Literary Research at PC

Search Tips

Advanced search features can help sift through search results.

Remember, your author's works are the SUBJECT of your research. Adding the phrase "criticism and interpretation" to subject searches (particularly in the library catalog) will yield works critically examining what an author has written.

Sometimes the title of a short story may not be listed in a catalog record even when the story is included; stick with searching the author's name and possibly genre (i.e. short stories) to identify books worth checking, then use a book's index to determine whether a specific story is included.

Navigating What's in Print Series

Use this online index to identify what print volumes provide essays and other details about a specific title

Gale Literary Index http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex

NOTE: the Index is also available
within PC's subscribed access
to Gale's Literature Resource Center.

In Gale Literary Index,

click Title Search

  • Enter the title of the work
  • Change the default selection to
    "Match all words entered"

You can leave out leading articles
such as The, An, and A when
searching by match all words.

Volumes in Reference (main level of library)

  • Short Story Criticism vols 1-92 (paper index 1-78) / REF PN3373 .S389

Volumes in PC Retro Reference (upper level of library)

  • CLC - Contemporary Literary Criticism vols 1-224 (paper index 1-220) / Retro Ref PN771 .C59

  • TCLC - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism vols 1-179 (paper index 1-173) / Retro Ref PN771 .T86

Subjects: English