Library Resources - Online

• DiscoverE
  Because DiscoverE searches such a broad array of information (books, articles, electronic collections), it's a great way to get an overview of your topic.  Preliminary searches in DiscoverE can give you an idea of concepts and issues associated with your topic, help you come up with additional terms to search for in the databases, and find resources that might be helpful later, which you can save to your electronic storage shelf.
• Literary Reference Center
  Literary Reference Center is a full-text database that combines information from major respected reference works, books, and literary journals, as well as original content from the database publisher. The database includes plot summaries, synopses and work overviews; articles of literary criticism; author biographies; full text of literary journals; book reviews; classic and contemporary poems and short stories; full text of classic novels; author interviews; and images of key literary figures.
• Oxford Reference Online
  This database includes full-text content from more than 170 subject dictionaries, language reference, and subject reference works in the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences. 

Library Resources - In Print

• Glossary of Literary Terms
  BOOKSTACKS 803.21 A1616G
  A collection of essays discussing the context, definition, and extended meanings of literary terms.  The essays suggest related terms and readings and offer bibliographies of sources to use for further research.
• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
  BOOKSTACKS 803 B177C
  A fully cross-referenced dictionary, great for helping you think of additional search terms and find related words and concepts.
• Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies
  BOOKSTACKS 807.2 H289L
  This source, a standard in the field of American literature, is a bibliography of suggested sources.  The sections on English Literature and American Literature and their introductory indices will be most helpful to you in pointing you toward more sources for further research.
• A Research Guide for Undergraduate Students: English and American Literature
  BOOKSTACKS 820.72 B1682R
  A step-by-step introduction to the literary research process, including detailed instructions and explanations.

Online Resources

• Voice of the Shuttle: Web Site for Humanities Research
  http://vos.ucsb.edu/
  A comprehensive portal maintained at the University of California - Santa Barbara.  Offers numerous links to scholarly organizations, primary sources, and published and unpublished research.  You may find the most relevant links by going to the Literature (in English) page and following the links to American Literature or Modern (British and American).
• American Literature Sites
  http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/sites.htm
  Another Web portal of links to relevant information on the Internet.  Also includes links to information about literary movements and American authors.
• Purdue OWL
  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
  Purdue's Online Writing Lab offers step-by-step explanations of research and writing processes, including everything from brainstorming paper ideas to citing your sources.  You may find the most helpful information in the Writing about Literature section (under Literary Analysis and Criticism).

Remember to search by words, and not by sentences or phrases.

Use the connector "AND" to build specific searches:

• hemingway AND women
• virginia woolf AND feminism

Use the options in the left-hand navigation bar to limit your search further:

• Look for the most recent publications by limiting by CREATION DATE.
• Limit your search to a specific TOPIC. (These Topics can also be useful in helping you think of additional words to search in the databases.) 
• Select Oxford LIBRARY to look for materials at this library.
  (Remember, though, that you can request items from Emory libraries - OR from other libraries - very easily; just allow yourself a few extra days' research time!)

General Databases

Multi-disciplinary databases with both scholarly and popular articles, many available in full-text:

• Academic Search Complete
• ProQuest Databases

Multidisciplinary, all-scholarly databases, almost all full-text:

• JSTOR
• Project MUSE

English and American Literature Databases

• MLA International Bibliography
  Produced by the Modern Language Association, this comprehensive database indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.  MLA International is the premier database for languages and literatures.
• Literature Online (LiON)
  A library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, plus biographies, bibliographies, and key criticism and reference resources.
• Literary Reference Center
  Literary Reference Center is a full-text database that combines information from major respected reference works, books, literary journals as well as original content from the database publisher. The database includes plot summaries, synopses and work overviews; articles of literary criticism; author biographies; full text of literary journals; book reviews; classic and contemporary poems and short stories; full text of classic novels; author interviews; and over images of key literary figures.
• Humanities Abstracts
  This database cites articles from English-language scholarly journals and specialized magazines.

Don't forget to evaluate your sources based on:

1. Relevance
2. Evidence
3. Author of source
4. Publisher of source
5. Timeliness
6. Comprehensiveness

Another crucial step of the research process is avoiding plagiarism by CITING YOUR SOURCES!!  The library offers 2 options for helping you cite your sources in bibliographies:

• EndNote
  Software available on all the library computers (and available for download onto your personal computer) that creates in-text and bibliographic citations in Microsoft Word
• Zotero
  Also available on all library computers; an add-on for the Firefox browser that allows you to capture bibliographic information from web pages - even from a page of search results from a database or amazon.com! - and drag-and-drop a citation directly onto any area where you can type

Ask a librarian for help with either of these citation tools that will completely blow your mind!