BOOKS

• Begley Library's online catalog
• SUNYConnect - SUNY-wide library catalog
• WorldCat - worldwide library catalog
• Google Book Search

LIBRARY CATALOG TIPS

1.  Use an AUTHOR search to find books by a specific author.

    Example:

• James, Henry

•  Tutorial: AUTHOR search (1.48 min)

2.  Use a TITLE search to find a specific title. 

    Example:

• Drums Along the Mohawk
• Tutorial: TITLE search (2.01 min)

3.  Use a WORDS IN SUBJECT search to find literary criticism, biographies and other books about a specific author

    Example:

• James Fenimore Cooper
• Tutorial: SUBJECT search (3.39 min)

More tutorials:

• About the library catalog (0.54 min)
  
• ALL FIELDS search (4.29 min)
  
• Tutorials web page

ONLINE REFERENCE

Oxford English Dictionary

Look up word origins and definitions.  The history of the English language from 1150 to present.

Find definitions, short biographies, and more in these online collections:

• CredoReference
• Oxford Reference Online
• Virtual Reference Library

REFERENCE BOOKS

• Contemporary Literary Criticism
• Critical Survey of Drama
• Critical Survey of Long Fiction
• Critical Survey of Poetry
• Modern American Literature
• Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism
• Short Story Criticism
• Twentieth-Century Literature Criticism

TIP:  The last volume of each set contains an index.  Use the index to locate crisitism on a specific author or work. 

Need help?

DATABASES

Academic Search Complete

Select Advanced Search, and choose document type article, book review, interview, or literary criticism.  Select entertainment review for movie reviews.

Book Index with Reviews

Humanities International Complete

Peer-reviewed journals and popular sources in the humanities pertaining to literary, scholarly and creative thought.  Full text and citations/abstracts.

Literature Resource Center

LitFINDER

New York Times

Select document type review to locate book reviews

Twayne Authors Series

All library databases

JOURNALS

American literature journals in the library's online collection.