Reference Works

Located in the Reference Collection on the Library's Main Level.

General Encyclopedias

New Encyclopaedia Britannica. A general encyclopedia, so don't expect extensive coverage or entries on more obscure authors. However, it does provide good overview information on major authors, and articles may give information on where to find the more influential criticism.
Print Edition: Ref. AE5 .E363 2002
Encyclopedia Britannica Online Fully searchable version.

Literary Dictionaries

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Meanings and origins of words and phrases — especially good for explaining puzzling allusions.
Ref. PN 43 .B65 1999

A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory.
Ref. PN 41 .C83 1998

A Handbook to Literature. Dictionary-style listing of terms pertaining to literature in English.
Ref. PN 41 .H355 2000

General Literary Encyclopedias

Oxford Companion to American Literature. Covers over 5,000 topics related to American literature.
Ref. PS 21 .H3 1995

Oxford Companion to English Literature. Shorter entries on authors (including non-British authors) as well as all aspects of literature in English.
Ref. PR 19 .O94 2000

Specialized Literary Encyclopedias

Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English.
Ref. PR 111 .C353 1999

Encyclopedia of the Novel. Example of an encyclopedia devoted to a particular literary form.
Ref. PN 41 .E487 1998

Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English
Ref. PR9080.A52 E53 1994

The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.
Ref. PN1021 .N39 1993

Guides to Authors

American Writers. Counterpart of the above for American literature.
Ref. PS 129 .A55

British Writers. Long entries with strong bibliographies. The base set arranges authors by date. If you don’t see your author, remember to check the supplement volumes.
Ref. PR 85. B688

Dictionary of Literary Biography. A series of volumes, each covering authors writing in a particular genre in a particular place and time (e.g., American Poets Since World War II). The library has only selected volumes from this series.
Ref. PS 129 .D5

Criticism

Contemporary Literary Criticism. Articles first provide information about the authors and their works, then criticism.
Ref. PN 771 .C59

Reader’s Guide to Literature in English. Guide to literary criticism. Evaluative descriptions of influential critical writings covering important authors and numerous literary topics.
Ref. PR 85 .R33 1996

Literary Theory

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms.
Ref. PN81 .E63 1993

Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary Theory.
Ref. PN98.W64 E53 1997

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.
Print Edition: Ref. PN81 .J554 1994
Online Edition

Popular Culture

Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture.
Ref. E169.12 .E49 2001

Popular Culture: An Introduction by Carla Freccero. An e-book available from the library’s Voyager catalog .

Research Aids

Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies. “This work should be manacled to the wrist of every student entering an English Department” (Year’s Work in English Studies).
Ref. PR 83 .H34 2002

Books

Use the library’s Voyager catalog to find books on your author. If you do an “advanced search” in Voyager, you can separate the books by an author from the books about an author.

Circulating books about literature are on the lower level of the building, shelved in the “P” section. Books by an author are shelved with the books about that author.

You may expand any search for books beyond the confines of this library by performing a search in "All UH Libraries" in the Voyager catalog. You may request items from other libraries.

Literary Surveys

Cambridge History of American Literature. A multi-volume set, still being published. Covers the colonial period forward.
PS92 .C34 1994

Columbia Literary History of the United States. A one-volume survey.
PS 92 .C64 1988

Oxford History of English Literature. A multi-volume set, each volume covering a different genre and time period. Individual volumes are shelved with other books on their individual subjects.

Finding Periodical Articles

The library subscribes to about 1,100 periodicals in print format, and we have access to another 24,000 online journals. Use the "Find Periodicals" box located on the library's homepage to locate journals we have either in print or electronically.

Current issues of print periodicals are displayed on the Main Level behind the Reference area, arranged in broad subject areas; those having to do with English studies are shelved under "Humanities." Most of our periodical backfiles are on the Upper Level, shelved alphabetically by title.

To find articles in periodicals on a specific topic, you need to use a periodical index. For research on literature, the best index we have is:

Academic Periodical Search Provides many articles in full text. When full text is not available, abstracts are usually provided.

Also try:
JSTOR A journal archive with full-text of over 200 older journals covering a wide range of topics.

For articles in journals that we don't have, see "Loans from Other Libraries" below.

Book Reviews

Academic Search Premier An excellent index for book reviews. Simply enter some words from the title of the book, the author’s last name and the term “book review” (in quotations).

Book Review Digest. Provides short summaries of the book reviews. Years available: 1905-1999
Location: Indexes

Book Review Index. Years available: 1965-1977; 1983-2003
Location: Indexes

Internet Resources

Humbul Humanities Hub An extremely selective offering of links in the humanities. Sites are well described, so Humbul makes a good guide to humanities Web resources. This is part of the Resource Discover Network, which is funded by the British government and operates out of Oxford University.

Literaryhistory.com Covers over 700 19th and 20th century authors. Links to selected Web sites.

Literary Resources on the Net Links to sites dealing with English and American literature.

Modern American Poetry An Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry.

The Voice of the Shuttle An essential online destination for the humanities. Started by a University of California, Santa Barbara professor in 1994, VoS provides research links in such categories as literature (in English), literary theory, and philosophy.

Jobs for English Majors

Great Jobs for English Majors.
HF 5382.7 .D43 2000

Great Jobs for Liberal Arts Majors.
HF5382.5.U5 C252 1997

Liberal Arts Jobs : The Guide that Turns Learning into Earning .
Ref. Desk 4C: HF5382.5.U5 N25 1998

What Can I Do with a Major In …? From the Career Services office of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Citing Sources

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 2003. This is a detailed reference book describing all of the MLA’s requirements with respect to general format and citations.
General Collection: LB2369 .G53 2003 (2 circulating copies) and
Non-circulating copies in the Reference Collection and at the Reference Desk

How to Cite Sources This UH Hilo Library page has links to web resources on citations. Make sure to check out "Research and Documentation Online" by Diana Hacker, which tells you how to cite most formats in MLA style.

Loans from Other Libraries

Books may be borrowed from other libraries in the UH System. Click here for more information.

Students may also obtain copies of articles from journals to which the library does not subscribe through our intrasystem loan service.

Fees may apply.