The Literature Resource Center is a complete reference database, rich in biographical, bibliographical, and critical content.  It is an excellent resource for information on literary figures from all time periods and in many different genres.  This full text database includes over 4300 explications and overviews of prominent literary works: links to 5000 web sites focusing on major authors and their works; over 6000 timeline events to help place literature in its historical and social context and 2300 author portraits.

Find in page:
 

Searching:

Searching has been made easy with a variety of search options.  These include searches by author, title, keyword, and authors by type, as well as an advanced search and a searchable Literary-Historical Timeline.   There are also links to the Encyclopedia of Literature, the Gale Literary Index, Authors on the Highway (schedules of author appearances), and a "Spotlight on---" link.  At the top center of the page is the Help button and a great Guide to Doing Literary Research.

By Author: Start from the main screen (or the top search bar on subsequent screens).  Search by the author's full name (any order, with or without punctuation), partial name, variant names and pseudonyms.  If you search using only the beginning of the name, add an asterisk (*) to the end of the partial term to get all variations. This partial term search will give you less precise results but is helpful if you are not sure of the exact spelling of the name.

By Title:  From the main screen, click on Title in the "Other Searches" box (or the top search bar on subsequent screens).  The default search, "any words entered," will search for any, some, or all of the words entered.  Other options include searching "all words entered" that finds titles containing all the words entered in the same order; or "exact title" that finds titles with the exact title or phrase.  When  doing an "exact" search, be sure to use the leading articles (a, an, the).
 

Match any word(s) entered	Match all words entered	Match words exactly as entered
Virginia Woolf	afraid woolf virginia	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
clockwork	clockwork orange	a clockwork orange
Prometheus	frankenstein prometheus	Frankenstein; or The New Prometheus

*From Literature Resource Center "Help Using the Literature Resource Center" page

The title search can be narrowed by including the author's name.  The options here are: the default "start of last name", "any words entered", or "exactly as entered".

By Keyword:  Click on Keyword in the "Other Searches" box on main screen (or the top search bar on subsequent screens).  This search will find a wide range of biographies and critical essays that contain the specific term or phrase entered.
By Authors by Type: Besides finding a specific author by name, this search will find groups of authors who have certain types of classifications in common.  For instance, a search can be made for authors who write in a certain genre, literary movement or time period, or who share the same gender, nationality or ethnicity. To select more than one option in a category, hold down the Control key while highlighting the choices.
 

Author Name	Search for authors by complete name, part of the name, variant names, or pseudonyms.
Author Nationality	Search by the author's country of birth or of citizenship.  Dual citizenships are identified.
Author Ethnicity	Search based on the author's membership in a certain group, sharing a common language, culture, customs, or background.
Genre	Search by the type of literature most often associated with the author.
Themes	Locate authors by the literary themes most commonly associated with their work.
Literary Movement/Time Period	Search the literary movement(s) to which an author belongs or the major time period in which the author wrote.

Advanced Search: This versatile search method allows more complicated and precise searches.  Searches can be combined or added to, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) may be used, and specific parts of the records can be searched with this search method.  Drop-down menus make it easy to choose how and what is to be searched. Simply type in the search, highlight the options needed and press Search.  Other limit options are also available below the search table.  These are by Document Type or by a certain Database/s.

The Document Types available on the drop-down menu are: All types; Autobiographical Essay; Biographical Essay; Critical Essay; Definition; Interview; Topical Essay; Website List; or Work Overview.

The Databases that can be searched (either one or more) are: All Databases (the default); Contemporary Authors; Contemporary Literary Criticism-Select; Dictionary of Literary Biography; Flutist Periodicals; Literature Resource Center; Scribner's Writers Series; Twayne's English Authors; Twayne's U.S. Authors; or Twayne's World Authors.

Literary-Historical Timeline Search: The timeline search puts the literary references within the context of the sociological, cultural and historical events of that time period.  Enter only a beginning date  to find events from that date to the present.  Enter both a start and ending date to find the historical events, key figures, and movements of that period.

A broad search, such as an author search using only the last name, will result in a list of possible choices.  Clicking on the item needed will bring a tabbed results page with the author's full legal name; birth and death dates; any variant names or pseudonyms; and possibly the nationality, ethnicity, and major genres of the author's works.  A more narrow search (the author's entire name, for instance) will go directly to the tabbed results page.

The tabbed results page provides easy links to documents containing Biographies; Literary Criticism, Articles, and Work Overviews; Bibliographies; Additional Resources; and Literary-Historical Timeline.
Click on the appropriate tab, located at the top of the page.  All results will be full text and all citation information will be included.
 
 

Biographies Tab	Default - finds biographical information on the author and his/ or her work
Literary Criticism, Articles, and Work Overviews Tab	Offers three subtabs, Literary Criticism, Articles, and Work Overview. Includes critical pieces, articles, and analyses of the author's work
Bibliographies Tab	Contains two subtabs: lists of works by the author and lists of works about the author
Additional Resources Tab	Has subtabs for Websites, Themes (identify other authors who use same theme), Autobiographical Essays, Interviews
Literary-Historical Timeline Tab	Finds the dates and events that happened during the author's lifespan

Print, Save, or Email:

Any of the results can be printed or emailed by clicking the icons for the appropriate function found in the top left corner of the screen.  Or the record can be marked, top left corner, to be printed or emailed, possibly with other marked records, later.  To save the document, press the print icon to reformat the article and then save from the browser.  Be sure to save as "plain text."

Search Tips:

• The more search terms you use, the more specific your results will be.
• Use synonyms for your search term.
• Check your spelling.
• The search engine is not case sensitive, capital or lower case does not matter.
• Include hyphens in words.
• Do not use apostrophes ('), simply leave out the apostrophe and the "s".  EX: Salem Lot instead of Salem's Lot.
• Do not use an Ampersand (&).  Replace with a "W" proximity operator.  EX: Tulips W2 Chimneys (means "tulips within two words of chimneys) instead of Tulips & Chimneys.
• Use Truncation (Wildcard) Symbols to replace letters in a root word to broaden the search.  Use the asterisk (*) to stand for any number of characters. EX: for elect* the resulting essays would include the words elect, elected, election, electricity, etc.  To replace one character within a word, use a question mark (?). EX: wom?n will find woman and women.  If you just want the singular and plural of a word use the exclamation point (!). EX: analog!!  finds analog, analogs, and analogue.
• Use date ranges to search for multiple years.
• The Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) will combine terms in various ways. AND narrows the search by finding documents that contain both of the terms searched. EX: apples AND oranges finds essays containing both terms.  OR finds items that contain either one or both of the terms and broadens the search.  EX: apples OR oranges finds essays that apples, those that contain oranges, and those that contain both terms.  NOT eliminates the second term from the search.  EX:  apples NOT oranges finds only essays containing apples.

Guide to Literary Research:  Also at the top of each page with a magnifying glass icon, this very comprehensive service will give you a step-by-step guide to doing research in the literary field.  It may be helpful to look at this before starting your research.
                                                                                                      Research Guide - MTSU Library - 11/01 - SA

Return to top of page