Research Guides: Literature & Geographical Regions: British

Recommended Databases

Bibliography of British and Irish History
Provides bibliographic data on historical writing dealing with the British Isles and the British empire and commonwealth, from 55 BC to the present.
Cambridge Companions Complete Collection
Includes the full-text of books, such as the Cambridge Companions to:
British Fiction: 1980–2018, Modern British Culture, British Romanticism, English Novelists, Irish Poets, and more.
Historical Abstracts
Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present. Great for author biographies and cultural information.
JSTOR
Full-text of articles for the full-runs of many seminal journals. See all JSTOR's British Studies titles.

Can be used for text mining. Data for Research is a free JSTOR service available to anyone interested in mining data for their research project.
Library Catalog
A subset of Library Search that finds only materials owned by SMU Libraries, such as books, journals, movies, etc.
Literature Online (LION) Premium Collection
Literary criticism, authors' biographies, reference resources with citations. LION provides useful information for researching literature.
MLA International Bibliography
The Modern Language Association's index to literature. Search MLA to find literary criticism, book reviews, and just about anything relating to communication.
Project MUSE
Provides full-text online access to all journals published by the Johns Hopkins University Press
WorldCat
Find books, journals, and archival collections from libraries around the world. Request items through interlibrary loan. Great for English majors because many records include a book's table of contents.

Primary Sources

British Library Newspapers, Part I-V
Contains regional and local newspapers that illuminate diverse and distinct regional attitudes, cultures, and vernaculars. Part I: 1800-1900, Part II: 1800-1900, Part III: 1741-1950, Part IV: 1732-1950, Part V: 1746-1950
British Periodicals Collection
Consists of searchable full text of British journals published from the 1680s to the 1930s. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.

SMU owns rights to text mine collections I and II via physical hard drive. Contact your librarian for more info.
Early English Books Online
Reproduces works listed in: Pollard & Redgrave's Short-title catalogue, Wing's Short title catalogue and Thomason tracts.
JSTOR 19th Century British Pamphlets
Content includes: More than 25,000 pamphlets, including advertisements, annotations, cartoons, diagrams and maps, engravings, letters, petitions, and portraits.

Connect to resource, then click on "Pamphlets" to view

Background & Reference

Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature
Five-volume encyclopedia covers the entire history of British literature from the seventh century to the present.

Oxford Bibliographies: Atlantic History
Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the transnational interconnections between Europe, North America, South America, and Africa, particularly in the early modern and colonial period.
Oxford Bibliographies: British and Irish Literature
Offers exclusive, authoritative research guides that combine the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia.

British and Irish Literature and Its Times
Call Number: Fondren Library, Centennial Reading Room, Reference, PR25 .M67
Literary Research and the British Eighteenth Century
Call Number: Fondren Library, Red, PN73 .K44 2013
Examines how the following all contribute to the richness of literary research for this era: book and periodical publishing; a growing literate society; dissemination of literature through salons, private societies, and coffee houses; the growing importance of book reviews; the explosion of publishing.
Research Guide for Undergraduate Students: English and American Literature
Call Number: Fondren Library, Centennial Reading Room, Reference, PR56 .B34 2006
Shows undergraduates how to use their research time efficiently and how to locate and evaluate material available from electronic databases and the Internet.

Sample Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings

Shows all the records in the library catalog with this subject heading.

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