Choosing and Finding a Text

Depending on how your assignment was worded, you may have to actually choose the text to examine. How do you do this?

First, do you have a country or region from which the author must come?

If you would like to choose an American author and work:

Visit:

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide by Paul P. Reuben, 12/10/01. <http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/table.html> (accessed 12/12/01)

Decide on a time period by reviewing the descriptions listed and finding the one that refers to the class you are taking or is of interest to you. Under each of the time periods, important authors are listed with the titles of their works.

If you would like to choose a British author and work:

Visit:

Norton Topics Online Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. <http://www.wwnorton.com/nael/welcome.htm> (accessed 12/12/01). This is the companion web site to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th ed. It gives a brief overview of each of the time periods of Enlish literature and lists the major authors and works of each period.

Decide on a time period by reviewing the descriptions listed and finding the one that refers to the class you are taking or is of interest to you. Under each of the time periods, important authors are listed with the titles of their works.

Ok, so, those sites don't do anything for you? Looking for more multicultural or contemporary works?

Visit:

Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature: An Overview. Edited by George P. Landow. <http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/misc/postov.html (accessed 12/12/01). This site discusses major works, themes, and authors of Anglophone Carribean, African, and Asian countries as well as those of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Postcolonial, feminist, economic, and historical issues are discussed.

or

Moss, Joyce and Lorraine Valestuk, eds. Latin American Literature and Its Times. World Literature and Its Times Series, V. 1. Detriot: Gale Group, 1999. This is a large book located in the reference section of some of the larger branches at call number R 860.9 M. Ask a librarian at the information desk for help finding it. It gives overviews of the social and historical settings and lists important authors and works of this part of the world.

Finding the Text

Once you have the work picked out, write down the author's name, the full title, and anything you know about the work. Then, search the online public access catalog (the links below are for PG County, Maryland. You may also look at a local university).

  1. Go to http://www.prge.lib.md.us, the homepage for the Prince George's Memorial Library System.
  2. Click on to enter the library catalog.
  3. Click on "Login to Library Catalog"
  4. Click on Library Catalog
  5. You may now search in the author, title, or subject fields, but the keyword search is easier... so type what you are searching for (either title or author or both) in the block and click on submit.
  6. If one looks of the listed records matches what you were looking for, click on the full record button to see if the book is on the shelf at your local branch.

You may instead decide to read the book online. Many books are no longer copyrighted and full copies are available free online. The best place to find these books online is the homesite for Project Gutenberg. 2001.<http://promo.net/pg/> (accessed 12/12/01).

  1. On the main page, search for either the title or the author.
  2. A list of entries will be returned. If you see what you are looking for click on it.
  3. The full entry will be returned, click to download the text file or the compressed file. You may select a different download site based on your location.

Now you're ready to read

Home
Understanding
Choosing
Reading
Criticism
Writing

Created by Christina Kirk Pikas as a final project for LBSC 750: Information Access in Electronic Environments at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies.

Last Updated: December 15, 2001.

 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1