English Literature & Language
Discover the best information, whether you’re a new English student starting your first assignment, or delving into a research project.
Library essentials
Reading Lists
These are set up by your tutors to guide you to good quality, relevant and useful materials to help you with your studies. They're a great starting point before doing your own research.
Library Search
Did you know? The citation tool in Library Search can help you create references! Learn how to make the most of Library Search through our short, interactive guide: Use Library Search to find academic information for your assessments.
Subject specific resources
Key resources for English Literature & Language students
Databases
Databases are searchable collections of good quality, academic material, particularly journal articles. They can be small subject specific or large collections covering a wide range of subject areas. Most databases provide access to full-text items.
| A series of guides, written by experts, providing introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics, and periods. | |
| More than 46,000 books covering all academic subjects. | |
| Scripts for many modern and classic plays from a huge range of authors. It also includes books providing analysis and criticism of plays and playwrights, as well as a small collection videos of specific productions | |
| Brings together the different Gale literary databases in one easy place to search. | |
| A great place to start a search on most subjects, providing access to both books and journal articles. | |
| A collection of ProQuest databases relating to literature to language studies. | |
| Index and full-text databases covering all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. | |
| More than 500,000 works of poetry, drama, and prose from the eighth century to the present day. Plus, scholarly articles, reviews and books, and a collection of key reference works. |
Digital Archives
Digital Archives predominantly contain digitised primary sources.
These are original documents and objects that give first-hand accounts of a topic or event. They're created by people who had a direct connection with the topic or event. These can be:
- government
- company or personal papers
- newspapers
- books or magazines
- films
- works of art.
| More than 250 archive collections, providing digital copies of original documents and other materials. | |
| Search for productions, listen to audio extracts of plays, watch interviews with playwrights and browse the teaching resources. | |
| A rich source of original material on many aspects of society, culture and politics from the 17th to the 20th century. | |
| A weekly review of the literature of the day. |
Video
Videos offer a dynamic way to absorb information. They often present complex ideas in an easily digestible format.
| Video streaming service from the British Film Institute, streaming acclaimed, landmark and archive films. | |
| More than 2.2 million radio and TV programmes that have been broadcast in the UK. You can search for, and watch, anything already in the archive, as well as making use of the TV scheduling service. This allows you to record TV and radio programmes that are scheduled to be broadcast over the next seven days. | |
| Videos of more than 300 classic, contemporary and international theatre productions. There are more than 230 interviews exploring the theatre-making process as well as essays, documentaries, lectures, and study guides relating to all aspects of theatre. | |
| Large, curated catalogue of more than 30,000 educational documentaries and classic films from leading producers. | |
| Drawing on ten years of NT Live broadcasts, alongside high-quality archive recordings never previously seen outside the NT's Archive, the National Theatre Collections provide more than 60 filmed performances. |
Dictionaries
Dictionaries allow you to study language and find linguistic trends.
| An historical dictionary, giving the modern meaning of words, but also tracing their usage through time. | |
| Defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (C.E. 600-1150) of the English language, using twenty-first century technology. |
Magazines
The library subscribes to many high-quality physical and digital magazines which you can use to strengthen your assessments. Magazines are a unique source of information, containing state-of-the-art professional perspectives, practitioner insight and creative works.
For guidance finding and using magazines in the library, look at the Magazines webpage.
Here are magazines for your subject area:
| A digital library that lets you read thousands of global newspapers and magazines using your local library membership. It provides full-content access to over 7,000 publications from more than 120 countries. | |
| A bi-monthly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. | |
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The official quarterly membership magazine of the UK creative industries union, BECTU, covering industry news, workers' rights, and technical developments in theatre, film, and broadcasting.
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| Quarterly magazine, featuring the best in new writing - poetry, fiction, and criticism. | |
| Independent magazine covering fashion, art, culture, politics, and architecture through in-depth interviews and features under the motto "Elitism for All." | |
| British monthly magazine and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre in the United Kingdom. | |
| Monthly magazine for writers with practical tips and expert advice, competitions, masterclasses and inspiration. |
Newspapers
Newspapers are a great source for reviews and comment on:
- film
- television
- theatre
- performances.
The Library gives students and researchers access to wide-range of Newspapers.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers more than 9,000 professionally produced online courses covering a wide range of technical, creative and professional skills.
Always use our institutional link to log in. You'll need your University email address and password. The first time that you log in, you'll be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Print Books
You can borrow print books from the Library. The location details below are a guide. It's best to use Library Search for exact location of items:
| Classmark | Subject area |
| 800 | Writing and literature |
| 821 | Poetry |
| 823 | Novels |
| 830 | European Literature |
Inclusive Collections
Expand your research with diverse voices and perspectives using our Inclusive Collections initiative. Explore school-based collections to find high-quality, inclusive resources.
Develop your skills
Finding information skills
Developing information skills saves time and gives you stronger sources for your assessments. Finding information covers everything you need to learn how to search for resources effectively.
Further support
The Skills website has eLearning to help you achieve your study goals. We cover:
- academic writing support
- referencing guidance
- help with presentation skills
- using generative AI
- time management and much more
You can also attend our academic skills workshops. Contact the Academic Skills Team to ask a question or request a one-to-one appointment.