Tuesday, February 9, 2010

English language and literature information sources

Getting started

Using the computers in the Library's IT Resources Area it is possible to link to a number of invaluable databases and Web sites containing information about English language and literature, including details of periodical articles. Log in using your PWF username and password. For some of the databases you will need a Raven password. If in doubt, please ask the Assistant Librarian. All members of Cambridge University (staff and students) may access these electronic resources free of charge. The passwords are necessary to prevent unauthorised access by others.

If you don't have much time, start with CrossSearch - http://wfxsearch.webfeat.org/wfsearch/menu?cid=11702 - which allows you to search multiple electronic resources in one go. For help using CrossSearch, see http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/help/crosssearch.php.

General bibliographic resources

These bibliographic databases are described in Girton College Library eGuide: 10, Bibliographical information sources - http://www-lib.girton.cam.ac.uk/electronic/bibliographic.htm.

For passwords and help with searching, please see the Assistant Librarian.

Subject-specific resources

The University Library provides listings of the English and American literature electronic resources which it makes available. To access this, go to http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ and then select from the drop-down menu find resources by subject. These include:

Annual bibliography of English language and literature
http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/home/home_abell.jsp?template=basic.htx&content=frameset.htx
The internet version of the printed volumes of the same name, covering English language, English literature, bibliography and traditional culture of the English speaking world.
Dates of coverage: 1920-
Updated: monthly

Early English books online
http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home
The Early English Books Online database contains around 100,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475 - 1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions. The database offers the ability to search citations, to view page images of the full text, and to download the text in ASCII and PDF formats.

Literature online (LION)
http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk/
This includes over 343,000 works of poetry, 5000 works of drama, 2000 works of prose, the full-text of over 225 literature journals as well as encyclopedias and biogrpaphies. It also includes a Master Index to all authors and works.

MLA International Bibliography
http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/home/home_mla.jsp
A classified listing and subject index of scholarly books and articles on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics which has been compiled by the Modern Language Association of America. Now available as part of Literature Online. Links to electronic journal articles in JSTOR and Project Muse are provided.
Dates of coverage: 1926-
Updated: 10 times per year.

Old English Corpus
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/o/oec/
Part of the Dictionary of Old English project, this is an online database consisting of at least one copy of every Old English text, giving a total of 3047 texts.

Oxford English Dictionary Online
http://dictionary.oed.com/
Searchable full text of the 20-volume second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and 3 volumes of printed additions. Supports word, proximity and phrase searching as well as browsing.
Updated: quarterly.

American National Biography
http://www.anb.org/
The electronic version of the 24-volume printed edition published by Oxford University Press in 1999. Containing over 17,400 entries with 2,500 illustrations and 80,000 hyper-linked cross-references, it is updated quarterly and links to selected web sites. It is searchable by subject name, gender, birth and death dates, place of birth, and occupation.

Electronic journals

For information on the electronic journals to which the UL subscribes, see ejournals@cambridge - http://sfx7.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az.
This includes A-Z listings and also the ability to browse by subject.

There is also a growing number of freely-available peer-reviewed electronic journals, many of which are not included in the UL's list. See http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/ejournals.html for more information.

Electronic books

The Cambridge College Libraries Forum has set up electronic books project, giving access to around 800 of the most-borrowed books from college libraries. A significant proportion of these books are related to English literature. For more information, see http://www-lib.girton.cam.ac.uk/electronic/ebooks.htm. No passwords are required for users within the University; a Raven password is required if connecting from outside the University.

Also available is electronic access to books in the Cambridge companions series. If you are using a computer within the University network, go to http://cco.cambridge.org/ and click on log in; no password required. If you are using a computer which is not within the University network, go to http://linux02.lib.cam.ac.uk:2048/login?url=http://cco.cambridge.org/; you will need a Raven password and will also need to click the Login button in the top right-hand corner of the screen to be able to view the full text.

There are many other collections of out-of-copyright texts and editions available electronically; some of them are included in the listings below.

Web sites

For information on searching the Internet, see the leaflet Girton College Library eGuides: 1 Searching the Internet using search engines -
http://www-lib.girton.cam.ac.uk/electronic/search.htm

One of the easiest ways to discover information of academic value on the Internet is to use one of the many subject-related gateways. Below are some you might like to try:

The English Faculty has a page of web resources on their web site - http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/resources.htm

A useful web site is Bibliomania, which contains over 2000 free texts, study guides and reference resources - http://www.bibliomania.com

Middle English literature sites

William Shakespeare sites

Library catalogues

For help on searching the catalogues of Girton College Library, see the leaflet Girton College Library eGuides: 5, Searching for books using Library Catalogues -
http://www-lib.girton.cam.ac.uk/electronic/catsearch.htm.

Catalogues of interest include:

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