How to Do Research at Paul Robeson Library: English

Liaison Information

Finding Books  (Back to Top)

To Find a Book at the Paul Robeson Library Use:

• IRIS the Rutgers University Libraries Catalog
  Tips on understanding call numbers

Selective List Reference Books Available at Paul Robeson Library:

• All Things Chaucer (REF PR1903 R55 2007)
• Oxford Companion to English Literature (REF PR19.094 2000)
• Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation (REF PR131 O94 2000)
• Masterplots (REF PN 44 M3)
• Critical Survey of Short Fiction (REF PN 3321 C7 2001)
• Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature (PS153 M56 674 2005)
• English & American Literature (Graduate Guide)
  

For more detailed lists of Literature Reference Books see:

• Poetry Criticism
• Novel
• Drama Criticism
• African American Literature
• Shakespeare Reference Sources
• English & American Literature
  

Books and Poems Available Electronically (selected list)

• Early English Books (Rutgers access only)
   (Note: This collection is cataloged in IRIS. Search for author, title or subject and you can link to the full-text of the book. From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this online image collection contains practically all books printed in English up to the 18th century, over 96,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475 - 1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised edition.)
  
• Project Guttenberg
  (Note:  Search by Title. This collection is not concerned with the authenticity of the edition but aims to make as many titles as possible available electronically)
  
• Electronic Text Center – University of Virginia
  
• The Oxford Text Archive
  
• On-line Books Page
  
• Celebration of Women Writers
  
• Middle English Compendium (Rutgers access only)
  (Note: This is available on the list of Rutgers University Libraries Indexes and Databases)
  
• LION (Literature Online)
  

Finding Articles  (Back to Top)

Types of Articles
     First, you need to know what kind of articles your instructor wants you to use in your paper.  There are two general types of articles:  those that come from general readership magazines such as Time, or Newsweek or those that come from research journals or scholarly journals such as Artforum International.   For complete information on how to recognize a scholarly journal, please go to “Types of Periodicals” on the Paul Robeson Library Web Site ( http://www.libraries.rutgers.eduinstruction/typesof.html)          

Using an Index for Popular Articles
     Now that you know what you are looking for you will need to use an index to find the article. Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) is a good starting place. This database is available on-line and has full-text of the articles from both general readership magazines and scholarly journals.  Search Tip: In order to find journal articles quickly, use the Guided Search instead of the default, Simple Search, and check off the boxes for "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)" journals and "Full Text."

Scholarly Journals
     At some point, you will need to use the more specialized, scholarly indexes.  A list of these indexes for Literature along with descriptions can be found at the Rutgers University Libraries Index Page (http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/cms/indexes/subjects/indexes_arts_hum#English_Language_and_Literature_).           

     The scholarly indexes may give you citations to articles as your search result.  A citation is not the complete article but it gives you enough information to locate the article in our library system.   The best indexes to use
for literary criticism are:

• MLA International Bibliography
• Literature Resources Center (includes some full-text reference works and journals)
• Humanities Abstracts
• LION (includes some full-text reference works and journals)
  

How to locate the periodical using a citation:

• Use the Journal name to search in the Catalog (IRIS)     
• When you enter the search term, click on “Periodical Title” as your “Search Type.”
• The catalog will tell you if the periodical is at the same library as you, at a different Rutgers Library, not owned by Rutgers at all, or available on-line.
• Make sure that the search results match the date of the article you are trying to locate.
• If the periodical is available on-line, the catalog will display a link to use.
• If the periodical is available at a different Rutgers Library than you are at you can click on “Request This Item’ to order it.
• If Rutgers does not own the periodical at all, you can request the article through Interlibrary Loan.
• If you get confused, contact a Reference Librarian.          

English Departments at Rutgers University  (Back to Top)

• The English Department at Rutgers Camden
  
• The English Department at Rutgers Newark

Other Recommended Sources (Back to Top)

• On-line Encyclopedia
• On-line Dictionaries and Thesauri
• IRIS – the Rutgers University Libraries Catalog
  
• How to Cite Sources That You Use
  
• Literary Resources on the Net
  
• Voice of the Shuttle
  
• List of English Theses at Rutgers Camden
  
  

Please contact Julie Still (still@camden.rutgers.edu) with with comments and suggestions. Links Updated 3/9/09