Guides: ENG 370 World Literature (Florence): Home

Online Reference Books

Major 21st Century Writers
Call Number: Online in Gale Virtual Reference Library
ISBN: 0787694010
Publication Date: 2004
More than 1,000 fully-updated entries cover the most influential contemporary writers and their careers through 2004.
Reference Guide to World Literature by Gale Research Staff; Sara Pendergast; Tom Pendergast
Call Number: Online in Gale Virtual Reference Library
ISBN: 9781558624900
Publication Date: 2002-11-20
Historical in scope, the "Reference Guide to World Literature includes biographical-bibliographical entries on nearly 500 writers and approximately 550 entries focusing on significant works of world literature. Covering writers from the ancient Greeks to 20th-century authors, each author entry provides a detailed overview of the writer's life and works. Work entries cover a particular piece of world literature in detail.
Literature and Its Times
Call Number: Online in Gale Virtual Reference Library
ISBN: 9780787606060
Publication Date: 1997-09-26
Information about the historical background of over 300 often-studied literary works from around the world. Entries feature: a brief introduction to the work; discussion of the work's historical setting; an overview of the events of the time that the work was written; and the work in focus.
Literature and Its Times Supplement
Call Number: Online in Gale Virtual Reference Library
ISBN: 9780787665500
Publication Date: 2002-12-12
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature by Anne Marie Hacht; Dwayne D. Hayes
Call Number: Online in Gale Virtual Reference Library
ISBN: 1414431384
Publication Date: 2009-02-01
Covers world authors from many periods and genres, building an understanding of the various contexts -- from the biographical to the literary to the historical -- in which literature can be viewed.

Literature Specific Databases

You should search for your topic in these literature focused databases:

Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Provides up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on more than 145,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
An index of journal articles, books, and dissertations, the electronic version of the Bibliography dates back to the 1920s and contains over 2.5 million citations from more than 5,000 journals and series and 1,200 book publishers. Coverage is international and subjects include literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing.
In addition, the MLA Directory of Periodicals and their proprietary thesaurus used to assign descriptors within the Bibliography are included.

Useful General Databases

These online sources are useful for your literature-related research.

JSTOR
Used by millions for research, teaching, and learning. With more than a thousand academic journals and over 1 million images, letters, and other primary sources, JSTOR is one of the world's most trusted sources for academic content.

Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Project MUSE offers full-text current and archival articles from 600+ scholarly journals from major university presses covering literature and criticism, history, performing arts, cultural studies, education, philosophy, political science, gender studies, and more. Updated continually.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides full text coverage to nearly 9,100 journals, including over 7,900 peer-reviewed titles in the social sciences, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, education and more. Full-text coverage dates back to 1985 and is updated daily.