Literature: Books, Videos, & Databases

Literature Research Guide

Use this guide to find information in books, videos, articles, and websites

Print reference books are on the 1st floor of the library. They are a good starting point for research.

You'll find books on literature in the 800s.  

Here are some examples:

Gale Literary Criticism series:

Excerpts of literary criticism spanning from the time a work was written until present time:

• Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
• Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC)
• Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism (NCLC)

Biographies of contemporary authors:

• Contemporary Authors (CA)
• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series (CANR)

[Use the index in the back of any recent volume, or the paperback TITLE index to search for a work. An online index is available.]

Also, browse the reference shelves to find books on specific literary topics.  Here are some examples:

Encyclopedia of American Poetry

(R 811.509 ENCYCLO 2001)

Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature

 (R 810.9897 ENCYCLO)

Magill's Survey of American Literature

(R 810.9 MAGILLS)

Masterplots

(R 809 MASTERP)

Summaries of a work written by scholars

Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare

(R 822.33 SHAKESPzq)

Literature and Its Times

(R 809.93358 LITERAT)

American History through Literature

(R 810.9358 QUIRK)

Books that check out are on the 2nd floor of the library. 

Use the Search Box on the library website to look for books (and videos) on specific subjects or by specific authors. You'll find materials located in the SCC Library and in our partner libraries.

Here are some example subjects you can search in the library catalog:

• American Literature
• American Literature - African American authors
• American Literature - Hispanic authors
• American Literature - Indian authors
• Angelou, Maya
• Transcendentalism
• War in Literature

The Library subscribes to a variety of databases that contain quality information for student research.  The following databases will be especially useful for researching literature topics.