LibGuides: EH -- Electronic Databases by Subject: Primary Databases

Electronic Resources

There are a number of electronic resources you can use to research your area. The databases on this page are some of the more useful ones for the study of language and literature. You can also search for a specific journal using the search box over on the right-hand sidebar (Serials Solutions). If you cannot find what you need, please contact the Subject Specialist via the e-mail link found on the Home page of this LibGuide.

Who has access?

If you are faculty, staff, or currently enrolled in classes at Jacksonville State University, you can access the Library's electronic resources from your home computer.

Where can I access these resources?

Access is granted through an authentication application called EZproxy. It is very easy to use, and it allows our users to access our resources from any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) or service provider (AOL, Mindspring, etc.).

How Do I Access These Resources?

Access is granted through the same credentials you use for MyJSU. When you select any of our electronic resources, databases or journals, you will be routed to MyJSU.

It is important to note that users will still be verified through the Library's system, so if there is a problem with your record in the Library’s System, you will be prompted to contact us at 256.782.5758 or 1-800-231-5291.

Primary Databases

Start with these Databases to Locate Articles

To find articles on a topic, you will need to search in databases that index the articles in various journals or, occasionally, in books, on that topic. For research on language and literature, you may want to start with the following databases, all of which focus exclusively on language and literature.

Bloom's Literature
Contains more than 20,000 critical essays from over 500 literary journals and 2,300 scholarly and critical books, including 700 titles published by Bloom's Literary Criticism and Facts On File.
-- includes more than 13,000 biographies, 45,000 character entries, 5,000 synopses of literary works and hundreds of images and videos.
Contemporary Authors
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Proprietary database vended by Gale/Cengage
-- features biographical details on approximately 116,000 modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists and scriptwriters
-- covers current writers (1960-present), as well as the most-studied literary figures of the early 20th century, and authors from around the world
-- entries for authors contain biographical information, brief critiques of selected works, and a short list of supplemental readings
May be simul-searched as part of the Artemis Literary Sources package of databases

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/contemporary-authors/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included in Literary Sources database.
Contemporary Literary Criticism
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Proprietary database vended by Gale/Cengage
Covers authors who are currently active or who died after December 31, 1959
-- profiles novelists, poets, playwrights and other creative and nonfiction writers
-- provides full-text or excerpted criticism taken from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers and scholarly journals
May be simul-searched as part of the Artemis Literary Sources package of databases
Also available as a multi-volume print reference set on the library's 7th floor north wall carrels Ref PN771.C59

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/contemporary-literary-criticism/
Limit your search to just Contemporary Literary Criticism results by entering that title in the "by publication title" limiter box.

A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Dictionary of Literary Biography
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Proprietary database vended by Gale/Cengage
Provides authoritative information while placing writers in the larger perspective of literary history
-- essays provide essential context for understanding the careers and writings of more than 12,000 authors from all time periods and from all parts of the world
Provides access to all volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography series (more than 360 vols.), the Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series (19 vols.) and the Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook (23 vols.) — a total of more than 400 volumes and 185,000 pages
-- comprises book content only, nothing from magazines or journals
May be simul-searched as part of the Artemis Literary Sources package of databases
Houston Cole Library also has the DLB in print format, up to volume 212, after which access is electronic only

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/dictionary-of-literary-biography-complete-online/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included in Literary Sources database.
Gale Literature
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Proprietary database package vended by Gale/Cengage
-- permits simultaneous searching of Gale native databases Literature Resource Center, LitFinder, Scribner Writers Online, Twayne’s Authors Online, Something About the Author Online, and Literature Critic Online Collections (Poetry Criticism and Short Story Criticism)
-- uses same search interface as Literature Resource Center

http://www.cengage.com/search/showresults.do?N=197+4294895263
A Gale Cengage database
Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Dedicated to the advancement of learning in the study and teaching of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700)
--provides access to medieval and Renaissance resources featuring the Iter Bibliography, Iter Italicum, bibliographies of Milton and English women writers, and a full text journal collection

http://www.itergateway.org/
JSTOR
JSTOR = Journal STORage
-- multi-disciplinary in scope, not just language and literature
-- older content; most recent publications are embargoed
-- includes smaller, more obscure journals not indexed in other databases
-- new platform featuring an improved books experience, new journal landing and table of contents pages, a more
streamlined, consistent article experience
-- proprietary gathering of "collections"; we currently subscribe to
-- Arts & Sciences I, Arts & Sciences III, Arts & Sciences IV, Arts & Sciences V, Arts & Sciences VII, Arts & Science VIII,
Arts & Sciences XI, Biological Sciences

http://about.jstor.org/jstor-help-support/how-to-use-jstor
We subscribe to the following JSTOR collections:
19th Century British Pamphlets
Arts & Sciences I
Arts & Sciences II
Arts & Sciences III
Arts & Sciences IV
Arts & Sciences V
Arts & Sciences VI
Arts & Sciences VII
Arts & Science VIII
Arts & Sciences IX
Arts & Sciences X
Arts & Sciences XI
Arts & Sciences XII
Arts & Sciences XIII
Arts & Sciences XIV
Arts & Sciences XV
Biological Sciences
Business I
Business II
Business IV
Global Plants
Hebrew Journals Collection
Ireland Collection
Life Sciences Collection
Lives of Literature
Public Health Collection
Security Studies Collection
Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa
Sustainability Collection
World Heritage Sites: Africa
Linguistics and Language Behavior (LLBA)
Language, linguistics, and literature.
A ProQuest database
Gale Literary Index
Proprietary master index to the major literature products published by Gale
-- combines and cross-references over 165,000 author names, including pseudonyms and variant names, and listings for over 215,000 titles into one source An extremely useful database in that it indexes content found in the Gale print digest anthologies of literary criticism housed on the library's sixth and other floors
-- contains criticism for some literary works so sparse and hard to find that it may be easily located only in these Gale reference series

http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex/litindex5.htm?l=h
A Gale Cengage database

Literary Reference Center Plus
Proprietary database vended by EBSCOhost
-- "proprietary" = content controlled by vendor
-- smaller number of records indexed; higher
percentage of full text
Good place to begin research
-- provides overview essays to help focus topic

https://www.ebscohost.com/us-high-schools/literary-reference-center-plus
more...less...
Search Strategy

Go to Advanced Search screen.
Put author's name (normal order) in top search box.
Put title of work (omitting initial articles) in middle box
-- for overview essays, check left pane for Plot
Summaries and/or Reference Books
--in results list look for Critical Survey,
Masterplots, Masterplots II
--read overview essays to select term(s) to
focus your topic.
Put focus terms in bottom search box to complete
search
--add additional rows as needed to further refine
search.

http://www.ebscohost.com/us-high-schools/literary-reference-center-plus

Literature Criticism Online
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Proprietary database vended by Gale/Cengage
-- scanned page images from the Gale book criticism series Poetry Criticism and Short Story Criticism
-- each entry includes a set of previously published reviews, essays and other critical responses from sources that include scholarly books and journals, literary magazines, interviews, letters and diaries
Valuable as a "last resort" information source (for poetry and short fiction) when more frequently used sources fail to deliver
Each entry features
-- an Introduction explaining the significance of the author, work and topic and reviewing its critical reception across time. Author entries include a brief biography and a discussion and bibliography of major works; entries on individual works include a plot summary and discussion of major themes; topic entries list major authors and works associated with the topic
-- a set of full-text critical essays, reviews or other critical responses, fully annotated and selected to provide a representative sampling of the range of critical responses over time
-- suggested sources for further reading

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/literature-criticism-online/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included: Poetry Criticism and Short Story Criticism.
Included in Literary Sources database.
Literature Resource Center
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Proprietary database vended by Gale/Cengage
-- "proprietary" = content controlled by vendor-- smaller number of records indexed; higher percentage of full text
-- minimal overlap and duplication of content with Literary Reference Center Plus
Good place to begin research
-- provides overview essays to help focus topic

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/literature-resource-center/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included in Literary Sources database as well.
LitFinder
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International in scope, covering all time periods and containing a wealth of primary literature
Content includes:
-- approximately 140,000 full-text poems, 800,000 poem citations and excerpts, 7,100 full-text short stories and novels, 3,800 full-text essays, 2,000 full-text speeches and 1,700 full-text plays
-- also includes biographies, work summaries, photographs and a glossary. Basic and advanced search modes allow users to search by keyword, authors, subject, work title, work date, nationality, gender, timeline and more Full text or citations of literary works taken from journals, book-length works, and 11,000-plus anthologies and collections
-- includes a diverse range of anthologies across genre, nationality, time period, and topic — along with single author collections
-- includes selected works from more than 275 of the best literary journals

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/litfinder/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included in Literary Sources database.
The database also includes secondary materials like biographies, images, and more.
MLA Directory of Periodicals
Contains information on over 6,000 journals and book series that fall within the scope of the MLA International Bibliography
-- entries list editorial addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, frequency of publication, descriptions of scope
-- provides statistics on the number of articles and book reviews published each year
Scope includes:
-- any regularly published print or electronic journal available to libraries or universities that regularly includes articles on language, linguistics, literature, folklore, pedagogy, or film
-- any series that publishes books on language, linguistics, folklore, pedagogy, or film

This database should not be used to search for literary criticism, etc.; the MLA International Bibliography should be used for that purpose. This database just lists the books and periodicals covered by the Bibliography.

http://www.mla.org/mladirec_biblioperiodicals
An EBSCOhost database
MLA International Bibliography
THE principal professional research database for scholars and academics in the fields of language and literature
-- annually indexes over 66,000 books and articles Folklore is represented by folk literature, music, art, rituals, and belief systems
Linguistics and language materials range from history and theory of linguistics, comparative linguistics, semantics, stylistics, and syntax to translation
Other topics include literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts (film, radio, television, theater), and history of printing and publishing

http://www.mla.org/bib_scope
An EBSCOhost database
Oxford English Dictionary
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Historical dictionary begun more than 150 years ago and currently in the process of its first major revision
-- a guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words -- past and present -- from across the English-speaking world
-- covers the history of individual words and of the language traced through 3 million quotations, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to films scripts and cookery books

Helpful resources pane on the home page provides information regarding how best to use the database.

http://www.oed.com/
Provided by the AVL
Scribner Writers Online
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All of the popular Scribner Writers series, available in eBook format
-- includes the American Writers Collection, British Writers Collection, European Writers Collection and World and Genre Writers Collection Digitized book content (e-books)
--nothing excerpted from periodicals
-- content derived from four reference book sets published by Scribner's housed on the library's sixth and seventh floors:

American Writers (7th floor main Ref)
Ref PS129.A55
Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome (6th floor main Ref)
Ref PA3002.A5
British Writers (7th floor main Ref)
Ref PR85.B688
European Writers (6th floor main Ref)
Ref PN501.E9

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/scribner-writers-online/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included in Literary Sources database.
Twayne's Author Series
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eBook format selection of authors from the Twayne author series books (English, United States, and World)
-- provides a unique perspective on the most important authors: their lives, their works and their worlds
-- 175- to 200-page books feature interpretations and critiques written by scholars
-- Houston Cole Library owns some 2000 print volumes
-- series is updated and supplemented by the "Understanding Contemporary American Literature" series published by the University of South Carolina
-- very good single-volume general introductions to writers and their works (if you do not find the writer you are studying in the database, search the library's catalog for a print source from these series)

http://gdc.gale.com/gale-literature-collections/twaynes-authors-online/
A Gale Cengage database provided by the AVL.
Included in Literary Sources database.