ENGLISH 2300:

PRACTICAL CRITICISM

   

FINDING WORKS BY A SPECIFIC AUTHOR/FILMMAKER/ETC.

GALILEO*: WorldCat and Books in Print (from the DATABASES list, choose Reference Sources) OR You might find information by doing a name search on the WWW using one of the major search engines, such as Google, AltaVista or  LYCOS

*to use GALILEO from home, you need to get the current password. Complete instructions on how to do this are available on the Ingram Library homepage at http://www.westga.edu/~library/ --Look for the link, "Access Your Library Account and Current Passwords."  

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FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT AN AUTHOR

GALILEO: Biography Index, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Biography and Genealogy Master Index, Contemporary Authors, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online OR Ingram Library's online catalog (for book-length biographies)  OR                Ref CT213 .N47: The New York Times Obituaries Index, 1858-1968  Ref E176 .N29X: The National cyclopedia of American biography Ref CT100 .C8:Current Biography Yearbook                 Ref Z5304 .A8 A88: Author Biographies Master Index Ref DA28 .D5X: Dictionary of National Biography* *in addition, there are literally hundreds of specialized biographical sources available in the Ingram Library Reference Department:  if you can't find what you want, please ask a librarian for help!

   

FINDING CRITICISM OF AN AUTHOR'S WORKS

GALILEO: a variety of databases are available under Arts and Humanities OR LEXIS/NEXIS* (especially for film reviews) OR Ingram Library's online catalog (for book-length critical works and essays) OR Ref AI3 .E752: Essay and general literature index Ref PN1993 .F5X: Film literature index. Ref PR473 .T84 1985: Twentieth-Century British Literature Ref PS221 .T834 1985: Twentieth-Century American Literature Ref Z6511 .M25: Magill's Bibliography of Literary Criticism Ref PN771 .C59: Contemporary Literary Criticism Ref PS221 .C8 1969: Modern American Literature Ref PR83 .M73 1935 and PR83 .M73 1966: Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism Ref PR473 .T4: Modern British Literature** **in addition, there are many other specialized critical resources available in the Reference Dept.: please ask for help if you're not finding what you need!

*to use LEXIS-NEXIS and a few other databases from off-campus, you must access them through the Library's proxy server: to do this, go to this page: http://www.westga.edu/~library/databases.shtml.

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FOR LOTS OF USEFUL RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET

Resources for UWG Faculty and Students in English a page created and maintained just for you by the English Department Liaison Librarian, Carol Goodson

   

DOCUMENTING YOUR SOURCES

Style manuals are guides which show you how to correctly document your sources or arrange them in a bibliography.  Generally, students in English are asked to use the MLA Handbook, but check with your instructor first.  Copies of MLA and other style manuals are available on Reserve at the Circulation Desk and in the Reference Department.  As a former English major myself, I recommend that you consider purchasing a copy of MLA for your own, so you'll always have it when you need it!  It's available in the UWG Bookstore.  Additionally, you may find these WWW sites useful: Help With MLA Citations How to Prepare Bibliographic Citations: MLA

    This page prepared by Carol F. Goodson, Associate Professor, State University of West Georgia  cgoodson@westga.edu