Literature Research Printed & Online Resources LRC@TCC

Reference Books

Some reference books are sources, like an encyclopedia. They contain the information you need and are the original source for that information.

Some reference books are collections of excerpts that are reprinted in one convenient place. You may find essays or reviews gathered from books, journals, interviews, or other sources. There is usually a citation back to the original source.

Some reference books are indexes to other books or journal articles. They contain citations, maybe an abstract, that will lead you to another source such as a book or journal article. The next step is to locate the source in the library or request an interlibrary loan to borrow the item from another library.

General (title list) literary book sources provide background information useful in analyzing an author's work. Sometimes there is very little information on a specific work and general resources may be your only resources.

Special (title list) resources provide information based on gender, genre, nationality, or time period. You should check the library catalog to find what books are available in your library. Librarians may have prepared bibliographies to assist students in finding materials in the library. Ask the librarian for assistance.

Databases (Online Resources)

A database is a collection of data that has been selected, organized, and made available for searching. Databases consists of data organized into records made up of searchable fields and the data has been selected for its content, quality, format or for a variety of reasons.

The library's literature subject guide will help you with key words, call numbers, and the best databases for literature research.