Mikkelsen Library: English/Journalism: Home

Get Started: Background Resources

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc. are often a great way to start your research. They can help you understand your research topic, define terms that may appear in scholarly journal articles, and gather background information to build context.

Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window Provides biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.
Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window The definitive record of English language development, OED traces the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of sources.

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Answers for our most frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Beginning Your Research: General Resources

These resources provide access to magazine, newspaper and scholarly articles on a variety of topics.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window General purpose databases of general/popular publications and scholarly journals. Includes information in many areas of academic study including the social sciences, humanities, general sciences, and education.
ProQuest This link opens in a new window Search a comprehensive file of periodicals for a broad range of subject areas including arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests.

Books & ebooks

Guide to Finding Items in the Library

Core Databases

These are the best specialized databases for your work in English or Journalism.

Artemis - Gale Literary Resources This link opens in a new window Access up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world. Also provides locating full-text literary works, including poems, short stories, novels, essays, plays and speeches.
Contemporary Literary Criticism - Select This link opens in a new window Provides access to an extensive collection of critical essays on contemporary authors
Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window Provides biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.
MLA Bibliography This link opens in a new window Indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics, folklore, film, and the teaching of language and literature in journal articles e-journals, scholarly web sites, series, monographs, dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings and other materials.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window A digital archive includes more than 3,500 leading academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs. The most recently published issues (past 3-5 years) are generally not available.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window Full text access to a selection of prestigious humanities and social sciences journals.