Owens Library English Composition Literary Research

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This guide is for students writing literary papers in English 112 and English 115.

Starting points Locate reference books and biographical sources.	Find books Get books at Owens and from other Missouri libraries.	Find articles Locate literary criticism in scholarly journals.
Request books/articles Get materials from other libraries if Owens doesn't have the item.	Cite sources using MLA Style See examples of how to cite various sources, including books and journals.	Ask a librarian Why waste your time looking for something? ASK!

Starting points: criticism, drama, poetry, short story

Literary Index
Search by title or author to locate books published by the Gale Group, a highly respected publisher of literary reference materials.

Contemporary Authors
This reference set includes biographical info and short excerpts from sources.

Gale Literature Criticism Series Guide
The Gale Literature Criticism Series features articles about world authors and critical analysis of the works of world authors. This guide covers multivolume reference literary criticism sets.

Biographical Sources About Authors in Owens Library

Literary Criticism Sources in Owens Library

Drama Criticism Sources in Owens Library

Poetry Criticism Sources in Owens Library

Short Story Criticism Sources in Owens Library

Find books

Library Catalog
Search the library catalog for books located in Owens Library and in over 50 MOBIUS Missouri academic libraries.

1) To locate works written by the author, select AUTHOR and enter the author's last name, first name

2) To locate works written about the author, select SUBJECT and enter the author's last name, first name

3)To locate criticism about the author's work using the KEYWORD search box:
a) enter the author's last name first name and critic*

hemingway ernest AND critic*

4) To locate biographical information using the KEYWORD search box:
a) enter the author's last name first name and biograph*

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Find articles

Search for Articles

   1) MLA International Bibliography (from the Modern Language Association)
       The MLA International Bibliography is the ultimate database to search for literary
       research papers. To locate critical articles in journals:
            a) enter the author's last name and the title of the work

   2) Academic OneFile (Gale)
       To locate biographical or critical articles:

            a) click Subject Guide Search
            b) type author's last name first name
            c) click subdivisions
            d) cliJuly 2, 2009

Locating Periodicals in Owens Library
     Learn how to find the call number, the format/media type, and the Owens Library location
     of a periodical title, i.e., NOT the title of the journal or magazine article itself.

Types of Periodicals
Determine how to tell the difference between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine.

Locating Peer-Reviewed Periodicals
Discover how to limit a search to refereed or peer-reviewed articles.

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Return to Course/Subject Resources