Select Subjests & Call Numbers
One of the best ways to target your searches is via a Subject Heading in the Advanced Search page of library search.
Subject Headings are far more precise search terms than the default Keyword searches, and a Subject Heading directly reflects what an item is about, rather than returning incidental results.
You can also mix and match Subject Headings, and this search strategy can result in highly relevant references. When using the Library library search, look for a subject, and then limit by the second subject.
For example:
- Australian Fiction AND Postmodernism (Literature)
- Fantasy AND Poetry
These searches will only return results which include both terms.
Note: The "AND" is in ALL CAPs.
You can also limit using either OR and NOT as well:
- Postmodernism (Literature) OR Australian Fiction
This will return anything that includes either / or "Postmodernism (Literature) or "Australian Fiction," a huge number of results!
- Poetry NOT Fantasy
Will return results which only include realistic Poetry.
Below is a selection of books in the study area, and a guide to call numbers to help you browse the shelves for items on similar topics.
See the Find Books and More page for further tips on searching Subject Headings.
|
Call Number |
Subject |
Call Number |
Subject |
|
808.04 |
820-823 |
||
|
801 |
894.8 |
||
|
801.95
|
809.8896 |
||
|
803
|
810-813 |
||
|
809.1 |
A820.9 |
||
|
809.2 |
830-833 |
||
|
809.3 |
840-843 |
||
|
808.81 |
850-853 |
||
|
808.82 |
860-863 |
||
|
808.83 |
891.7 |
||
|
808.83876 |
895.1 |
||
|
809.3876 |
895.6 |
||
|
823.9 |
899.221 |
||
|
820.809415 |
|
|
Criticism & Theory
Criticism
When writing an essay on a work of literature, you are engaging in literary criticism. Before writing your essay, you may find it helpful to know what previous critics have said about the text you are analyzing: existing critical interpretations can be found in both article and book form: Try searching for a "Title" (in "quote marks" for precision), an Author, etc and link those terms with AND Criticism
"Finnegans wake" AND Criticism
Theory
Literary criticism does not exist in a vacuum. Every critical analysis of a text depends, whether implicitly or explicitly, on a theory—a theory of language, of history, of genre, or of subjectivity, for example. For identifying and developing your own theoretical approach, or for identifying and understanding the theoretical approach of articles and books you read, it can be useful to know something about literary theory in a broader sense.
Bibliographies & Concordances
Bibliographies
Bibliographies are useful for finding the most important publications on a given topic and can range from the general to the specific. There are specialized bibliographies on individual authors, genres, topics and periods.
More specialized bibliographies may be useful for seeking works on a given topic. To find bibliographies search by keyword with "bibliography" AND topical keyword.
Bibliography AND "English literature"
To find bibliographies for individual authors, search for the author's name AND Bibliography
Dickens Charles AND Bibliography
Concordances
A concordance is a comprehensive index of the words used in a text or a body of texts. Ordinarily it will not only index but also cite all passages in which a given word occurs. It is therefore useful for locating a passage that you cannot otherwise find, for discovering similar passages, or for establishing the frequency with which particular words are used.
Concordances exist for the Bible, for major poets, and even for some prose works. Compendia of famous quotations, such as Bartlett's, also function as concordances. Concordances can be important research tools for assessing themes, recurrent literary ideas, devices and tropes, and so forth.
The Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare by Call Number: BUN Main Q 822.33G SPE / MTL Main Q 822.33G SPEISBN: 0674374754Publication Date: 1974A one-volume reference that gives entries for 29,000 different words used by Shakespeare.
Voices from the Margins: An annotated bibliography of fiction on disabilities and differences for young people [e-version] by ISBN: 0313011303Publication Date: 2002Young people who feel marginalized due to physical differences or disabilities may benefit from discovering fictional characters who face similar difficulties. This unique bibliography surveys the field of children's and young adult literature published since 1990, identifying 200 quality books that deal with a wide range of contemporary health and self-image topics.