turn to the indexes to current periodicals and books and then to more specialized cumulative and author bibliographies.

Annual Bibliographies

Indexes to Current Periodicals and Books

Additional, Specific Subject Coverage

Annual Reviews

These provide descriptive and evaluative essays surveying the year's published criticism.

Cumulated Bibliographies of Criticism

Cumulated bibliographies collect citations from a number of years; they are sometimes easier to use than the indexes above and they sometimes include material not otherwise indexed.

Author Bibliographies

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V. Literary Texts

Literature is published as a book or as an item (poem, story, play, selection from a novel) in a periodical or book collection. The following are standard tools to find literary writing at Miami and elsewhere.

Books

Literary Bibliography

See as well the author bibliographies, bibliographic guides, or critical introductions listed above in sections I and III.

Indexes to Collections and Current Periodicals

Search indexes by author, title, and, in some cases, subject.

Electronic Texts

VI. Manuscripts, Archives, and Collections

Manuscripts are the original writing of the author, whether handwritten, typed, word processed, or some other form of recording, and are usually the form in which the author sent the work to a publisher. All literary works exist in manuscript, although t he manuscripts of many, many works have been lost. Other important literary material also exists in manuscript, chiefly letters, diaries, journals, drafts, and notes. Archives are collections of an authorŐs personal materials and usually contain manuscripts. Archives can also include the books owned and read by an author, non-literary material (financial records, materials related to non-writing occupations or activit ies), and personal memorabilia. Institutions can also have archives, as for example Miami University. Collections, as defined here, can include manuscripts and archives but might better be understood as containing materials about an author or the published results of an authorŐs writing. The published works, especially when they show the multiplicity of publication formats and occasions are of course a good record of the authorŐs public reception, even though less personal than manuscripts and archival materials. There are a number of standard tools students can use to identify the existence and location of literary manuscripts, author archives, and significant collections.

VII. Biography

Literary Biographical Dictionaries

Selected examples; see also under Critical Introductions, above, section I.

National Biographical Dictionaries

Indexes to Biographical Books & Articles

VIII. Language Dictionaries

Long List of Language Dictionaries

IX. Background and Contexts

X. Professional Resources

Research and Study Guides

Resources

  • Associations Unlimited.
    Basic information about major professional organizations, such as:
  • University presses
    • Return to Subject Guide to English Studies page.
    May 2000 | William A. Wortman | Email wortmawa@muohio.edu