English Literature

Keyword Searching in Omni

Keyword searching can be very fruitful.

Search examples:

• shakespeare hamlet performance
• victorian literature criticism
• frankenstein character

Browsing Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Catalogue

Searching by Library of Congress subject headings can be effective.
For critical works about specific authors, search by subject by the name in inverted order (last name first) with a subdivision such as Criticism and interpretation:

• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation
• Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941
• Frankenstein (Fictitious character)

For critical works about a specific genre or period of literature, use the name of the genre etc. with the subdivision History and criticism:

• American literature--19th century--History and criticism
• Caribbean poetry (English)--History and criticism
• Science fiction, American--History and criticism

Getting More from E-books

Increasingly, the TMU Library acquires books in electronic only formats.  These can be found by searching Omni. Many of the e-books that we have access to can also be found in Scholars Portal Books, along with large numbers of books published prior to 1922 that are presumed to be out of copyright, and other works created using a Creative Commons License that allows free access.

The Internet Archive has many more freely accessible books, videos and sound recordings. It is especially good valuable for works printed in English prior to 1923.  The Hathi Trust Digital Library is another large digitization initiative with a lot of books and magazines that are no longer protected by copyright.

Use to find brief background information.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries remain valuable sources of bio-bibliographical information and concise critical commentary on authors and types of literature. Consider keyword searches such as:

• authors biography dictionaries
• children's literature dictionaries
• children's literature encyclopedias
• english literature dictionaries
• english literature 19th century encyclopedias
• fantasy fiction dictionaries
• folklore encyclopedias
• great britain biography dictionaries
• illustrators dictionaries
• poetics dictionaries
• science fiction dictionaries
• women authors dictionaries

The Toronto Public Library has an excellent collection that supports the study of English literature. Many scholarly works are only available at the Toronto Reference Library located on Yonge Street one block north of Bloor Street. These items generally must be used in the library. Some material is part of the vast circulating collection. Online databases and books are becoming more common.

The online Shakespeare Collection includes the Arden Shakespeare complete works.
Gale Literary Resources Online covers contemporary and classical literature, drama and poetry as well as children's literature.
A TPL account is required for log-in.  All members of the TMU Community are eligible for TPL borrowing privileges.