Literature Databases

MLA International Bibliography via EBSCO
Description:  MLA International Bibliography is a bibliography of journal articles, books and dissertations. Produced by the Modern Language Association, the electronic version of the bibliography dates back to 1963 and contains over 1.7 million citations from more than 4,400 journals and series and 1,000 book publishers.

NCWC Librarians Say:  The flagship database for English and Literature studies.  Because book citations are included alongside articles, take a look at the "Publication Type" box on the first page to limit your search.

NCWC Librarians Say:  If you're looking for information about authors in a large number of fields, or literary criticism, this is a key database.

NCWC Librarians Say:  JSTOR provides unique, exhaustive historical coverage of some very important journals, and all articles are in full-text.  Wonderful if you're researching a topic that's been important for many years.

Check out JSTOR's Tutorials on YouTube:  How to Search and How to Browse
(Audio required!)

African-American Poetry via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  Contains important poems from the early history of African American poetry, from the first recorded poem by an African American (Lucy Terry Prince's 'Bars Fight', c.1746) to the major poets of the nineteenth century.

NCWC Librarians Say:  A large number of relatively rare full-text poems can be found here.

American Poetry via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  Contains the text of over 40,000 poems by more than 200 American poets from the Colonial Period to the early twentieth century.

NCWC Librarians Say:  A huge number of poems from major and not-so-major authors can be found here.

Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers via Greenwood
Description:  The documents here provide in-depth analysis of current, best-selling fiction and fiction authors.

NCWC Librarians Say:  A unique resource for studying people like Mary Higgins Clark, Stephen King, and even more literary types like Julia Alvarez.

English Poetry via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  Full text of the complete English poetic canon from 600 to 1900. Over 165,000 poems by more than 1,250 poets drawn from nearly 4,500 printed sources.

NCWC Librarians Say:  Almost one-stop shopping for the huge body of literature that is pre-1900 English poetry.

Faber Poetry Library via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  A collection of some of the most influential poets of the twentieth century.

NCWC Librarians Say:  For more recent poetry, this is a great source for poem texts.

Literature in Context via Greenwood
Description:  A rich collection of primary source material, collateral readings, and commentary that helps students understand the historical, social, and cultural context associated with major literary works.

NCWC Librarians Say:  A resource that puts certain major canonical works (Huck Finn, Lord of the Flies, Hamlet) in their social context.

MLA Directory of Periodicals via EBSCO
Description: The MLA Directory of Periodicals offers detailed information on over 7,100 journals, with 4,400 currently indexed in the International Bibliography. The detailed entries include editorial contact information, as well as frequency, circulation, subscription prices and submission guidelines.

NCWC Librarians Say:  The Directory contains information about journals, not the texts of these journals; useful more to librarians and faculty than to most students.

netLibrary via netLibrary
Description:  A database of eBooks, netLibrary provides easy access to the full text of more than 22,000 reference, scholarly, and professional books.  These e-books are also individually linked from the NCWC catalog.

NCWC Librarians Say:  A huge variety of electronic books are here in full text.  You can also find these by searching the catalog, so try that first.

NoveList via EBSCO
Description:  A readers' advisory service that is searchable by author, title, series name, and plot (including character, topic, time period, and setting) to retrieve descriptions, reviews, discussion guides, and feature articles related to primarily fiction books of interest.

NCWC Librarians Say:  If you enjoy reading books by a specific author, or about a specific topic, try NoveList to find "read-alike" books or other things you might like to read.  A bookaholic's dream come true.

Twentieth Century African-American Poetry via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  A database of modern and contemporary African American poetry, featuring almost 9,000 poems by 62 of the most important African American poets of the last century.

NCWC Librarians Say:  The famous Harlem Renaissance poets, and others, all have works in full text here.

Twentieth Century American Poetry via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  A database of 36,000 modern and contemporary American poems from the early twentieth century to the present.

NCWC Librarians Say:  Full-text poems from twentieth-century America are here.

Twentieth-Century English Poetry via Chadwyck-Healey
Description:  Containing tens of thousands of works by 288 poets, Twentieth-Century English Poetry provides an overview of poetry written in the 20th century by both established and emerging writers.

NCWC Librarians Say:  Full-text poems from the twentieth century are here.

NCWC Librarians Say:  If you're interested in Uncle Tom's Cabin, definitely worth a look.

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Other Literature information may be found in the General/Multidisciplinary article databases