Literature

Introduction

In this part of SAFARI we are going to cover information resources for literature. As with any subject it is difficult to describe every resource that may be of use. It will depend on what aspect of literature (romantic poets, renaissance drama) you are interested in.

Information about resources available to Open University students and links to them are found on the Open Library web page, Online collections by subject. Specific resources are discussed in more detail below.

Books

There are some books for literature studies available online from the Literature Electronic Books page on Open Library. Some of the books are part of larger collections, so you will need to search for them.

To find out about other books available in your subject area, you can search library catalogues and/or online bookshops. These are listed on the Open Library page Catalogues and Bookshops.

There are an increasing number of electronic books and texts available on the internet. These are available on ROUTES: Electronic books and include the Internet Poetry Archive.

Databases

Databases are useful for finding articles on a topic. They enable you to search across a number of journal titles (and sometimes books and reports) in order to find information in your area of study. There are two main types of databases:

• full text databases contain the complete article in one place;
• bibliographical databases contain references to books and journals held elsewhere. They may also include a short summary or review of the article or book.

Some databases contain a mixture of both full text and bibliographic information. There are other databases which contain image resources or they are an enhanced version of a reference book. These are listed below.

You can find articles on a topic using the following bibliographic databases:

• ABELL: Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature
• ABES: Annotated Bibliography for English Studies
• Literature Online (LION)
• MLA International Bibliography

If you need definitions or explanation of terms, you may find these reference databases useful:

• Oxford Reference Online (includes Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature, A Dictionary of Writers and their Works)
• OED (Oxford English Dictionary)

Journals

An increasing number of journals are available electronically through Open Library. We have selected some for Literature, which you can find in Online Collections by subject. This list is only a selection. You are strongly advised to use the A-Z list of journals to browse for other titles. You can also search several journal titles at once, by subject keyword, using the electronic journal collections.

Internet resources

There are many sites on the internet where you will find information on philosophy. Some of the best available are included on the ROUTES database. The Library and module teams have worked closely to compile a set of resources relevant to literature modules at the Open University. You can browse by module code, if you are following an OU module, or by subject or keyword.

You can also look in Online Collections by subject - and choose 'websites' to find a selection.

Keeping up to date

This subject is covered in more detail in Section 7.

Libraries

• SAFARI concentrates on resources that are available to Open University students through the Open Library web pages. However, these may not be the only resources available to you. You can find out about using a local academic library from our Other libraries page. All Open University students are also entitled to apply for a three-year pass to use the British Library's St.Pancras reading rooms. To receive your pass, you need to present documentary proof of the module you are currently studying, and some form of personal ID.

Before visiting a library, you may want to check its catalogue to make sure it holds the books and journals you need. You can find links to library catalogues on Open Library.

There may be other library resources near to you. Does your workplace have a library or information service you can use? Do you belong to a professional organis ation or learned society? Many of these have specialist library and information services for their members and they often offer student membership rates.