The Literature Resource Center is a literature reference database designed for both the undergraduate and graduate students. Rich in biographical, bibliographical, and critical content, the Literature Resource Center contains information on literary figures from all time periods writing in such genres as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism.
The foundation of the Literature Resource Center is built on three author databases: Contemporary Authors Online, offering biographical coverage of more than 120,000 writers; Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, featuring entries on all authors appearing in CLC (Contemporary Literature Criticism) since vol. 95 of the print series and complete profiles of 266 most studied authors from editions prior to vol. 95; and Dictionary of Literary Biography Online, containing more than 10,000 bio-critical essays on authors and their works.
The Literature Resource Center also includes selected full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material from the various Literature Criticism and For Students Series. The titles in these series include: Children's Literature Review, Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Drama Criticism, Drama for Students, Literature from 1400 to 1800, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Novels for Students, Poetry Criticism, Poetry for Students, Shakespearean Criticism, Shakespeare for Students, Short Story Criticism, Short Stories for Students, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. In addition, users can access current, full-text critical essays on major authors via the Literature Resource Center's link to more than 130 prominent literary journals. The LRC also contains the Scribner Writer Series,the Twayne Author's Series, including Twayne's US Authors, Twayne's English Authors, and Twayne's World Authors.
Click "Literature Resource Center" on the databases list.
Select one of the following modes of searching:
Author Search--search by full name, part of the name, or variant names and pseudonyms. By default, the Author Search looks for author names containing any name or names you enter. You can choose to search using just the start of the name by adding an asterisk to the end of your partial search term. Executing the author search will take you to an alphabetically arranged results list of author names, (followed by author birth and death years) that matched your query. For example, a search for Samuel Langhorne Clemens returns the name Mark Twain. Clicking on Mark Twain returns a list of articles referring to this author as either Mark Twain or Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
Title Search--By default, the Title Search radio button is placed in the Any word(s) entered box. Title search will look for a title containing any, some, or all of the words.
Some examples of title searches:
Match any word(s) Match all words Match words exactly
Virginia Woolf afraid woolf virginia Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Keyword Search--conduct a broad search using a specific word or term. For example, entering the keyword "Psychosis" yields biographies and essays that contain psychosis.
Authors by Type Search--search for authors by genre, literary movement/time period, nationality, and ethnicity.
Advanced Search--searches several fields simultaneously and uses AND, OR, NOT to connect keywords. With the Advanced Search, you can conduct a search using a variety of criteria; this enables you to retrieve very specific results.
Literary-Historical Timeline Search--allows you to target a specific date range for literary figures, movements, and historical events. Enter a date in the start date field and select A.D. or B.C. If you also enter an end date you will receive a list of historical events, key figures, and movements targeting the range you selected.
Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature Search--searchable from its button on the top navigation bar that appears on every LRC page. Enables you to search for the presence of any of 10,000 literary terms that appear in the Encyclopedia. Type in a term, name, literary time period, or genre to get exact results, or type in a few letters of aterm to get a list of possible matches.
A Very Important Note!
Once you have Searched, you will be presented with a list of the available records:
Important: The Results Page features separate tabs at the top for Biographies; Literary Criticism, Articles, & Work Overviews; Bibliographies; Additional Resources; Literary-Historical Timeline; and MLA International Bibliography authors.
Make sure you are looking under the right tab!!!
While viewing an article, you can print it or e-mail it to yourself. If you select the print button in the upper left of the screen the system will automatically format the document for printing taking out the page set-up graphics and saving print time and toner. If you select the e-mail button, you can mail the document to yourself either in HTML format or in plain text.