Literature Resource Center

Access Online Databases.

LiteratureResourceCenter is a comprehensive source for literary criticism and other information about authors, their works, and literary topics.

 

Access

 

Go to Sullivan Family Library's home page at  http://www.chaminade.edu/library

1.  Click on Search for, then Databases by Title.

2.  Click on LiteratureResourceCenter (under Books and Ebooks).

3.  Off campus access requires login with your Chaminade ID and password.

Basic Search

1.   Select Search for words in:

A.  Person – By or About searches for information about an author and also finds works by that author (if available) 

•  Search for proper names by entering first name first, followed by last name (example: Jane Austen) or last name first, then the first name (example: Austen Jane).
• For names with two or more initials or combination of initials and first or middle names, separate teach part of the name with a space (example: j k rowling or rowling j k).

B.  Name of Work searches for information about a literary work and also finds the full text version (if available)

C.  Keywords searches for any type of term, whether a name, topic, theme, event, etc.

D.  All Text is a complete search of all words; recommended if searching for a quotation, jargon, new terminology or more abstract topics

2.  Limit results:

• to peer-reviewed publications
• by publication date(s)
• by publication century
• by content type
• by publication title

3.   Type search term(s) in Find box, click Search.

 

 

Advanced Search

 

1.  Select index(es) and enter search term(s).

2.  Select Boolean operator – And, Or, Not

3.  Limit results:

• to peer-reviewed publications
• by publication date(s)
• by publication century
• by content type
• by publication title
• by document type
• by language
• by target audience

4.  Click Search.

 

Person Search

To search for a person or create lists of individuals who fit a profile you have designed.

1.  Enter person’s name

2.  Or use options:

• Gender
• Nationality
• Ethnicity
• Literary Movement
• Genre
• Subject/Theme
• Place of Birth
• Place of Death
• Date of Birth
• Date of Death
• Century

3.  Click Search.

 

 

Works Search

To find a specific work or create lists of literary works fitting a custom profile.

1.  Enter name of the work in search box.

2.  Or use options:

• Type of work
• Author
• Publication Year
• Century
• Full text of work available
• by original language
• Author Gender
• Author Nationality
• Author Ethnicity

3.  Click Search.

 

Gale Literary Index

1.  Author Search to find which Gale literature series include author entries.

2.  Title Search to see who wrote it and/or where it’s discussed in Gale’s literature criticism series.

3.  Custom Search to look for authors in the index by name, birth date, death date, or nationality.

 

Dictionaries

To search Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature or Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

 

Results

Search results are organized into tabs across the top of the results.

Select tab:

• Literature Criticism: Academic, critical or analytical essays written by scholars.
• Biographies: articles about authors’ lives and other individuals, contexts in which they wrote and critical reception of their works.
• Topic & Work Overviews: Articles about general information about topics, events, and plots, themes, characters and contexts of literary works
• Primary Sources & Literary Works: Texts of poems, stories and other creative works as well as first-hand accounts such as interviews, letters and diary entries
• Multimedia: Images, audio and links to selected websites

1.  Narrow results by

• Subjects
• Person – About
• Name of Work
• Author – Items by
• Publication Title
• Document Type

2.  Limit to:

• with images
• peer-reviewed

 

3.  ReadSpeaker:

4.  Citation

     MLA citation found below the document.

5. Tools

• Print Preview
• Email
• Download
• Download MP3
• Citation Tools – generate MLA or APA citation
• Translate - view a rough translation into several languages (not a completely accurate and grammatically correct translation).

 

Search Techniques

Use	To search for	example
AND	Both words	alcohol and pregnancy to find both words in every record
OR	Any of the words	dreams or daydreams To find dreams or daydreams or both in every record
NOT	One word but not another	crime not murder to find crime but not murder
“       “	Exact phrase	“sink or swim” To find words as an exact phrase
*	Variant endings of a word	pigment* to find pigment, pigments, pigmentation
?	Replace one character	defen?e to find defense or defence
!	One or no characters	product! To find product or products but not productive or productivity
W#	Words within number of words of each other in order entered	shared w3 values to find values within three or fewer words after shared
N#	Words within number of each other in any order	memory n5 repressed to find memory and repressed with five or fewer words of each other in either direction

 

Help

Online help:  Help, Tips, Guided Tour

Reference Desk  739-4660

Email   library@chaminade.edu  

Updated September 2009