MLA stands for the Modern Language Association, which for many years has compiled a list of studies (both articles and books) relating to languages and literature. For literature in English it is the most comprehensive listing of critical material available, and it is updated regularly. The online version of this database covers articles and books written from 1963 to the present (that is, the time of the latest update). When you search MLA, in your results you may find journal articles, book articles, or books.

You will then need to search the library's online catalog (VOYAGER) to see if we have the books or articles you want. For a journal article, you must search for the journal (Journal Title search. For a book article you must search by the name of the book (Title search) or the editor of the book (Author search). For a book you can search either by author or title.

Our online catalog (VOYAGER) can be a powerful search tool. To find material about a particular author, such as Emily Dickinson or Richard Wright, you can do a Subject search in the catalog. In addition to a general heading for a particular author, you will find subjects that take you to bibliographies, biographies, and criticism about the author. For example, a subject search on Richard Wright (put his last name first in your search) will lead to, among others, the following subjects:

Wright, Richard, 1908-1960 Bibliography
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960 Biography
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960 Criticism and Interpretation


BIBLIOGRAPHIES

A bibliography is a list of books or articles on a particular topic. You might want to use a Bibliography that you find through a search in the online catalog (Voyager) to see a thorough listing of works about a particular author.

Bibliographies can be of different types:

• bibliographies of writings by a particular author--which would be useful if you wanted to see everything an author wrote.
• bibliographies of books and articles written about a particular author's work--which would be useful for finding criticism about and interpretations of an author's writing.
• Sometimes these bibliographies are annotated, which means there is a brief summary of each book and article listed. This is helpful because it gives you a better idea of what the book or article is about, so that you can judge whether or not it is relevant to your topic.

LITERARY BOOK REVIEWS

There are many sources for literary book reviews. For a listing of the main sources see the webpage prepared for the Koller-Collins Center for English Studies, Literary Book Reviews.

DEFINITIONS OF LITERARY TERMS

There are a number of good handbooks that will give you definitions of literary and critical terms such as sonnet, confessional poetry, Neoclassic Period, and New Criticism. Some basic books are:

• A Handbook to Literature by William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman. 7th ed. (Call Number: Koller-Collins Reference PN 41 .H355 1996)

• A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory by J. A. Cuddon, Revised by C. E. Preston. 4th ed. (Call Number: Koller-Collins Reference PN 41 .C83 1998)

There are many websites that will give you information about literary works and literary history. You can find some useful sites at the Koller-Collins page of Web Resources for the Study of English and American Literature.