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."  
 
 
 
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.

 
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