English Literature
This guide provides a general introduction to Library and information resources for the study of literature in English.
About Library databases
The Library uses the term ‘database’ to describe a searchable online resource which forms an increasingly important part of our overall Library collections. Usually, the Library pays for access to copyrighted content within licensed databases, although a small number may be freely avialable to access.
Why use Library databases?
- Access to information sources far beyond our own Library collections, anytime and anywhere
- Powerful search facilities for research
- Databases can be subject specific
- More importantly, using the databases provided by the Library will help you find reliable information from trusted sources.
You might be able to find references to licensed databases by searching Google, but you'll only be able to access them via UoE login by following the links from Databases A-Z or Databaes by Subject, that is, if we do own or subscribe to the databases you need.
What do databases cover?
A database may be dedicated to a single subject (e.g. Beckett Digital Library) or cover several subjects (e.g. Arts and Humanities Citation Index). Some publishers also provide a single platform which allows you to search across all their databases from one website (e.g. ProQuest).
You can find a variety of resources:
- full text e-journal articles
- e-books
- abstracts
- citation information
- newspaper articles - historical and current
- primary source material, e.g. archives
- dissertations
- conference proceedings
- images
- audio-visual content including video streaming
Relationship between DiscoverEd and Library databases
- DiscoverEd is a catalogue of all the Library collections, physical and electronic. The system is maintained by the Library. Databases are maintained and updated by database publishers.
- Most databases are indexed in DiscoverEd by database name. We aim to keep this indexing as up to date as possible.
- Most databases are also indexed in DiscoverEd at the item level, such as e-books, e-book chapters, and e-journal articles, but NOT for all the databases. One such exception is The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902-2014 : you can find the database name in DiscoverEd, but articles in this database are NOT indexed in DiscoverEd. Therefore, search the database itself if you are looking for TLS articles.
- You can search full text within full-text databases (e.g. JSTOR), but NOT in DiscoverEd because the latter doesn't index databases at the full-text level.
Tips for accessing databases
- Access databases via the one of the correct routes below, instead of doing so via Google:
- Library Databases list
- DiscoverEd
- Library channel in MyEd
- Resource Lists
- Remember to sign in when using DiscoverEd
- Remember to use VPN when off-campus
- Try a different browser
- Some databases limit the number of simultaneous users - if you are turned away, just wait for a little while and try again.
ProQuest One Literature
Primary texts, criticism (journal articles and dissertations), reference works and contextual literary movements in one place. Author pages also show criticism over time and audio-visual files if available (e.g. recordings of poets reading their own work)
ProQuest One Literature contains 3 million literature citations from thousands of journals, monographs, dissertations, and more than 500,000 primary works – including rare and obscure texts, multiple versions, and non-traditional sources like comics, theatre performances, and author readings.
Enhanced by interpretive sources such as book reviews and criticism sourced from wider, interdisciplinary publications in the fields such as humanities and history, it provides diverse, global perspectives with sources from all over the world – Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America - the majority of which are in full-text.
Gale Literature
Gale Literature is an integrated platform that brings together Gale's premier literary databases to allow search across these resoruces. It includes the following databases, all of which are also listed in the Key databases for English Literature section on this page:
- Gale Literature Criticism
- Gale Literature Resource Centre
- Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors
- Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography
- Gale Literature: LitFinder
- Gale Literature: Scribner Writer Series
- Gale Literature: Something About the Author
- Gale Literature: Twayne's Author Series
- Gale Literary Index
Resource guides
- Gale Literature Resource Guide (PDF)
- Gale Literature - YouTube (video, 6:28 min)
- Gale Literature - Literary Analysis (video, 1:45 min)
- Gale Literature Webinar (video, 51:46 min)
- Gale Tools - Topic Finder (video, 1:03 min)
Key databases for English Literature. University login required
- Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) This link opens in a new window
- Arts and Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new window
- Audio Drama: The L.A. Theatre Works Collection This link opens in a new window
- BBC Literary Adaptations in Video This link opens in a new window
- Carcanet Poetry Collection This link opens in a new window
- Digital Theatre Plus This link opens in a new window
- Drama Online This link opens in a new window
- Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
- Early European Books This link opens in a new window
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
- Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literary Index This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature: LitFinder This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature: Scribner Writer Series This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature: Something About the Author This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature: Twayne's Author Series This link opens in a new window
- Gale Literature Criticism This link opens in a new window
- International Database of Shakespeare on Film, Television and Radio This link opens in a new window
- Literary Print Culture : The Stationers' Company Archive, 1554-2007 This link opens in a new window
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
- National Theatre Collection This link opens in a new window
- Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection This link opens in a new window
- Nineteenth Century Literary Society : the John Murray Publishing Archive This link opens in a new window
- Norton Critical Editions Collection This link opens in a new window
- Oxford Bibliographies: American Literature This link opens in a new window
- Oxford Bibliographies: British and Irish Literature This link opens in a new window
- Oxford Bibliographies: Literary and Critical Theory This link opens in a new window
- Oxford Bibliographies: Victorian Literature This link opens in a new window
- Perdita Manuscripts (16th - 17th centuries) This link opens in a new window
- Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window
- ProQuest One Literature This link opens in a new window
- Royal Shakespeare Company Collection This link opens in a new window
- Shakespeare's Globe Archive This link opens in a new window
- The Shakespeare Collection (via Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
- Theatre in Video This link opens in a new window
- Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive (1902-2019) This link opens in a new window
- Twentieth Century North American Drama, 2nd Edition This link opens in a new window
- Victorian Popular Culture (1779-1930) This link opens in a new window
Databases for other subject areas
The academic field of English Literature crosses over with a number of other disciplines. Depending on your research area it may be worthwhile looking at the databases available in other subject areas e.g.
See a full list of subjects and their recommended databases at:
E-resources trials
The Library regularly arranges trials to new resources, including databases. It's always worthwhile checking the list of current trials as there could be something available for a short period that is just what you are looking for.