LibGuides: E 314: Literature and Film, Laura Gauggel: Find Books and Articles

Find Books and Articles for Class Assignments

The UT Libraries provide access to a number of helpful search tools useful for this class. If you have questions about how to use these tools, please contact Gina or use our Ask A Librarian chat service.

Unsure what we mean by "library database"? See the helpful video at the bottom of the page!

Background Information

Looking for something like Wikipedia but scholarly and appropriate for an academic assignment? Try these vetted, edited collections of scholarly encyclopedias, biographies, dictionaries, and bibliographies.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
The Oxford English dictionary is the definitive record of the English language. It provides in-depth etymologies and usage of words over time. It is the premier dictionary for English literature students.
Updated quarterly. Covers words from across the English-speaking world and offers etymological analysis, listings of variant spellings, and phonetic pronunciation. Corresponds to the print Oxford English Dictionary published in 1989 and the three Additions volumes published 1993-1997.

Scholarly Journals & Articles

Use these search tools and databases to find scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles. Unsure what scholarly/peer-reviewed articles are? See this Types of Sources guide.

MLA International Bibliography
The MLA International Bibliography is one of the top search tools for literary studies, and it's a key resource for this class. See this video tutorial on how to use the MLA database.
Updated ten times per year. Indexes critical materials on literature, criticism, drama, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Provides access to citations from over 4,400 journals, series, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. Produced by the Modern Language Association.
For help searching the MLA International Bibliography, please see the MLA's video tutorials.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A massive interdisciplinary archive of scholarly articles and books, going back to the 19th century. And it's easy to use!
Updated regularly. Offers a high-quality, interdisciplinary archive to support scholarship and teaching. Includes archives of over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. The entire corpus is full-text searchable, offers search term highlighting, includes high-quality images, and is interlinked by millions of citations and references.
Members of the public can read online up to three articles for free every two weeks from a large subset of JSTOR journals via the Register & Read program. This program allows remote access. Non-UT students, faculty and staff who need more articles can contact library staff for other access options.

For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
Film & Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window
A solid collection of scholarly journal articles covering film studies and television studies. Great for scholarship on adaptation.
Updated monthly. Covers the entire spectrum of television and film writing. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Publications include Film Journal International, Journal of British Cinema & Television, Film Criticism, Post Script, Variety, as well as technical publications such as SMPTE. Mirroring the international film & television industries and cultures, FTLI also includes publications such as Cahiers du Cinema, Filmihullu, SegnoCinema, and Kinetoscopio.
Literature Online (LION) This link opens in a new window
Another great database for literary criticism and literary studies. Search for journals under the "Criticism" tab.
Updated regularly. Literature Online is a fully searchable library of over 350,000 full-text works of English and American literature. Includes several literary databases of poetry, plays and fiction as well as general reference works and links to other Internet sites. Coverage of literary criticism includes access to the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature, 1920-present (from the Modern Humanities Research Association) and 383 Full-Text Journals (from Literature Online/ProQuest).

Find Books

UT Libraries Catalog
Search the UT Libraries' collections of print books and ebooks.

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. User restrictions vary by book.
Provides access to ebooks.
Users need to login via EID in order to use Ebook Central even if they are on campus.
Ebook Central can be accessed using a standard Internet browser. The Safari browser is recommended for Mac users. Ebook Central provides ebooks in Adobe PDF format, so in order to view Ebook Central ebooks online, you will need the correct version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Ebook Central works best with Acrobat Reader version 9 or later.
For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
EBSCO eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. Unlimited users.
The eBook Collection provides access to full-text scholarly, reference and professional eBooks from leading university, academic and professional publishers.
The eBook Collection can be accessed using a standard Internet browser; however, some access problems have been reported by patrons using Firefox. If you are having trouble seeing books and are using the most current version of Firefox, try using Chrome or Internet Explorer. EBSCO provides ebooks in Adobe PDF format, so in order to view eBooks online, you will need the correct version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer.
Mac users may want to download the Schubert|it PDF Browser Plugin, a third-party plugin that supports in-browser viewing of PDF files. You may also need an EBSCO account which is free.
For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide

What is a Library Database?

Your instructor or subject librarian may throw around the term "library database" a lot, but what exactly do they mean? This video from RMIT University in Australia explains the term and how you can use databases for research. (Plus, the narrator has a great accent!)

Transcript available through YouTube.

Glossaries of Literary Terms

Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics This link opens in a new window
4th edition (2012). Unlimited users.
Provides the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for students, scholars, and poets on all aspects of its subject including history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, and critical terms. This edition reflects recent changes in literary and cultural studies, providing up-to-date coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry.

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (1990 edition)
Unlimited users

Cambridge Companion Series

Cambridge Companion to Literature Series
Cambridge University Press's long-standing series.
NOTE: Some titles are in print; others as ebooks.