If you have any questions about locating, evaluating, incorporating, and citing sources, please feel free to ask a librarian.
Welcome to the research guide for English at TLU!
Reference books can provide background material and be a launching point for further research. The following titles are great starting points, but you can find many more in the library catalog advanced search with the Location limited to Reference. You can also search for e-reference items using our Gale Virtual Reference Library or Credo Reference.
A Glossary of Literary Terms by 
The Oxford Companion to English Literature by 
The Oxford Companion to American Literature by 
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century by The Library Catalog is the gateway to finding books on literature. Search the catalog for books about criticism, Harlem Renaissance, or an individual author.
​Blumberg Memorial Library arranges materials by the Library of Congress Classification System. Books on literature generally fall into the following call numbers:
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Language and Literature P |
Databases are large, searchable collections of articles, including scholarly articles. To see all of TLU's databases, visit the Blumberg Memorial Library Resources page and select either Databases by Subject or Databases by Title. The Databases by Subject pages also include links to recommended websites.
Here are a few key databases for English:
JSTOR offers researchers the ability to retrieve high-resolution, scanned images of journal issues and pages as they were originally designed, printed, and illustrated. The journals archived in JSTOR span many disciplines.
Provides full text for nearly 3,200 scholarly publications covering academic areas of study including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies.
To see if a journal or magazine is available, either online or in print, look in the Publications by Title list.
Need an item that our library doesn't own? No worries, you can email the title, author and date of what you need to ill@tlu.edu or fill out a form. We can get most (but not all) articles within 2 days and many books within 4-8 days.
For more information, visit our interlibrary loan page.
If you are using an off-campus computer, you will be prompted for your last name (Not your network username but last name only) and your 8-digit TLU ID number.
For some databases, instead of being asked for your instead of your last name and ID number, you will be asked for your normal TLU network username and password (Microsoft 365 Single Sign-On).
Librarians offer in-depth research help.
During library open hours, ask at the main desk for help finding what you need. The desk is usually staffed by student workers - if you have in-depth research questions, just let them know that you want to meet with a librarian.
Click on the Ask a Question tab on the right side of a library web page. It will bring you either to live chat, or to a place where you can leave a message.
830-372-8100 (main desk)
Library directory (list of individual library staff and faculty)