Finding Articles on Criticism in Databases
Literary criticism is often published in the form of journal articles. Online databases serve as indexes to journals and many databases also include the full text of articles. Find Articles

Finding Criticism Books in the Library
To find books of criticism in the library catalog, use the keyword or the subject search. Keyword is any word in the title, author's name, publisher or subject heading. Subjects that are assigned to books are derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings to bring materials on the same subject together. Subject subdivisions are also assigned to indicate a particular aspect of the subject. For example:

Subject: Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961. The Sun Also Rises.

• Subdivision: --Criticism and interpretation
• Subdivision: --Literary style
• Subdivision: --Technique

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Reference Books on Literary Criticism
The following series, published by Gale Research Company, contain excerpts of previously published criticism covering specific literary periods.

All of the series are cross indexed. To locate an author go to the last volume of the series and look in the "Cumulative Index" under the author's name and follow the abbreviations to the source. There is also an online index to the series: Gale Literary Index

• Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (CMLC).
  REF PN681.5 .C57

• Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800.
  REF PN701 .L56

• Shakespearean Criticism (SC).
  REF PR2965 .S44

• Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism (NCLC)
  REF PN761 .N56

• Twentieth Century Literary Criticism(TCLC)
  REF PN771 .G27T
  Covers authors who died between 1900 and 1959.

• Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC).
  REF PN771 .C59
  Used for authors now living or those who died after December 31, 1959.

• Drama Criticism (DC).
  REF PN1601 .59
  Covers only the dramatic works of authors

• Poetry Criticism (PC).
  REF PN1010 .P499
  Covers poets of any time period, but discusses only their poetic work.

• Short Story Criticism (SSC).
  REF PN3321 .S56
  Covers only the short stories of writers.

Book Reviews

• Lexis-Nexis
  Lexis-Nexis is a news, business and legal database. Book reviews appearing in major newspapers may be located using the "Guided News Search" with the following steps:
  1. Under News Category, select "Arts & Sports News."
  2. Under News Source select "Book."



• Historical New York Times
  Provides full text newspaper coverage dating back to the first issue in 1851. To search for reviews, click more search options and under document type select review, then continue with your search.



• New York Times Books
  New York Times Books has over 50,000 book reviews dating from 1981 to the present. Access if free, however, users must set up an account.



• Readers' Guide Retrospective
  Readers' Guide Full Text
  Readers' Guide provides comprehensive indexing of the most popular general interest periodicals published in the United States. The Retrospective database includes the years 1890 through 1982; Readers' Guide Full Text covers 1983 to date.



• Wilson Web Omnifile Fulltext Mega
  Book reviews may be found in this multidisciplinary database by selecting Book Review under the Document Type box.



• Book Review Digest Reference Area Index Table
  Reviews of fiction and non-fiction, including children's books, are listed by author. Each entry has a summary and excerpts from reviews. The source of the review is given with an excerpt.



• Book Review Index Reference Area Index Table
  The resource includes reviews of many non-fiction works and review sources not in Book Review Digest

 

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