Literature in English: Databases

MLA International Bibliography, FirstSearch (1963- )
An index to over 4,000 journals and series focusing on literary, linguistic, and folklore scholarship published throughout the world. Updated ten times per year. The print version of MLA in the Olin Reference index area includes citations to articles published prior to 1963.

Literature Online (1920- )
Includes the online version of the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) from 1920 to the present, with links to the full text of 102 journals. Additional biographies, bibliographies, and key criticism and reference sources complement ABELL. Be sure to select the "Search criticism and reference" link for this component.

LION also includes a fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama, and prose. The main page allows searching across all collections; one may also search within the various individual literature collections.

Academic Search Premier (1975- plus selected earlier content)
Scholarly, multi-disciplinary database containing full text for more than 4,650 publications, including more than 3,600 peer-reviewed publications. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for all 8,183 journals in the collection. Offers information in nearly every area of academic study including: computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, and many more.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1988- ) (25 concurrent users allowed)
Covers more than 1,140 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals in a broad range of disciplines and individually selected, relevant items from over 7,000 of the world's leading science and social sciences journals. This database is also available via FirstSearch (1980- ).
WorldCat (OCLC)
Information about books, journal titles, videos, and materials in other formats owned by more than 15,000 U.S. and foreign libraries. You may make InterLibrary Loan requests directly from the database. Does not index journal articles.

Essay and General Literature Index (1985- ) (1 concurrent user allowed)
Citations to essays and articles contained in collections of essays and other works published in the United States, Great Britain and Canada. Updated annually.

19th Century Masterfile (1802-1906; formerly Poole's Plus)
Based on the print source Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, this database provides citations to 19th-century journal and magazine articles; information about books, newspapers, and government documents will be added. Subscription to Series I only.

English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)
Provides extensive descriptions and holdings information for letterpress materials printed in Great Britain or any of its dependencies in any language -- as well as for materials printed in English anywhere else in the world. Coverage is from the beginnings of print to 1800 including all recorded English monographs printed between 1475 and 1700.

Literary Index
Indexes the Gale literature series, allowing you to find which series includes entries on an author or a specific work. Note that the Washington University Libraries do not own all the series indexed, but we do have most of them. Ask a reference librarian to orient you to the various print series.

North American Theatre Online (1500- )
Includes reference materials and records to plays, people, theaters, productions, and production companies of the Canadian and American theater. In addition to images, playbills, postcards, and scrapbooks, Washington University's subscription includes a number of full-text drama collections. Go to the main page to search across collections, or search within any of the following: American Film Scripts Online, Asian American Drama, Black Drama, North American Women's Drama, and Twentieth Century North American Drama. Click here for more information.

International Medieval Bibliography (1967- ) (3 concurrent users allowed)
"The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB) is the world's leading interdisciplinary bibliography of the European Middle Ages, covering Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the period 400-1500. The database comprises over 300,000 articles derived from regular coverage of some 4500 periodicals and 5000 miscellany volume (conference proceedings, essay collections, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues). All articles are classified with full bibliographical details and subject classifications and indexing familiar to medievalists" (from IMB overview page). Click here for more information.

John Milton: a Bibliography
Includes entries for "all manuscripts and editions of John Milton's works and all studies and critical statements concerning his life and works, all allusions and quotations, and all significant imitations during the years 1624-1799."

National Archives (United States)
National Archives has some surprising holdings relevant to literary research and cultural studies. Also have a look at the Archival Research Catalog database (ARC), "...the online catalog of NARA's nationwide holdings in the Washington, DC area, Regional Archives and Presidential Libraries."

National Union Catalog of Manuscripts Collection
An extremely useful site that provides access to cataloging of manuscript collections in both RLIN and OCLC. Information from more than half a million records can be found through this site. Also contains a set of very useful links to archival resources on the internet. For a speedy though slightly dated guide to collections a researcher might check American Literary Manuscripts (in both Olin and Special collections reference) or, for collections cataloged prior to ca. 1991, the paper National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (Olin reference).

Voice of the Shuttle: Web Page for Humanities Research

Includes entries for "all manuscripts and editions of John Milton's works and all studies and critical statements concerning his life and works, all allusions and quotations, and all significant imitations during the years 1624-1799."

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