Getting Started

This guide lists electronic and print resources that will be useful for researching literature, including original works, criticism, and reference sources. Its focus is primarily on English language literature.

Credo Reference

Find background information using Credo, an alternative to Wikipedia with reliable information that you can cite in your papers.

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Navigating This Guide

If you are new to researching literature or beginning your research with large questions like "What is Romanticism?" then it is a good idea to start your research with background / reference sources. These will introduce you to key texts, concepts, authors, and debates. Knowing these will help you do effective secondary literature research. You might also search the library catalog at this point for books that provide a general overview of your topic.

Do you have a specific research question in mind ("Did Milton's representation of Eve reflect standard views of women and femininity at the time? How has Octavia Butler's science fiction been received?")? Are you ready for sources that do not just frame specific debates but participate in them? Then you may be ready to search secondary literature (or literary criticism) in Daemen's article databases.

Or are you looking to get your hands on a physical or digital collection of poems, novel, play, or short story? Proceed to Primary Sources.