Literary Research Study Guide

The Literary Research Tutorial, which provides links to selected material as well as online information, was created to help you formulate a research strategy. We suggest going carefully through this guide so you can experience the literary research process, and utilize the search patterns as templates for your search.

Choose What You Want To Do:

Locate a copy of a literary work

Search Strategy

1. Most plays, poetry, or short stories are found in collections. Use the “Author (last name, first)”search.
2. For Novels & some Plays use "Title (begins with)."

Entering your search

1. On the Research Quick Start page, under Locate Books, Periodicals or Media,
   click Online Catalog.
2. Locate “Browse Organized Lists using assigned search terms.”
3. If a previous search term is still in the box, click the “Clear” button.
4. Choose the type of search: “Title begins with,” or “Author (last name, first)”
5. Type your search terms into the box.
6. Click the “Go” button.
7. “Browse Organized Lists using assigned search terms” displays a scrollable, alphabetical list of entries, shows the number of records for each entry and indicates whether or not there are cross-references for the entries.
8. Click any Title or Author’s name of interest.
9. On the Results screen, click on any underlined title of interest to see the “Full View of Record.”
10. Scroll down to “Select a location for more information or to request item” to see the Location, Collection, and Call Number.
11. At Location, click a campus location for more information.
     

Locate criticism on your literary work using LINCC Online Catalog Subject Search

1. On the "Research Quick Start" page, find Locate Books, Periodicals or Media
2. Click Online Catalog.
3. If a previous search term is still in the box, click the “Clear” button.
4. Select “Subject Begins with.”
5. Type your search terms into the box. For Example. Type author's last name first name.
6. Click "Go."
7. “Browse Organized Lists using assigned search terms” displays a scrollable, alphabetical list of entries, shows the number of records for each entry and indicates whether or not there are cross-references for the entries. In the Browse List, scroll through the List and locate and click any headings that will help you.
   For example:
   author's last name, first name, Dates of birth-death--title of work
   hemingway, ernest,1899-1961--farewell to arms
   author's last name, first name, Dates of birth-death--criticism and interpretation
   hemingway, ernest,1899-1961--criticism and interpretation
8. On the Results screen, click on any underlined title of interest to see the “Full View-Record.”
9. Scroll down to the bottom to see the Location, Collection, and Call Number.
10. At Location, check availability by clicking a campus location.
11. When you locate books on the shelf, use the table of contents and/or the index to look for criticism on
    your author's work.
    
    
    Use Databases to locate full text or citations to magazine & journal articles.

    Locating & Logging in

    1. On the "Research Quick Start" page, find Locate Periodical Articles in Online Databases.
    2. Click LINCCWeb Online Databases. 
    3. Click in the "Borrower ID:" box.
    4. Type the Borrower ID number located on your SCC Library ID card.
       (Distance Learning Options to get library card)
    5. Type the last four digits of your Social Security Number in the box at PIN.
    6. Once you have logged into "My Account," you can change your PIN to any 4-digit number or leave it as is.
    7. Click logon button.
    8. WAIT while your ID is validated for Seminole. You will be redirected momentarily. If you are not redirected, click the link, here.

    Literature Resource Center (Gale)

    Gale's Literature Resource Center offers coverage of novelists, poets, essayists, journalists and other writers. In addition to biographical, bibliographical and contextual information, users can access full-text criticism from the Contemporary Literary Criticism Select database. The Literature Resource Center also includes plot summaries, full text articles from literary journals, links to related Web sites, and articles on specific literary movements and genres

    Start

    1. Use "Locating" and "Logging in" if necessary.
    2. In the Alphabetical Database List, locate and click the database name: Literature Resource Center (Gale)
    3. Click “Connect to Database” button. Note: This opens another browser window.

    Title Search

    1. At Main Menu, click Title
    2. Check "Match words exactly as entered"
    3. At "Enter the title of a work," type: exact title of work
       
       In this database, when using the exact title search, be sure to include the leading article of the title ("The," "A," "An," etc.), where applicable, for more accurate results.
       For example: the short happy life of francis macomber
    4. Scroll down to: "Narrow your search by author name:"
    5. Type: author's name. For example: ernest hemingway
    6. Click "Search"

    Research Strategy: Several types of information will be displayed: Biography, Work Overview, and Criticism. Not every hit is applicable. Note that the search might bring up material that only mentions your publication but is really about another work.

    Author Search

    1. At “Author Search,” Type the name of the author you want to research.
    2. Click

    NOTE: If a tabbed category is grayed out, there are no results.
    The list of links, which may or may not display, depends on the amount of information available on a specific author and the title searched.

    Gale Literary Index

    Since the "Literature Resource Center" includes only selected critical material from Gale Literature Criticism Series, you may want to try "Gale Literary Index" which includes index-only citations to all of the Gale literature series. Once you are in the "Gale Literary Index," you can toggle back and forth to work in both databases at the same time. To exit the index, click on the X in the upper right hand corner to close the "Gale Literary Index" window.

    1. At the Main Menu of Literature Resource Center, click "Gale Literary Index." or search directly from
       the Internet at http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex/
    2. This will open another Browser. On the upper left side of the box, click the middle button to make the
       screen full size.
    3. Click Title Search
    4. At "Enter the title of a work," type your exact title. For Example: the short happy life of francis
       macomber
    5. Check "Match words exactly as entered"
    6. Scroll down to: "Further refine your search by entering the name of an author."
    7. Type author's name. For Example: ernest hemingway
    8. Click "Search"
    9. Click the underlined title and author
    10. The format for the index is: Gale Series: Volume: Page numbers
        For example World Literature Criticism 3:1651-52 would be vol. 3 pages 1651-52

    Gale Sets Owned by SCC Library

    1. Locate the Call Number for any sets of interest. You would find the set on the Reference shelves.
    2. Suggested MLA citations for Gale series depend on whether you are using material reprinted from a
       periodical or from a book.

    How To Use Indexes to Criticism

    1. Look up author by last name. If listed, various drama, poems, novels or short story titles may appear
       below the person’s name.
    2. Choose the work you are seeking, if listed.
    3. Check each citation to see if it is from a book or journal.
    4. Some indexes will contain abbreviations for the periodicals or books used. If so, the complete information
       will be listed in the front or back of the index.
        

    How do I tell if index citations are from a journal or a book?

    Example of Journal citation:

    Article Author |

    Article Title |

    Journal Title |

    Vol. |

    Date |

    Pages |

    
    Day, Douglas. "The War Stories of William Faulkner," Georgia R, 15 (1961), 385-394

    Example of Book citation:

    Author of Book | Title of Book | Pages
    
    D. Heiney, Recent American Literature, 147-148

Did you know?

SCC's Library has one of the most extensive collections of literature and educational materials in Seminole County.