eResearch Guides

Literature
Library Research
and
Resources

Doing Library Research

Need information about literature or authors? Do you have an assignment to research a novelist, poet or playwright? The MCC Libraries have many resources to meet your needs.

Researching literature involves understanding the plot, setting and main characters of a literary work. It may also require you to learn about the author’s motivation or writing style. It may even demand you to gain insight into the symbolism used or moral issues raised by the work.
Literary criticism identifies the qualities that make a literary work a great piece of literature.

Print Resources
MCC Library Catalog
Use the catalog to identify and locate books and videos by and about authors including:
• Works of literature by the author
• Books of criticism about an author or a specific work
• Biographies of authors
• Encyclopedias about literature
• Adaptations of literary works on video or in plays

Use the following searches:
• Author keyword search for works by an author
• Subject keyword search for works about an author
• Title keyword search for a specific work

Reference Materials
Both MCC libraries own excellent reference sources, including large multi-volume sets of books about authors and their works. Selections include:

American Writers
(REF PS129 .A55)
MCC & RM		 British Writers
(REF PR85 .B74)
MCC & RM
Children’s Literature Review
(REF PN1009 .A1 C5139)
MCC		 Contemporary Authors
(REF PN466 .C6)
MCC
Contemporary Literary Criticism
(REF PN771 .C59)
MCC		 Masterplots
(REF PN3326 .M27 1986)
MCC
Poetry Criticism
(REF PN1010 .P499)
MCC		 Poetry for Students
(REF PN101 .P64)
MCC & RM
Library of Literary Criticism of
English and American Authors
Through the Beginning of the
Twentieth Century
(REF PR83 .M733)
MCC		 Novels for Students
(REFPN3385 .N68)
MCC
Shakespeare Criticism
(REF PR2965 .S43)
MCC		 Shakespeare for Students
(REF PR2987 .S47 2000)
MCC & RM
Short Story Criticism
(REF PN3373 .S389)
MCC		 Short Stories for Students
(REF PN3373 .S56)
MCC & RM

Something about the Author
(REF PN451 .S6)
MCC		 Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
(REF PN 771 .T86)
MCC

Databases

Literature Resource Center
Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of over 120,000 novelists, essayists, poets, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors.

Masterfile Premier
Use this general-interest database to search through millions of articles from over 4,000 journals and magazines. Most articles are full text and can be printed. An image file of maps, flags and pictures is also available.

Sample searches:
     Steinbeck, John (111 results)
     Steinbeck and criticism (22 results)
     East of Eden and criticism (3 results)

Internet Sites


Literaryhistory.com
http://www.literaryhistory.com/

Accessing Library Resources
From Home
If you have a computer with Internet access, you can make use of the library’s databases from the convenience of your own home. Simply set your Internet browser to the library’s main web page (shown below) and follow the links.

Follow these steps:
1. Go to http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/library/

2. To search for magazines or journals, click on “Electronic Resources.” At the top of the index page, click the link “Off-Campus Access.”

3. Log on with your MCC e-mail user name and password.

4. Make a selection of one of the databases listed.

Literature resources are in the “General” and “Communications/Literature” sections.

All of the databases listed may be accessed from your home or school computer.

All Research Guides are available online at:
http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/library/researchguides.html

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