English Literature

Databases

Whilst Library Search is your starting point when researching a topic, sometimes it’s helpful to restrict your search to one of our specialist sources.  

• Literature & Language Database (ProQuest) - A collection of literature and language databases. 
• Literature Online - Is a fully integrated service that combines the texts of over 355,000 literary works with a vast library of key criticism and reference resources. 
• Gale Literary Sources - Allows you to search across Gale's premier literary databases to discover and analyse content. 
• MLA International Bibliography - Offers a detailed bibliography of journal articles, books and dissertations. Subjects consist of literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory and criticism, and dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing.  
• JSTOR - a great range of books and articles on all kind of topics including English Language. 
• BBC Shakespeare Archive Resource - Contains programmes and photographs from the BBC's Shakespeare archive. It includes Shakespeare’s plays, poems and sonnets, documentaries, interviews and over a thousand stills of classic Shakespeare productions, as well as entertainment programmes referencing Shakespeare. 
• Digital Theatre Plus - a great resource for video of theatre productions as well as interviews with performers, directors and others.     
• Drama Online - Includes the scripts of some of the most studied modern and classic plays from a huge range of authors. Also included on the platform are almost 60 books providing analysis and criticism of some of these plays and playwrights. 
• JISC Historical texts - Brings together four historically significant collections, with over 400,000 books published from the late 15th century through to the long 19th century. 
• The Listener Historical Archive - Developed as the medium for reproducing broadcasts, The Listener (1929-1991) was the weekly newspaper published by the BBC.  
• Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive - A rich research and teaching tool for students and scholars allowing them to trace the views of influential opinion makers, the response of their contemporaries, the controversies and debates of the day.  
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Includes over 60,000 biographies, 72 million words, 11,000 portraits of significant, influential or notorious figures from British history. 
• Oxford Reference Online - A reference database which includes English and bilingual dictionaries, as well as subject dictionaries and reference books published by Oxford University Press. 
• Box of Broadcasts - a huge collection of TV and radio programmes broadcast in the UK.  Worth exploring for English literature.  In addition, a number of programmes regularly discuss literature and the arts, so this can be an important source for reviews and critical opinion. Also a great source for films that have been broadcast on TV. 
• Kanopy - another good source for films. Search or browse by topic amongst thousands of videos specifically curated for an academic audience