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Literary Research

Introduction

This guide explains how to conduct literary research in the library's catalog and databases.

The term "literary research" in this old booksguide refers to research that focuses primarily on an author, an author's work(s), a literary genre, or a literary movement. For the most part, literary research is very similar to most other kinds of research. However, there are just a few small differences that you need to be aware of when you do literary research. This guide is intended to help you navigate the particulars of literary research but, if you have any difficulty, please ask a librarian for more help.

Books and Articles

To find books and videos in Grace Library,

use the Advanced Search for the Discovery service in the box below .


To find books in Grace Library about an author or an author's work: 

Use a subject search.

For an example, in the Advanced Search in the Discovery Service, enter shakespeare william into the search box and select subject from the drop down menu.


To find books in Grace Library by a particular author:

Use an author search.

For an example, in the Advanced Search in the Discovery Service, enter shakespeare william into the search box and select author from the drop down menu.


To find a specific book in Grace Library:

Use a title search.

For an example, in the Advanced Search in the Discovery Service, enter the title, such as macbeth, into the search box and select title from the drop down menu.


Use these strategies to search the eBooks database, too.

Journal articles are another useful source for doing literary research. Below are some journal databases that will provide you with citations and full text articles, or you may want to use the Discovery search box below by clicking on Articles before searching your keyword search terms.

Discovery Search